When is the right time to invest in an ERP?

Investing in ERP software is without a doubt beneficial for organisations by improving their business performances. But what comes with this is significant financial outlay as well as a lot of effort which can be very daunting and therefore companies subsequently either put it off or struggle to know when the right time is to invest.?

Companies who forecast high growth and do not have an existing system and they can no longer efficiently or effectively manage daily functions, this is definitely the time when investment should be made.? In fact, ideally investment in ERP systems should be made before a business gets to this point.

Implementing a new ERP system is time consuming, expensive and labour intensive.? However, by investing in such systems helps eradicate poorly-performing and inefficient internal operations leading to long term business security and success. Significantly outweighing the investment.

Another scenario to consider is when companies already have an ERP system but they are at a cross road to determine whether their existing ERP is a now good fit for them.? This may be an upgrade of their current system or a complete overhaul to a new software.? For example, this could come about from business acquisitions, takeovers etc.? Each separate entity coming together as one but all on different ERP systems which ultimately don’t ‘talk’ to each other, making business functionality very tricky.? By rolling out one ERP system across all company entities streamlines processes again, improving efficiencies business wide.?

One key factor in any ERP investment be this a complete new system or just an upgrade, businesses must spend adequate time analysing current processes and be prepared to change current practices and policies where needed as well as including business goals for the next few years.? Here at ERP Assistance we call this a business ‘health check’, some call it a ‘systems and processes review’ but basically it’s a process to determine your key business challenges, future objectives and goals.? By documenting all these areas, it highlights what procedures are and are not up to date, determine what processes could potentially be automated, reveals time wasting areas, and determines whether all employees business-wide, currently have access to real-time company data (likely to be 'no' at this stage).? ??You are then at the first steps to revolutionising your business!