More to the Puzzle Than Just ERP Software Reviews

The economic challenges facing today’s businesses are spurring demand for solutions and ERP software applications that can help better compete in the marketplace. Fuel and energy costs are rising and companies are slowly starting to recover from flat to lower revenues over the last two years. Given these market dynamics, it’s no wonder that cutting costs are high on the list with every department manager. Enterprising resource planning software solutions are a key tool companies are looking at implementing or updating to work at further reducing unnecessary costs. With the hundreds of ERP software products on the market, and subsequently the thousands of ERP software reviews, the task of selecting the best fitting ERP software solution for an organization is an overwhelming task. Cutting costs is only one goal, companies are banking and investment in an ERP system will deliver. Companies are also looking to drive sales and maintain or exceed high customer service levels at the same time they are reducing costs across the board.

With respect of ERP software reviews and best of breed software, 5 key performance metrics adopted by the leading companies in their industry classification showed a clear distinction from those that utilized the most current ERP technologies available on the market versus those companies that either had non-current versions of their ERP software solutions implemented, or those that did not have the proper training to utilize their systems to their fullest potential. Interestingly enough, studies reveal that ERP software reviews and the software selection process is only a piece of the puzzle when it comes to successful ERP software implementations and the business value generated by an investment in an ERP system.

As would be expected, ERP systems in general reduces costs and improves inventory among other benefits. However, the size of improvements and benefits varied dramatically from the best in class versus other businesses. Best in class performers realized high double digit operational improvements with respect to cost reduction, on time deliveries, order accuracy and inventory reductions. The statistics although favorable were much lower for the average performer.

The significant beneficial effect ERP software systems can have on a company is a given, regardless if it’s a large complex enterprise system such as Oracle, or smaller web based, SaaS or software as a service application like CRM software. The key point is that the best of breed companies utilized their ERP systems 15% more often and used more of the ERP system features than the rest of the pack. These companies were also more likely to be upgraded to the latest version of their ERP software than the rest. The take away here is that the more your ERP system is utilized, the better your performance.

ERP software reviews and getting specific product information is an important piece of your ERP strategy. However, once your ERP system is selected, every effort must be taken to use the application to its fullest potential. This seemingly obvious point is often overlooked once the ERP solutions is deployed, but is a critical piece of the project’s overall success and value to an organization.