Top 7 ERP Trends—What to Expect in 2023 & Beyond?

As the global business market continues to evolve, ERP software too are evolving, and expanding their reach to a wider variety of industries. With newer trends emerging, industry experts predict that ERP solutions will continue to become more advanced, more integrated, and more industry-focused in the coming future.

The New Year is on the horizon, and knowing the trends for the year well in advance helps businesses make solid plans to achieve the desired results from their ERP implementation. Let’s take a look at the top ERP trends for 2023.

Once very modest in scale and scope, enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems have come a very long way. Today, they have matured and increased their reach to support majority of the core business functions.

However, in the said time, the marketplace too has changed a lot. There have been challenges galore, as the businesses have been forced to operate with limited resources in the past couple of years in particular.

Today, they are compelled to work with tighter timelines, and address the shifting demands from fickle consumers, and these are just some of the many challenges. This requires the businesses to become agile, resilient, and adapt faster than ever before, and these business traits can’t be achieved without a modern ERP software .

So what exactly is a modern ERP software?

A modern ERP software is basically a software that stays current with the latest trends and developments.

And where do these latest trends and developments emerge from?

It is the advanced tools and technologies that shape these trends. When these technologies are incorporated into, or integrated with the ERP system, they make ERP solutions more sophisticated, more modern.

Businesses that have a clear idea of the latest industry and ERP trends can more accurately devise their business strategies with respect to addressing their current and future challenges, and also with respect to their ERP implementation.

In this newsletter, we have put together a list of top seven ERP trends for the year 2023, and beyond. Having a beforehand knowledge of these trends, which range from mobile ERP and two-tier ERP systems, to artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning adoption, should keep you ahead of the competition.

Here are the top 7 ERP trends to watch in 2023

1.?Bigger shift to mobile ERP systems

2.?Greater focus on security

3.?Industry-specific solutions on the rise

4.?Integration of intelligent technologies

5.?Increased focus on IoT deployment

6.?Two-tier ERP

7.? More powerful analytics

1. Bigger shift to mobile ERP systems

One of the fundamental features of a modern ERP software happens to be complete mobile support. With the workforce becoming increasingly mobile and remote in the post-pandemic world, companies are looking at extending core features of ERP solutions to mobile devices.

It makes sense, doesn’t it? The employees gain the ability to tap into business insights anytime from their mobile device beyond the boundaries of their workplace or warehouse, and as a result, are well placed to make better-informed business decisions.

Some other benefits offered by mobile ERP systems include improved productivity, enhanced collaboration for dispersed workforces due to better real-time communication, faster and more accurate data capture and increased agility, among others. In 2023, a far greater shift to mobile ERP systems is predicted.

2. Greater focus on security

The shift to mobile ERP, which we just spoke about in the previous point, is likely to result in an increase in cyber-attacks, and data-security challenges. In fact, ever since the world has moved to remote working in 2020, the cases of cybersecurity attacks have only been on the rise, as the ERP software aren’t capable to handle security issues presented by remote work.?

Just to put things into perspective, a 2021 IBM report stated that the cost of a data breach per incident was then estimated at $4.24 million, the highest in 17 years, and that this cost exceeded by another $1 million when remote labour was involved. With the future of work favouring remote and hybrid arrangements, no surprises that the organizations will be looking to secure their ERP software in 2023 and beyond.

3.?Industry-specific solutions on the rise

We can expect that in 2023 and beyond, one-size-fits-all ERP solutions will cease to exist. Every industry is unique and rightly so, the organizations are increasingly demanding tailor-made solutions that can meet the specific requirements of their industries. This calls for customization, which in turn comes with added cost.

But, by opting for personalized ERP solutions with pre-built industry-specific features and functionalities, more and more businesses will look to eliminate the costs associated with customization, aim for faster implementation and deployment, and most importantly, leverage the industry knowledge and best practices, in 2023.

4.?Integration of intelligent technologies

ERP software have become more advanced with time, and today, many ERP platforms are incorporating technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) robotics, and machine learning (ML), thus increasing their intelligence.

To begin with, both AI and ML expand the data analytics capabilities of ERP solutions, helping businesses extract high-quality data, and transform it into actionable insights. These technologies can also facilitate smart functions such as interactive assistants.

With these technologies further evolving, they will be able to drive automation and reduce human intervention in different tasks, eliminate error, save costs, optimize workflows, achieve new levels of efficiency, and free up time for critical resources to focus on value-generating areas of the business. That’s precisely why, in 2023 and beyond, integration of intelligent technologies will be a huge ERP trend.

5. Increased focus on IoT deployment

In this world of cut-throat competition, an effective data collection strategy can help an organization stand out. Fortunately, there’s this Internet-of-things (IoT) technology available that makes data collection a breeze, and when integrated with an ERP system, takes it to a different level altogether.

ERP and the IoT, when combined, can open a world of possibilities for the businesses, as they can collect, analyze, and process a huge amount of information through sensors. Businesses, in turn, can get real-time data that can help monitor the machine performance, and production process, and allow them to make accurate forecasts and plans, among other things. No wonder, increased focus on IoT deployment is going to be a hot trend in 2023.

6. Two-tier ERP

In theory, using a single ERP system for a large organization and its different units & subsidiaries looks a good idea. But in practice, it is an incredibly expensive and exceedingly difficult thing to do, because the subsidiaries have their own unique needs, and don’t necessarily require the entire capabilities of the one-size-fits-all solution.

This is why two-tier ERP is going to be a big trend for 2023 and beyond, as more and more enterprises will look to implement the two-tier ERP system, where they have one ERP at corporate level (tier one), and the other for the units and subsidiaries (tier two). In this kind of arrangement, one ERP acts as a centralized hub for financials and other core processes, while the other puts more focus on specific business tasks.

The benefits of this approach include cost savings, easier implementation, and greater flexibility to respond to changing business conditions, among others.

7. More powerful analytics

Most modern ERP software come loaded with powerful data analytics features, ad-hoc reporting, data visualization capabilities, etc., providing businesses with access to real-time insights. This has decentralized decision making in the organization to a larger extent, with decision-making now being available at all levels, right from the shop floor to the top floor.

Going forward, in 2023 and beyond, ERP users can expect more advanced analytics and reporting capabilities, so that they can process both structured and unstructured data, extract valuable insights, and predict future trends.

Wrap up

The ERP trends mentioned above are going to influence the way you do your business in some way or the other, in the year 2023. While some of these trends made waves in the previous years too, they’ll only consolidate their position in the ERP landscape this year.

Manufacturing businesses must look to leverage these trends by incorporating their ERP software with the aforementioned technologies and tools. If you are also looking for an expert, industry-specific ERP solution for your process manufacturing business, we at BatchMaster can help. Write to us , today!