Small Business ERP Software Trends that May Benefit Your Business
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) has been around for a while, and new systems are developed all the time. Traditionally, these systems were the domain of companies and businesses with substantial financial resources, but new developments and trends have enabled small businesses to take advantage of the benefits associated with small business ERP software. It is more affordable than ever for a small business to implement a small business ERP system, helping them to run the business and its resources more effectively.
ERP takes many forms, but it can be defined as software that helps a business collect, interpret, and query historic and real-time data in different formats to draw conclusions about the business. It helps to automate back office functions, providing a better view of services, employees, tasks, and technology. It allows business managers to integrate information from different departments to form a holistic picture of their function. This allows them to streamline product planning and business development, improve manufacturing capabilities, and gain insights regarding marketing and sales – in a system with a central, easy-to-use interface.
Traditionally, ERP software was designed for large organisations with teams dedicated to enter, customise, and analyse the data, and to manage the system, the development, and upgrades. More recently, these systems have become more lightweight and can be effectively applied to small businesses. They can also be tailored to a particular business environment or industry.
The benefits of such an application is manifold, and can result in better productivity, increased or improved data flow, better collaboration and communication, increased definition and achievement of common goals, more creative problem-solving by employees, more autonomy, better motivation, reduced operational costs, and gaining useful business insights. Being able to see where the business is doing well and where attention is needed is a weapon in the arsenal of any business, and small business ERP software is increasingly being used to provide these insights. It also helps them to stand out from the competition because they can use their data to predict trends or new business directions that will improve its success.
New Trends in ERP
ERP was slow to change, but recent developments, especially in small business ERP, have unleashed new technology that provides a fundamental shift in ERP and the way it is used. New trends now allow for these systems to be used more creatively and effectively, which benefits the business as a whole.
- Mobile small business ERP: Almost everyone owns a smartphone, and being able to view data in real time from anywhere can be a huge advantage. Mobile ERP can be viewed on a smartphone from any location with cellphone reception, and this means that business managers have access to the information they need, when they need it. ERP can be used to view reports, perform certain business processes, and view dashboards with valuable information.
- Cloud-based ERP: Because cloud-based systems provide many benefits, the initial reluctance of business managers to base ERP in the cloud is fast disappearing. Cloud-based systems are secure, safe, and easily accessible from virtually any location. Business managers and employees can now embrace the cloud for their ERP systems in new ways.
- Social ERP: The presence of social media in our lives is escalating daily, and new ways to tap into social media platforms for business benefit are being developed constantly. This also accounts for social ERP, which allows businesses to add social media packages to their ERP systems. The advantages of doing this are yet to be defined, but it is clear that ERP based on social media platforms may soon bring possibilities that were not previously considered.
- Two-tier ERP: Usually, businesses tended to build a comprehensive ERP system that saw the organisation as a whole, and managed it as such. Following some big mistakes, two-tier ERP has emerged to allow businesses to get the best of both worlds. Two-tier ERP allows a business to run two ERP systems at the same time – one at corporate level and one at a subsidiary level. This, however, is not practical for small business ERP software systems, and there are lightweight small business applications that can be used effectively without having to resort to a two-tier approach.
If you would like to know more about how small business ERP software can help your business function better, give our experts at Lupus Consulting a call.