Pain points in your ERP software could be preventing you from using it properly. Identifying them will help you when choosing new ERP software, giving you the optimum solution that will address your needs and help your business to thrive and grow.
But how do you identify these pain points? Here are some of the most common pain points of ERP software.
Siloed Applications
Perhaps you don’t already have an all-encompassing ERP solution. Instead, you have been cobbling together various pieces of software, with different departments using their own software.
Without a company-wide solution, your staff don’t all have access to the same data. Some highly specialist software may still be needed for some users with niche needs – but these days, ERP solutions can manage a wide range of functionality across your business. Aside from the expected financial and accounting features, it can include functionality for CRM, sales prospecting, emailing, stock management, purchasing, ecommerce, resource tracking, project management and human resources.
The chances are that a modern ERP system will integrate with your specialist software anyway. So, implementing a single system gives your company an integrated business software suite that anyone can use, for all business needs.
Outdated Legacy Software
If you do already have ERP software, and have identified that you need a new solution, this will almost certainly have stemmed from dissatisfaction with your current system.
Maybe it has become outdated, and no longer interfaces with any new software you’ve added. Or perhaps it’s slow and cumbersome, taking ages to update after you input some new information, or using too much processing power to create a simple report or to export data to another system.
Another pain point with outdated ERP software that you can run into is that it is not compatible with modern working practices. If it’s not cloud-based, for example, your staff won’t be able to access it remotely and it may not be mobile-friendly.
Depending on your industry, your legacy ERP system may not have kept pace with practices in your market or be up to speed with compliance or regulatory changes.
Finally, very old software may suffer if the vendor has discontinued support for the product, meaning you don’t get updates or improvements, let alone basic fixes for issues.
Software That Hasn’t Kept Pace as You Have Developed
Many companies start to become frustrated with software as they begin to outgrow it. If your software hasn’t adapted and changed to keep pace with your own evolution, then it will no longer be fit for purpose.
The best systems that will cope with growth of a company are those that are SaaS, cloud-based systems, like NetSuite. Their providers make software updates in the background, and NetSuite gets two major upgrades a year, ensuring you are always using the most recent version.
Software that scales effortlessly supports you as you grow and does not need to be replaced every few years.
The Need for Frequent Updates
For much software – especially on-premises solutions – updates and patches are required. But this can be costly and inconvenient. So, for many companies, this is not a priority and their software updates lapse.
This causes issues with compatibility and sometimes results in more recent features not even being implemented. If your software updates have not been made for a while, updating through several software versions at once can be a large-scale project, causing significant problems and taking time to sort out.
Poor Security
The security of your existing software may have already caused you problems – like having to pay to remedy a cyber breach or to clean up a data issue.
Modern software has more advanced and better security features that help prevent cybersecurity issues. Using cloud-based software means that your infrastructure is not susceptible to malware or ransomware attacks.
Lots of Data but No Real Insight
Regardless of the system you use, you will have an abundance of data – about clients, suppliers, staff, products and projects.
But if your system cannot give you true insight by delivering insightful reports, analytics and models, then you can’t do much with it.
Good business intelligence gives you real-time visibility that helps with budget planning and assists in making reliable business decisions. Nor can you track your company’s financial and operational performance via industry standard KPIs.
Company-specific Pain Points
Aside from some of the broader pain points outlined already, your system may present you with challenges that are unique to your operation. These relate to your distinctive business practices and processes.
Perhaps your company hasn’t allocated sufficient resources to ongoing finessing of your legacy software to ensure it always does what you want. Or maybe some organisational resistance to change has seen you maintain your old software for longer than you should.
If you have identified pain points in your ERP software that are preventing you from using it properly, NetSuite could be the right system that truly meets your needs and solves your business issues, allowing you to grow. Contact us for more information.
