According to Sage… Technology has evolved over the last two decades to become a vital part of any modern business. According to CIO Magazine, IT budgets as a percentage of revenue were 5.2 per cent in 2013.
When revenues run into the hundreds of millions in mid-market organisations, you can see that investment in technology is crucial to success. But this leads to an increased pressure on mid-market businesses to ensure that the investments they are making into technology are strategically aligned with business plans. Choosing an ERP system becomes even more important for mid-market businesses that are growing and expanding rapidly. How do you choose a product that will remain useful in 10 years?
Often businesses can spend too long trying to find the perfect fit to cover every need. It is very unlikely that any off-the-shelf product will suffice, and even if they did, would every aspect actually be used? Only around 40 per cent of the implemented functionalities of many ERP systems are actually used – because it fails to answer the business need and is often incompatible with existing systems.
So what is the answer? Simplicity and fast adoption by users is key. A solution that covers 80-85 per cent of your functional needs is better than trying to solve everything at once.
Opting for a standard solution that ships with some pre-packaged business processes from the outset significantly lowers the implementation time and cost, providing a faster ROI. This method allows you the flexibility and breathing space to assess the integration of ERP and plan for the evolution of the system.
Omega Refrigeration started using Sage ERP X3 back in 2013 and illustrate how ERP can be a quick, seamless and – dare I say it –enjoyable experience. Michal Bredkle, MD at Omega explains: “We had quite a specific timeline in mind for the implementation of an ERP solution for Omega Refrigeration and we therefore needed a product that could be deployed quite rapidly. Our existing system was not able to deliver the functional capabilities we required. Sage ERP X3 fully integrated with our financial, distribution, trading, manufacturing, project implementation and unit servicing. It was deployed using our existing staff compliment and was finalised within the specified four month period, which was impressive”
Businesses with an effective ERP system that provides usable and accessible data will be the ones that perform best. Ultimately, by building the solution organically, mid-market businesses stand a much better chance of growing forward.
