Does Your ERP Strategy Support Your Business Goals?

Technology should make it easier to understand your business and make sound decisions. When systems don’t communicate, even routine tasks can become time-consuming and prone to error.

An enterprise resource planning system, commonly called an ERP, brings financial and operational information together. It can connect areas such as accounting, purchasing, inventory, production, sales, and reporting.

However, an ERP is not the right answer for every company. Some businesses may benefit from improving their current systems or adding reporting tools. Others may need a broader change to support future plans.

The right place to start is not with software. It’s with your business goals.

What is an ERP strategy?

An ERP strategy is a plan for selecting, implementing, and managing the systems that support your business.

This strategy should address how information moves across the organization, who is responsible for it, and how employees use it. The plan should also consider technology selection, governance structures, system integration, data handling policies, change management procedures, training, and ongoing support.

A sound strategy connects technology decisions to practical business needs. These may include improving reporting, reducing manual work, or supporting additional locations.

Why your ERP strategy matters

ERP projects require a significant investment of time, money, and staff resources. A system chosen without clear goals can create new challenges instead of solving existing ones.

Before making a decision, consider what the business needs to accomplish. Are you trying to gain more accurate financial information? Do employees enter the same data into multiple systems? Are current processes creating delays or errors?

These questions can help identify whether the issue involves technology, internal processes or both.

Signs it may be time to review your systems

Your company may benefit from an ERP assessment when:

• Financial and operational data are stored in separate systems.
• Reports require extensive manual work.
• Employees enter the same information more than once.
• Management lacks timely access to reliable data.
• Current systems cannot support new locations, products, or transaction volume.
• Internal controls have become difficult to maintain.
• Employees rely on spreadsheets to complete core processes.

These issues do not always require a complete system replacement. In some cases, process changes, integrations, or reporting tools may address the problem.

Questions to ask before moving forward

A thoughtful review should include more than software features. Consider the following:

• What business problem are we trying to solve?
• Which processes create the most frustration or risk?
• What information does management need to make decisions?
• Can our current systems support our plans?
• Who will be responsible for the project?
• How will employees be trained?
• What is the full cost of implementation and ongoing support?
• How will we measure whether the project is successful?

Thoughtful answers to these questions can help your company avoid unnecessary costs and choose an approach that fits your needs.

What an ERP system can do

A carefully chosen ERP is the foundation for your company’s growth, innovation, and operational resilience.  For example, the  Priority ERP solution can provide all the software functionality needed to run your business.  This includes everything from quotes, sales orders, purchase orders, job orders, and pick tickets through planning, scheduling, shipping and receiving, to accounting, costing, and reporting.  Priority is easy to learn and highly configurable, so as your business goals evolve, Priority can be evolved too.

Start with the business, not the software

An ERP system is a business investment, not simply a technology purchase. An effective approach begins with a review of your goals, processes, and information needs.

About the Author

Lee Bailey is the Director of Business Development and Marketing at BC Systems and BDE Computer Services, where he has more than two decades of experience in Enterprise Business Software. He can be reached at Lee@BCSysinc.com.