Amidst the infra and the servers, make sure you keep some space for ERP and BI!

Technology is disrupting the SME landscape again. From web based technologies to cloud and what not- there are enough technology options for an SME that can help them in streamlining business processes.  But where should you really place your money?

While preparing your budget for the next FY, make sure you do not miss ERP and BI tools. Enterprise Resource Planning aka ERP systems and Business Intelligence (BI) tools can be very crucial when it comes to investing in technology that is reliable, scalable and justifies ROI. Here is why they should be on your IT expense priority:

• Quick, real time informed decisions: Without an ERP software with business analytics, you are mostly playing a blind card. Something may work out, or maybe not – there is always a risk. Through timely alerts, based on actual statistics, these systems help you foresee trends and act accordingly. You do not have to wait for the last brick to fall, really.

• Doing things right: Each industry has its own set of protocols. But how do you ensure that all best practices are being followed everywhere? Most ERP softwares imbibe the best practices and also ensure that the users adhere to the defined processes.

• Better Visibility: From knowing when an order would be dispatched, to the status of a product in your warehouse, when all this info is present in a single dashboard, you definitely keep a hawk’s eye on all your business segments.

• Faster, accurate finances: When everything runs through the system, generating invoices, payment processing, etc. becomes a lot quicker and error free. When all anomalies are flagged and addresses on time, you can be assured of accurate month-end closures.

• Vendors happy, Customers happy: When there is complete visibility and greater control on processes, all stakeholders are happy. Through business analytics you can identify instances that helped in making customers happy, and replicate these scenarios. These softwares basically help you attain greater operational efficiency, which means there are no delays or incorrect transactions across the board.

ERP softwares and BI tools, not only help you plan your production more efficiently, but also give you an accurate indication of your margins and costs. Over time, all your processes become healthy, accurate and effective. You are able to track things which otherwise would get easily lost in heaps of other tasks.

Experimenting with smaller systems, can add a lot of complexity to your processes, without giving any definite results or ROI. Investing in a combo of ERP software and business intelligence gives you the agility to quickly respond to changing business needs and keep your processes efficient at the same time.