Selecting The Software That Is Right For Your Business

There are literally hundreds of software vendors out there offering thousands of ERP solutions and/or business management solutions. Truth be told, picking the one that is right for you is not likely to come easy. That is why knowing precisely what you want the software to do is as important as knowing what you can live without, or which may be something you add later on. Choosing the right business management system for your company can be a daunting task, but it should be thought of as an investment in the future and with careful planning and attention to detail, this investment can pay huge dividends for your business.

 

1) Seek the Right Solution for Your Company, Industry and Corporate Culture

Every company is unique and even companies of the same size in the same industry transact their business in very different ways. So, when shopping for a business management system it is very important to find a solution that best fits the way your company does business. Identify the special needs and priorities of your company and any particular business processes that are unique to your situation, and then factor those needs and priorities into your decision making process. If the business management software does not fully address all your specific industry requirements, then does it have additional 3rd party add-ons that can fill that gap? Most established vendors have published software development kits (SDKs) that allow independent software solution partners (ISVs) to create products that work with the core business management application. Knowledge of the unique attributes of your company will help you to differentiate the features you must have from the features that would be nice to have. Understand what the software can do and what it cannot do. If you use tools from the Microsoft Office Suite, make sure that the system you choose can fully leverage this software. Is it easy to create business reports and manage data using Excel? Will your solution synchronize with Outlook so that you can seamlessly create quotes, enter orders, track sales and initiate marketing campaigns while working from within the Outlook program? These are the types of issues you will want to explore to ensure that you get the system that is right for your company.

 2) Think Globally and Prepare To Do Business Online

The spread of globalization and the rapid advancement of the Internet mean that more and more companies are transacting business across borders and online earlier in their life cycles. It is likely that you will need a business management solution that allows you to extend your business internationally as well as to the Web, if you have not done so already. Conducting business internationally will require you to buy and sell goods and services globally and perhaps even manage employees in a different country. This means you might have to transact business in multiple currencies and promote and sell your goods and services in multiple languages. Also, if this is the case, you will need to comply with legal regulations in multiple countries. So, you need a system that can handle issues such as these. Look for a business management system that will make it easier for you to move online even if this is not a current business requirement or goal today. You want a system that will support both business to business (B2B) and business to customer (B2C) transactions online. The system should let employees share data via Intranet portals, allow for the creation of applications that can be run in a browser, and be capable of supporting employees both wirelessly and via mobile devices. System security also will become more important as you grow the business and become more geographically dispersed. As your company expands, you will increasingly be required to restrict access to different people based on different privileges. As your business grows in size and complexity, your reporting requirements also are likely to become more complex. If you need certain data extracted from your system and distributed to your staff automatically or to be formatted in a certain way, you want to be certain that your system will have those capabilities.

 3) Find A Complete System That Is Flexible

You need a system that will comprehensively cover all of your business management functions including financials, sales, customers, e-commerce, inventory and operations. It should integrate well with your business processes and be easy to use. Additionally, you may need to integrate another industry-specific product with your main business management application, so you will want a solution that will serve you well not only today but that also is extensible so that it can work with your changing needs. Overtime, your business processes are likely to change. This might occur as the result of new government regulations or you might change your processes to become more efficient. Alternatively, as you grow in size and scale, the size and scale of your customers may grow as well. For example, you might land a new large customer that requires you to conduct business in a certain way. So, you need to ensure that your solution will be able to handle changes such as these. One good question to ask your software vendor is if there is a defined upgrade path that will allow your business management solution to grow as your company evolves rather than having to start from scratch. Another good way to address this issue is to inquire if the system has a published SDK that allows you to make the necessary modifications to the product as your needs change, in addition to helping you better manage your industry-specific requirements.

4) Don’t Forget the Cloud

The emergence of Software as a Service (SaaS) means that instead of buying all the hardware and software (and to a large extent many of the services as well), you merely rent the software that someone else manages for you typically in a remote data center. Because you end up sharing many of the common expenses (infrastructure, security, platform development etc), the cost of renting such software can be lower than what you might end up incurring if you tried to replicate the whole system in-house. Also, since SaaS applications are a more recent phenomenon, they tend to be more modern in their architecture and design and are built with easier/friendlier user interface, which makes software adoption easier and keeps training costs lower. Many of the larger, more established vendors like SAP, Microsoft etc have made significant investment in this area and offer either pure SaaS applications, or have engineered their traditional on-premise applications to be hosted in the cloud by a Partner. Either way, Cloud-based applications are certainly be something you might want to consider as you consider upgrading your system.