ERP systems, or enterprise resource planning business solutions, have been a vital and growing part of the business technology landscape for the past two decades. Even during difficult market climates, companies continue to implement ERP solutions in order to cut costs, stay afloat, and gain a competitive advantage that help them surge ahead when market conditions improve. ERP solutions are becoming faster, more powerful and more streamlined as the years go by, but even so, they represent a considerable investment that some companies see as a risk. So why are they experiencing such high levels of consistent demand? The answer lies in the return that ERP system can provide when measured against upfront and ongoing costs. If you own or manage a growing a business, especially a firm with a manufacturing and distribution component or a strong reliance on customer relationship management, it may be time for you to investigate the benefits of an integrated ERP system.

ERP System

Can an ERP System Improve Your Back Office Management?

ERP solutions can help department managers and business owners free their employees from isolated software systems that prevent them from sharing access to collective databases and standardized applications. If you need to bring each of your departments onto a centralized system, ERP solutions can help you do this. Standardization and shared data can revolutionize efficiency and productivity in businesses like pharmaceutical manufacturing, food and beverage distribution, apparel, electronics, chemical manufacturing and construction. Each of these industries relies on complex operations and scheduling needs that can be revolutionized by the right ERP system.

But ERP solutions don’t just help with manufacturing and distribution. Back office ERP modules can help small or growing businesses in any sector that need to handle accounting, payroll, human resource management, inventory control, supply chain management and customer relationship management. These modules can be accessed through an in house server system or via a remote infrastructure owned and maintained by an offsite hosting solution.

Your choice of ERP infrastructure and provider will be controlled by your needs and your budget. Begin your ERP investigation by conducting a comprehensive diagnostic evaluation of your existing software system and a thorough review of all of its strengths and weaknesses. Examine all of your workflows and gather reports from your employees on all the ways your current software system is and isn’t keeping up with the demands of your growing firm. When you’ve completed your evaluation, use that information to create a detailed needs analysis. Your needs analysis can guide your steps as you view online ERPproduct demonstrations and compare one system and provider with another.

You’ll also need to weight the comparative benefits of onsite versus remote server architectures. Traditionally, ERP system implementation meant the purchase and ownership of an in-house hardware system, which usually required high upfront costs and the hiring of a full time IT staff. At this point, remote service providers are becoming increasingly popular, since they allow smaller business owners the opportunity to sidestep maintenance costs and high upfront investments. For a single monthly fee, you may be able to access all of the modules and data sharing capabilities that your departments need.