If you’re involved in the running of a business, you’ll know first hand how difficult it can be to retain oversight across all the different areas of a businesses’ activities. Finance, planning and resource management can evolve from small headaches into big migraines when all the information you need to make informed, strategic decisions aren’t aligned.
Enterprise resource planning software, or an ERP, is designed specifically to alleviate these issues for business leaders.
Here’s a look at what an ERP platform does, and how it could benefit your organisation.
An ERP system is a lot more than just a financial oversight solution. Organisations can manage all of their backend processes in just one platform, from finance and accounting through to supply chains, inventory and essential HR processes. ERP platforms incorporate all the key aspects that any organisation needs to run smoothly, efficiently, and legally too.
And there are various ERP systems out there, many of which are tailored to the specific demands of different industries and business set-ups.
So now we know what an ERP platform is, let’s take a look at the benefits of using one.
Investing in a new piece of technology for any organisation requires a business case to be made. ERP platforms can deliver business-critical benefits for leaders, which in turn can help to drive better financial performance.
And with an estimated 88% of organisations relying on some form of ERP solution, it’s clear that the benefits for the majority of firms out there outweighs the costs.
As noted in the introduction, it can be frustrating for leaders to gain true oversight as to how a business is performing. With most organisations relying on numerous, often siloed software solutions (and even manual spreadsheets) to track and manage various core processes, understanding at quick glance how each function is performing can become a thankless task.
ERP platforms mitigate this by bringing crucial data together into one centralised, secure place, meaning business leaders can assess most aspects of an organisation’s performance from one dashboard.
Two of the most popular buzzwords in business management (and for good reason), any platform that can help to streamline processes and boost productivity are worth their digital weight in gold.
ERP platforms are fantastic at improving efficiency, especially as new automation and artificial intelligence functionalities have been incorporated into the top ERP solutions on the market.
ERPs are getting smarter and can take care of many of the tedious and time-consuming administrative processes that otherwise clog up a working diary, leaving leaders free to focus on other tasks.
There’s nowhere for important data to hide when everything is centralised. The very nature of an ERP platform means that critical information is brought together into one place, meaning business leaders can assess the performance of all areas of an organisation quickly and easily.
The depth of insight available is invaluable for most leaders, removing the need to rely solely on department heads to report back on progress or roadblocks, and instead painting a transparent picture of the different foundations that enable success.
Business intelligence is one of the core aspects of any ERP platform, helping to track progress, measure performance and generate insightful reports.
With all your business data in one place, ready to access from anywhere and at any time, strategic decisions can be made using up-to-date financial and resource planning information.
This gives business leaders the tools they need to spot future issues, mitigate against them, and plan strategically to achieve their organisational goals.
Whilst an ERP solution boasts many important benefits, all of which can help alleviate some of the strains that business leaders feel every day, that doesn’t mean that launching your own platform is a quick and easy process.
Adopting any new business platform, whether that’s a CRM or website, through to a HRM or accounting solution, takes time to plan, integrate, onboard and train internal teams to use.
At Phase 3, we work every day to ensure that any organisation can benefit from best-in-class software, without the headaches associated with research and set-up.
Our ERP implementation specialists have helped over 700 businesses to successfully select, plan and onboard new finance systems, with expert technical support, quality assurance and testing support at the core of the service on offer.
Learn more about the services we offer for finance professionals here.
Laura’s role as Head of Marketing sees her continually looking for new opportunities to tell the world how great Phase 3 is.
