ERP -  Software

Enterprise Resource Planning Accounting Software Targets Small Businesses

Back in the 1990s small businesses meant absolutely zilch to Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) venders.  The large ERPs developed huge systems and you were considered lucky if it only took one thousand high-paid consultants to install the ERP system in a short two year time frame.  The consulting side of firms like Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) and Price Waterhouse Coopers got rich off large companies attempting to install these gigantic ERPs.

Today, in the year 2010, the economy isn’t doing so well and everyone is looking to make a buck off “any” business; large, mid-size or small.  Today Enterprise Resource Planning vendors are targeting small and mid-size businesses.  Gone are their “I’m not going to waste my time for small businesses” attitudes.  So, putting the poor economy aside, why the change?

Even though many companies spent oodles of money installing and upgrading their ERP systems, the benefit of that system outweighed the costs.  If ERP didn’t work, it would have been dead in the water years ago.  Entrepreneurial folks saw the small business niche struggling with mediocre software and began designing and pricing ERP systems to meet small business needs.  The large ERPs saw these entrepreneurial folks getting making a buck or two off the small business ERP systems and jumped in the game to grab their fare share of the market.

Now that the market is flooded with ERP systems for small businesses, these small businesses get to be choosy.  These small businesses get to go out and search for quality ERP small business accounting software and snub their noses at the ERP vendors who play hard to get the smallest of clients.

So, how does all this play into ERP small business accounting software?  Well, small businesses now get “the pick of the litter” (so to speak) when it comes to ERP small business accounting software.   Thanks to good old free market competition small businesses get to play big in the market of ERP accounting software.  Now…all you small business owners…go out there and make those ERP vendors work for you.  If you need a general ledger and accounts payable package only, then by all means you must get it.  If you need an entire ERP small business accounting software suite that meows and licks you, get it!  Oh, and make sure those vendors offer free support for your ERP accounting software, have a good reputation, and good help documentation.