Addressing the plethora of disconnected applications is the first step a small or mid-sized company can take to gain better control of its business operations and increase the efficiency of those operations. A single integrated suite of software - often referred to as an ERP or enterprise resource planning solution - provides significant advantages to the business, accommodating the breadth of the company's business processes, while providing the flexibility for even small companies to tailor the suites to meet their specific business needs.
Why do I care if my applications are integrated?
Today's technology solutions for the middle market and smaller businesses have distinct advantages over their predecessors - both the large ERP products that were installed in very big company and the standalone applications that were traditionally installed in the SMB. New advances in technology bring mid-sized companies the benefits of a single business management suite without the cost, complexity, and rigidity of traditional software applications.
So let's look at these benefits. What does an integrated suite of business applications allow your business to achieve that a collection of stand-alone applications cannot?
1. Functionality. Access to all the core functionality required to run the business over time - at an affordable price point.
2. Scalability. Integrated suite solutions are designed to grow with your company. Stand-alone applications generally "top out" without transition paths to other solutions, leaving you to start over from scratch with a new and different application. An integrated suite provided as "Software-as-a- Service" (i.e., software hosted online) will allow seamless growth. You can add more users, more modules, increase your database size, and increase your volume of transactions as your business grows without business disruption.
3. Consistent data management. Stand-alone applications - sometimes referred to as "silos" - can't easily talk to one another. Thus, small and middle-market companies spend a great deal of time doing the same task reiteratively - entering the same data in different programs. There are some identifiable problems with this:
It is a waste of time to reenter data over again.
It is very likely to be entered incorrectly.
It may look different in different programs (Why do I have two companies in my vendor list - one is International Business Machines and one is IBM? Why do I have two versions of the same customer - Robert Smith and Bob Smith - with the same address?)
Data that results from very different disconnected applications is inconsistent, so attempts to analyze it yields the proverbial "apples and oranges" - a decision-support fruit salad.
Data isn't readily accessible - data in an integrated system can be accessed without effort spent trying to tie or consolidate the data together.
Lack of visibility into business information that crosses either departments or standalone applications.
Timely access to information. Because a SaaS system is "real-time" you get the information you want at your fingertips immediately.
1. Vendor management. Face it, managing a plethora of vendors with multiple 800 numbers for customer service is not easy. An integrated suite gives you one solution supplier to work with.
2. Reliable service and support. The ability to access affordable service and support is critical. It is easier to support an integrated ERP environment than a hodgepodge of different applications.
3. Clarity. With an integrated business management suite, there is a "single version of the truth" that only needs to be entered once to be propagated to all parts of the business that need it. All business processes, all employees who touch the application, and all the executives who make decisions for the company see the same version of reality, in real time, all the time.
4. Business process customization and automation. Only with an integrated business management suite can SMBs actually tailor the entire business processes that underpin how they conduct their business. Because workflow underlies the entire suite and not just fragmented parts of it, SMBs for the first time have tools to customize the solutions to work exactly how their businesses work - rather than having an application that dictates how the business has to be run.
5. Long term cost of ownership when provided as SaaS. When an integrated suite is offered as Software-as-a-Service - allowing businesses to subscribe to a service rather than purchase, install, and maintain an in-house software solution - companies can better forecast and manage their costs, and eliminate high internal IT support costs. Web-based delivery of business solutions proves the most economical in the long run as your business needs grow and change2. Research shows that SaaS deployments are 50% to 90% faster with a total cost of ownership (TCO) five to ten times less expensive than traditional software.3 Cost of ownership can be complex - as it includes far more than just the savings gleaned in original purchase and implementation. It also includes:
The time, expense and skill required to integrate the multiple applications which has to occur each time an application in the mix is upgraded or replaced
The cost of potential disruption or downtime when the multiple products are upgraded or new revisions or releases are installed
Time and dollars spent upgrading software and ensuring integrated systems work properly together after each upgrade
The very positive effects of increased productivity: faster order processing, rapid access to critical data by employees, increased ability to address customer issues immediately; instant data for upsell/reselling, returns management, as only a few of the many examples.
The even more positive effects of timely, accurate billing with compliance to all revenue recognition requirements
Why do I care if my applications are integrated?
Today's technology solutions for the middle market and smaller businesses have distinct advantages over their predecessors - both the large ERP products that were installed in very big company and the standalone applications that were traditionally installed in the SMB. New advances in technology bring mid-sized companies the benefits of a single business management suite without the cost, complexity, and rigidity of traditional software applications.
So let's look at these benefits. What does an integrated suite of business applications allow your business to achieve that a collection of stand-alone applications cannot?
1. Functionality. Access to all the core functionality required to run the business over time - at an affordable price point.
2. Scalability. Integrated suite solutions are designed to grow with your company. Stand-alone applications generally "top out" without transition paths to other solutions, leaving you to start over from scratch with a new and different application. An integrated suite provided as "Software-as-a- Service" (i.e., software hosted online) will allow seamless growth. You can add more users, more modules, increase your database size, and increase your volume of transactions as your business grows without business disruption.
3. Consistent data management. Stand-alone applications - sometimes referred to as "silos" - can't easily talk to one another. Thus, small and middle-market companies spend a great deal of time doing the same task reiteratively - entering the same data in different programs. There are some identifiable problems with this:
It is a waste of time to reenter data over again.
It is very likely to be entered incorrectly.
It may look different in different programs (Why do I have two companies in my vendor list - one is International Business Machines and one is IBM? Why do I have two versions of the same customer - Robert Smith and Bob Smith - with the same address?)
Data that results from very different disconnected applications is inconsistent, so attempts to analyze it yields the proverbial "apples and oranges" - a decision-support fruit salad.
Data isn't readily accessible - data in an integrated system can be accessed without effort spent trying to tie or consolidate the data together.
Lack of visibility into business information that crosses either departments or standalone applications.
Timely access to information. Because a SaaS system is "real-time" you get the information you want at your fingertips immediately.
1. Vendor management. Face it, managing a plethora of vendors with multiple 800 numbers for customer service is not easy. An integrated suite gives you one solution supplier to work with.
2. Reliable service and support. The ability to access affordable service and support is critical. It is easier to support an integrated ERP environment than a hodgepodge of different applications.
3. Clarity. With an integrated business management suite, there is a "single version of the truth" that only needs to be entered once to be propagated to all parts of the business that need it. All business processes, all employees who touch the application, and all the executives who make decisions for the company see the same version of reality, in real time, all the time.
4. Business process customization and automation. Only with an integrated business management suite can SMBs actually tailor the entire business processes that underpin how they conduct their business. Because workflow underlies the entire suite and not just fragmented parts of it, SMBs for the first time have tools to customize the solutions to work exactly how their businesses work - rather than having an application that dictates how the business has to be run.
5. Long term cost of ownership when provided as SaaS. When an integrated suite is offered as Software-as-a-Service - allowing businesses to subscribe to a service rather than purchase, install, and maintain an in-house software solution - companies can better forecast and manage their costs, and eliminate high internal IT support costs. Web-based delivery of business solutions proves the most economical in the long run as your business needs grow and change2. Research shows that SaaS deployments are 50% to 90% faster with a total cost of ownership (TCO) five to ten times less expensive than traditional software.3 Cost of ownership can be complex - as it includes far more than just the savings gleaned in original purchase and implementation. It also includes:
The time, expense and skill required to integrate the multiple applications which has to occur each time an application in the mix is upgraded or replaced
The cost of potential disruption or downtime when the multiple products are upgraded or new revisions or releases are installed
Time and dollars spent upgrading software and ensuring integrated systems work properly together after each upgrade
The very positive effects of increased productivity: faster order processing, rapid access to critical data by employees, increased ability to address customer issues immediately; instant data for upsell/reselling, returns management, as only a few of the many examples.
The even more positive effects of timely, accurate billing with compliance to all revenue recognition requirements
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