The ERP Advantage: How Companies Benefit With ERP Systems

What is ERP?

Coined for the first time in 1990 by the Gartner Group, the acronym “ERP” or Enterprise Resource Planning is a dynamic business management software commonly used by organizations for integrating and managing business functions. 

How ERP aligned departments and functions

Before talking about benefits of ERP technology let’s understand ERP’s value a little better. Prior to the implementation of ERP in organizations, every department had their unique computer applications to collate, store, record, organize, analyse and interpret data. This time consuming, costly affair often resulted in delayed decision making and resource consumption. ERP gave way to organizational efficiency as a common database could store data pertaining to multiple functions/departments and also permit multi-departmental data to be accessed from the same database in real time. In general an ERP software provides solutions for:

ERP: Aligning Departments and Functions

How does ERP benefit?

The obvious question to ask here is, “How does ERP benefit?” which will help one in understanding why the world has a growing number of ERP technology users.

The ERP Advantage

Implementing ERP in the organization has some key benefits. Not only does it standardize processes by adhering to globally accepted best practices but also lessens complexity. That being said, certain other benefits witnessed by ERP technology users include: 

• Operating Costs reduced: Business margins can be improved by reducing operating costs. ERP improves the manner in which resources are managed helping in reducing overall costs. 

• Compliance processes improved: With the implementation of ERP, organizations are more focused on complying with regulatory frameworks. For instance, organizations can have tighter control on regulations like the Sarbanes-Oxley or even the Basel II.

• Improvement in data quality: With ERP there is a visible improvement in the quality of data stored. Centralization reduces duplicate and/or redundant data entry, shares information across departments, tracks level of inventory, manages working capital and more. This ensures that organizations can track their performance, avoid major mistakes while leveraging from business opportunities.

• Enhanced CRM processes: At the end of the day, every organization aims to keep their customers satisfied. Implementing ERP ensures that organizations are able to handle its CRM processes in a more professional and efficient way. For instance, using a single database for all customer information such as personal data, billing details, feedback and others, helps to retain customers by proving a better level of service.

• Process scalability: With time, organizations are adding new functions into existing processes as businesses are always altering the manner in which they function. ERP is an extremely scalable software, and regardless of whether organizations are streamlining processes or adding new ones, it is compatible enough to adapt, without compromising on its delivery.  

It goes without saying that ERP technology users have seen significant difference in the way organizations work. The market today is receptive to ERP software and there are several market players contesting for ERP market share. The market leaders for ERP include: SAP, Oracle, Sage, Microsoft to name a few. The future for ERP is indeed bright!  


To know more about ERP software or how you can get access to details of organizations using ERP get in touch with us.