ERP Solutions

Spending Money on ERP Solutions

I’m sure you’ve heard the saying that you have to spend money to make money.  Well, it’s true unless you find a money tree or a cash cow.  I’ve unfortunately found neither.  So, how does spending money apply to Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solutions?  Well, the main reason (and perhaps the only reason in some cases) organizations spend money on ERP solutions is to make money.  Money makes the world go round and the more you have, the more you can make.  Take for instance the stock market.  If you invest money into the stock market by purchasing shares of company XZY, then you have the potential to make large amounts of money should the stock price per share go up.  The more money you invest, the more money you can make.  However, the stock market is a high risk investment and probably a much riskier way to make money when compared with an ERP solution.  While you have the potential to make loads of money in the stock market, you could lose that money just as easily.  Similarly, you could lose money by investing in the wrong ERP solution.

Now, there are those of you out there that are “know it alls” and you’re probably thinking, “open source ERP solutions are free, which means that I don’t need to spend money on an ERP solution to make money”.  Well you “know it alls” are wrong because you have to spend money to support the open source ERP solution, to upgrade the solution, to train your employees on the ERP open source solution and so on.

Let’s get back to the part about losing money by investing in the wrong ERP solution.  Over thirty percent of organizations wished they had selected a different ERP solution than the one they have.  You don’t want to join the ranks of organizations that aren’t happy.  One way to combat this problem is the plan plan plan.  Know your business processes.  Know which processes need automating.  Know your system architecture and how you will integrate an Enterprise Resource Planning solution.  Budget for your ERP solution and remember that most implementations run longer than expected.  So, budget more than you predict you will need.  And, don’t forget to budget training costs.  An ERP solution is only as good as the people using it.  You will want your employees to know how to use it.

Written by :

kristine H