THE PRICE OF PUTTING OFF AN ERP SOFTWARE DECISION

Putting off an ERP implementation or upgrade decision will negatively impact your business’ bottom line.  By putting off technology infrastructure investments, organizations may avoid short-term costs and disruptions, but ultimately, those costs and disruptions will only be amplified in the future when infrastructure investments become unavoidable. Aberdeen Group’s new Whitepaper, “The Cost of Doing Nothing: Why You Can’t Afford to Sit on an ERP Software Decision” concluded that every month you delay or decline to make your decision will ultimately hurt your business in the long-run.

Why Wait?

The number one reason that organizations refrain from investing in ERP is that they consider themselves too small (49% of Aberdeen’s sample).  As we’ve discussed in our “What is ERP” blog, modern ERP has adopted the SaaS (Software as a Service) model, allowing smaller organizations to leverage the same robust ERP solutions as larger enterprises.  Modern ERP solutions are also built for digital, module based and leverage API functionality to create a software solution that is flexible, scalable and affordable.

Perhaps the most troubling rationale for putting off an ERP decision is the belief that an organization has been able to function without ERP in the past (26%) and thus, will be able to function without ERP in the future (23%).  This reasoning fails to account for potential future growth and challenges that their business is already dealing with on a regular basis.

Aberdeen found that businesses that have chosen not to implement an ERP solution face several common challenges as a result of their lacking technological infrastructure.  These challenges include redundant data (33%), business systems that cannot interact with one another (33%), systems that cannot track business processes (28%), difficulty sharing data outside of the organization (23%), lack of collaborative capabilities (23%) and inaccurate data (23%).  At the core of all of these challenges lies a lack of visibility.  A robust, modern ERP solution allows for real-time data visibility and collaboration which empowers decision-makers.

Stay Ahead Of The Curve

Not all businesses that have implemented an ERP solution are using it to its fullest potential.  These organizations must decide if their current system needs to be updated to the newest version, or replaced entirely.  The top reason for updating ERP, according to Aberdeen’s survey, is to take advantage of new functionality (55%), followed by enhanced ease of use (29%), and flexibility (27%).  The top reported reasons for replacing ERP are obsolete technology foundation or infrastructure of the system (43%) and lack of features (41%).

Companies that utilize their modern ERP solutions on the latest version perform better across key business metrics.  These measures include days sales outstanding (DSO), complete and on-time delivery, internal schedule compliance, inventory accuracy, and customer satisfaction.  These significant performance differences are due to their ability to utilize innovative best practices, transparency and collaboration within their business, and empowered decision-makers thanks to the improved functionality that comes with a properly maintained ERP solution.

The short-term benefits of putting off an ERP software decision are far outweighed by the long-term consequences, whether you haven’t yet implemented ERP or are running an antiquated system that needs to updated or upgraded. The price is simply too high for your business to put it off any longer.

If you’re ready to move your business forward contact one of our representatives today.  Our expert consultants will be happy to help you make the best ERP decision for your business today