Monday, October 8, 2012

Do Small Businesses Need ERP?

This is one of the main misconceptions prevailing among some small and medium sized companies. This is due to the unawareness of the functioning of an ERP system. Mainly what is to be understood is that an ERP system automates business processes across an organization and thus eliminates inefficiency caused by a legacy system.
It is true that there are some big players in the market that may be taking care of business process of huge organizations. But today, medium and small sized companies are benefited from automation and streamlining of their business process with efficient and affordable web-based ERP solutions.

It is natural that the big players in the market will charge very high even if the organization falls under the small and medium sized category. But nowadays some providers develop ERP system to fit the needs and budget constraints of small businesses.

In the early years of ERP, the implementation process took more time. In some cases the implantation took years to complete and involved a huge financial investment by the companies. However, with the changing technology scenario the implementation of ERP system also become an easy process. Now the web-based ERP solution could complete the implementation within a short period under its guaranteed on-time implementation method.

Why should SMBs consider implementing an ERP system?

Globalization and IT sophistication are forcing even small businesses to automate processes and integrate applications to facilitate stronger communication, data collection and analysis. ERP software systems are integrated business solutions intended for the planning, managing, controlling, and accounting for all of a company's resources.
It is the administrative and operational requirements, not the size of the company that determines if an ERP solution is required or not.
The key things driving small businesses to ERP seems to be 1) growth of the small business sector, and 2) more focus on the small business market from ERP software vendors. Most of of the small business clients are considering or implementing ERP because of the rapid growth and the corresponding strain to puts on their legacy systems. In addition, large ERP vendors that typically focused solely on the Fortune 500 market are now developing lower-cost solutions with more appropriate functionality for smaller businesses.

A third and final possible reason is because many niche ERP players have entered the marketplace to provide functional solutions for specific industries. Open technologies have reduced barriers to entry into the ERP market, so many smaller, industry-specific niche players are able to fill the voids left by the big ERP companies at a lower cost.Although this increasing focus on small business is good for companies with limited capital budgets.

ERP is suitable for all businesses that use a lot of resources, or complicated resources that can benefit from advance planning, such as manufacturing using a lot of parts. In Conclusion, ERP is NOT for big businesses only.

For more details about Web based ERP
development, please feel free to contact  Prevaj Consultants at prevaj@prevajconsultants.com or call +91-8144760745