Myth Busters: Data Insecurity on Cloud

“Sure an ERP system is great, but is my data safe on the cloud?”

Due to common misconceptions, and with wide spread myths about cloud storage some companies remain hesitant to move forward into the future.

The cloud enables greater transparency and accessibility, rapid deployment of the software across the company and seamless scaling of business functions to meet market changes. There have been a number of high profile attacks on company data in the past year, a case in point being Sony. These stories are bound to make some hesitant about switching to the cloud.
These are the top buyer misconceptions when it comes to cloud ERP system:

1. Cloud data is more prone to attack

An ERP vendor has more expertise on data security than the average enterprise engaging its services. The physical location of the server, be it on company premises or within a cloud provider’s data center, has little relevance on the server’s potential vulnerability. The data’s security relies less on the physical location of the server and more on the security measures implemented by the center. Companies with on premise ERP have the added responsibility of maintaining its server’s security and maintenance. The generally superior to that of the average enterprise. Thus purely in terms of data security, the cloud system is the better option for most small and medium sized enterprises.

2. Data Residency Control

Many countries have regulations that restrict personal or sensitive data to be exported or stored in a different country. Companies that fear that their data and records may be outsourced without their consent can rest east knowing that there are legislative restrictions to prevent that. By choosing a reputable and reliable ERP vendor who is transparent about the internal and external policies governing the relationship, the firms can be assured that their data is in reliable hands and rest easy.

3. Rival firms with the same vendor can hack and sabotage

A persistent but unfounded concern is that a cloud based system that houses the data of multiple firms is inherently more susceptible to data hacks, leaks and attacks. In a cloud system, firms share a pool of network and storage resources, which brings about this fear, because in the business world, sharing is not about caring. Firms can be assured that the cloud providers segment and secure the servers and resources in such a way that essentially each company’s data is in their own private space, completely detached and inaccessible for others.

4. No Cloud, No Worries!
A firm that has not opted for a cloud ERP system may smugly assume that it is safer. “My data is not stored on the cloud, it is stored on my own computer. I am completely safe!” But if the computers are connected to the internet, the firm is already on the cloud. Given that most, if not all, companies are connected to the internet, no company is perfectly safe from attacks and data theft.
5. Data security is the sole responsibility of the Cloud Provider
The cloud ERP vendor does manage the network security and associated tasks for the firm. However, to rely solely on the vendor for all aspects of data security is a massive folly. Internal data management and confidentiality policies, password policies, employee accessibility, user management and security training of employees are equally, if not more, important when it comes to maintaining data integrity and safety.
There are several reasons to choose a cloud based solution for your business needs. Lower costs, greater accessibility and flexibility are some of the many reasons that firms are increasingly opting for cloud-based ERP. The common myths and misconceptions regarding data security on the cloud are more fiction than fact. Enterprises looking for a suitable ERP system can be rest assured that the cloud options are safe.

Contributor : Vidushi

 

SOFTWARE VS. SYSTEM

A piece of a larger puzzle

The terms ‘accounting software’ and ‘ERP’ are often used interchangeably, but there is a vast difference among the two. The casual interchangeability in the usage of the two terms has caused confusion among some SMEs about what is the exact difference between the software and the system. The confusion between the two may have risen as companies that offered accounting software added more features and modules overtime and expanded into full ERP solution providers.

The accounting software that companies used previously dealt solely with financial transactions. The sales of goods, purchase of materials and order tracking were the main features of software solution. Accounting softwares include accounting information such as accounts payable, accounts receivable, trial balances etc. Other frequently bundled functions include billing, expenses, time sheets and sales and purchase orders.

Enterprise resource planning systems encompasses a much broader area and address more business functions. The ERP package covers functions beyond accounting and also factors in qualitative and intangible data. Production planning, ordering, customer relationship management, warehousing, inventory tracking, business intelligence business analytics are comprised within the ERP package. An organization with a fully implemented ERP has greater integration of data and information, better intra-organizational communication and streamlined processes. ERP systems allow a more in-depth view of each function of the organization. Thus ERP results greater transparency and control and by providing real time automatic reports it allows managers to make quick and correct business decisions.

Let’s take the ExpandERP system as an example which offers accounting solutions with financial management, budgeting, receipts and payments included. The package offers much more with customer relationship management, export, procurement and business intelligence modules as well. The entire system integrates and combines the data and with its business intelligence can help predict future profits and losses, lower cost of production by increasing purchase order efficiency, lower operational costs and over time boost the company’s growth.

An accounting software is a part of the ERP package. One can view the accounting solution as a part of the larger jigsaw puzzle that is ERP. While the system would be incomplete without the accounting part, it consists of far more parts that are combined together to form the big integrated ERP picture. Enterprise resource planning offers more than just financial book-keeping and delves into making the whole companies processes as streamlined and efficient as possible. Though the accounting and financial management module is one of the most integral part of the ERP package, its functionalities go far beyond.



Contributor : Vidushi 

FUNCTIONALITIES OF ERP SYSTEMS

What exactly does an ERP system offer?

There is much talk about businesses implementing an ERP system to meet the growing needs of their organizations, and manage the complexities that come along with growth. But what exactly is ERP
and why do businesses need it?
Enterprise Resource Planning, abbreviated as ERP, refers to programs and systems offered to businesses that aid in their day to day transactional processes, business decision making, analytics, reporting, and customer relationship management among other things. In the past it was exclusively in the domain of giant companies that could afford the exorbitant price tags that came with the ERP implementation. Companies such as Nestle, Nike, Hershey’s, and Sony would routinely spend over a 100 million dollars to integrate and streamline their business processes and various branches all over the world. What did an ERP system offer that made it worth so much? We will discuss the major features and functionalities of ERP to shed light on it.

Financial Management and Accounting

The first most basic module in an ERP is that of accounting and financial management. An ERP software allows the employees of an organization to enter day-to-day transactional data and purchases. It provides a framework for the accounting data and transactions of an organization to be entered and updated on a daily basis, giving a real time, accurate financial reports. The company’s assets, liabilities, revenue, profits are all consolidated under one roof. The framework provided by the ERP software helps to standardize the accounting information and streamlines the process. It increases the efficiency of the accounting and finance department of the company and increases transparency of the organization as it allows management and employees to view the components that make up a financial figure. The greater accuracy and transparency helps both the internal and external stakeholders of the company to make business decisions.

Purchasing and Ordering

The ERP program enables companies to automate their purchasing process and optimizes the purchases. The ERP software helps in selecting vendors, planning purchases and managing orders. It integrates the data with other business functions like accounting and warehousing within the system and enables employees to have a detailed overview of their stocks and purchases. It enables the organization to make the best purchase decisions and thus save on costs. The vendor management feature of the module allows the organization to maintain steady supplier relationships. ERP helps to centralize the information and have real time reporting about the happenings of the business. It ultimately helps to make better informed buying decisions.

Warehousing and Production

Businesses can manage their inventory across various warehouses and locations with the help of an ERP software. Manufacturing companies can maintain optimal inventory levels and aids in material requirement planning and production order management. Export-import businesses can maintain optimal stock levels and improve on-time delivery – without experiencing shortages or being forced to maintain surpluses. The ERP program enables accurate inventory tracking and costing, giving managers a keener business insight. The greater efficiency due to the automation lowers inventory costs. The on-time delivery and fewer stock shortages increase customer satisfaction and help the company grow.

Customer Relationship Management

One of the most important features of ERP, this allows businesses to win new customers and increase customer loyalty. The customer relationship management tools help to optimize and integrate the company’s sales, marketing and support processes. The ERP program helps businesses to plan and monitor their marketing campaigns, and later helps to analyze the results. By analyzing the customer’s information, it helps companies identify the most promising prospects and convert these prospects into loyal customers. Efficient management of service contracts and warranties improves customer service times and increases satisfaction levels. The company can increase its sales revenue and look towards greater profits arising from more customer conversions.

Integrating Subsidiaries and Partners

Large companies often have multiple subsidiaries and partners, and intercompany transactions tend to increase business complexities. An ERP system automates, streamlines and integrates intercompany transactions and helps to prevent confusion and reduce errors in reporting. The automation increases organizational efficiency by saving time and effort that would otherwise be spent in manually processing and reconciling company data. The ERP system helps companies comply with governmental rules and regulations regarding inter-organizational transactions. The increased transparency in the reporting of intercompany transaction help to give an accurate picture of the overall performance of the business.

Analytics and Reports

The overall ERP system increases organizational transparency and gives a real-time accurate picture of the company’s financial performance and growth. The streamlined and standardized data enables employees to have a clear understanding of the company’s internal situation. The up-to-date data enables fast and accurate report generation for the company’s shareholders and management. The ERP software often helps in the analysis of business data and enables employees to make well informed decisions.

The standardization and integration of company information increases overall organizational efficiency. The greater transparency that results from the ERP system provides incentive to shareholders to continue their investments. The improved customer service helps to increase loyalty and gain new clients in the process. Overall, the implementation of an ERP system helps the company to grow and maximize its potential.





Contributor : Vidushi

CRM IS ESSENTIAL FOR SURVIVAL

In the age of the hyper-competitive, businesses that fail to provide exceptional services each and every time risk losing out to competitors

That is one of the reasons why CRM program sales have grown exponentially in the past few years. Even small and mid-sized enterprises will now splurge to ensure that they remain ahead of their competition. For companies that are still in two minds, the following benefits of CRM should quell their doubts, knowing a great CRM system is worth the investment.

Improved Customer Service
Customers today expect nothing less than the best when it comes to service. Companies are at greater risk, as one bad customer experience can unleash social media mockery from all corners of the world. Customers today expect a customized experience – long holds, several call transfers and unsatisfactory resolutions to problems are a surefire way to lose both current and potential clients.

A customer relationship management system enables you to identify your customer, know their past purchase history and experience and quickly address their questions and concerns. It allows the service team to recommend products and services that match each individuals’ profile. Customers enjoy better service with fewer hassles and the company benefits from more happy and loyal customers.

Increased Interdepartmental Integration
With a CRM system the sales, marketing and customer service department are able to freely and easily exchange important information about business strategies and processes. The increased collaboration leads to better interdepartmental coordination and creates synergy within the company. This helps achieve organizational goals faster and more efficiently. With a CRM system, all the departments are able to function as a cohesive unit. The three way approach helps to give customers a better experience, convert more leads into sales, and increase company revenues.

Streamlines Functions
In sales, marketing and customer service areas, there are often many formalities that need to be done and recorded. Keeping customer records up to date, scheduling and tracking follow ups to clients, general record keeping about customer inquiries, complaints and resolutions are some of the critical, but often mundane tasks that employees need to complete. A CRM system enables the staff to quickly record data, and automates the follow ups, and customer records. With all the mundane tasks out of the way, the marketing team can focus their energy and efforts on creating impactful campaigns and the sales team can focus their efforts on converting prospects into loyal customers.

Aids in Marketing Campaigns
A CRM system can quickly analyze available data about individuals and identify the most promising prospects among them. The marketing team can identify their target market and design a campaign to convert them. The CRM program enables employees to plan and monitor their campaigns and analyses the effectiveness of their efforts. By allowing businesses to focus on their most promising segments, and fine tune their marketing strategies accordingly, a CRM system generates greater returns and reduces costs. Time, effort and money that would otherwise have been spent on marketing to individuals who would not become customers is thus saved.

Analysis and Reporting
The CRM program integrates customer and sales data and houses it in one place. This reduces data redundancy and allows the program to track and analyze the buying behavior of each customer. Thus when time comes around for a new product purchase, the CRM system enables the sales team to swiftly swoop in and ensure the customer remains loyal to the company. Additionally, companies have an automatic view of which products and services are selling well and which ones are not. Managers have a clear view of the overall sales and services performance of the company. It also allows them to identify the most and least efficient staff members and helps the HR department when time comes around for bonuses and pink slips.

To rule the market, it is essential that you treat your customer like a king. A customer relationship management system enables companies to focus on their customers and provide the best service to them. The data analytics gives staff an overview of each customer and help them to deliver personalized and customized experience to each and every client. The automation and efficiency afforded by the program gives the marketing and sales departments the ability to create and execute impactful campaigns that will ultimately increase the bottom line of the business.



Contributor : Vidushi

BAD CRM CAN KILL (COMPANIES)

With the advent of the social customer, businesses nowadays have to be far more careful in their interactions with buyers. One miffed customer can spell a PR disaster for companies.

When Jeff Jarvis bought a Dell computer which soon malfunctioned, his repeated calls and mails to the customer service were met with either stony silence or unhelpful automated responses. Becoming disgruntled with the service, he wrote a scathing review on his blog, entitled “Dell Hell” that was shared widely across the internet. Around 10,000 people saw the post each day and shared their equally negative experience with the company. The top management only took notice when the story was shared in the mainstream media – almost too late. The company quickly jumped into action to assure Jarvis and the other bloggers that the matter would be fixed as soon as possible; however, the PR damage was done. In 2006 the company announced that it would be spending $100 million and ‘a lot of blood, sweat and tears’ to fix the issue. A costly disaster to say the least.


In today’s world, where each and every disgruntled customer may lead to a public relations disaster for a company, it becomes essential for businesses to deploy a smooth customer relation management program. To survive in this social setting, a solid CRM system is vital.

A good CRM system gives companies the following key advantages:

• Allows customers to have seamless interactions with relevant persons in the organization to answer their queries and issues

•  Gives greater automation to routine processes saving valuable time and resources for the company

• With data analytics, it enables companies to predict their most valuable potential customers – and ensure optimal contact to secure their loyalty

•  Creates a faster, more efficient customer relationship system

•  Increases word of mouth publicity and sales

Had Dell employed a more thoughtful approach to their CRM strategy, perhaps it may have been able to save its blood, sweat, tears and money.





Contributor : Vidushi

How to choose the right ERP?

Choosing among the various ERP options can be a daunting task. With a large number of vendors and options, businesses need to be careful and choose the system that best suits them.

 The right ERP program can boost the organization’s productivity, lower operating costs and set the company on a path of growth.

The plethora of options available need to be carefully assessed to decide on the most suitable system for their needs. The following are some key aspects to keep in mind when weighing your choices: 
Have a specific, concrete list of requirement 

The foremost task for businesses should be to list out their requirements of the ERP system. The enterprise should pinpoint the current challenges and issues it faces, and how it expects the ERP system to solve it.

The company should identify the specific business processes and key functions required. If the organization already has a system in place and is looking for a new system to match its needs, it should identify the key issues and problems of the current program and voice their concerns to the ERP vendors.

Optimally, companies should opt for ERP programs that address the industry specific needs. Having an extensive ERP system where the majority of the components are not used by the organization is a waste of organizational resources. The functionalities required by the business need to be specified in advance to target the most suitable ERP providers.

Technological requirements and Compatibility

The companies must consider options that are compatible with their business and resources at hand. It should note if the ERP program requires additional hardware, servers and IT related investments. If the company needs a system with their current technology it should opt for vendors that cater to their specific need.

For instance, the majority of small and mid-sized enterprises use computers that run on a Microsoft operating system, and frequently use Word, Excel, Access etc. for business purposes. For these companies, a .NET ERP program would be compatible with their current system and integrate well with the existing framework.

Cost of ERP and Payment Options

The company must consider the options that are within their budget. The cost of implementing the ERP is an important consideration. Some key questions would be whether the ERP deployment requires large upfront payment or investment or does the vendor offer a pay-as-you-go, monthly or yearly subscription option. Another issue to keep in mind if the cost of updating the ERP when the subscription runs out. Businesses should choose programs that are scalable and can be altered as needed to suit the needs of a growing business.

Accessibility and User-friendliness

Businesses must be clear on how much accessibility they want to allow their users. Typically onsite ERP systems are very restricted in nature and can only be accessed within the premises of the office. Cloud based systems allow users to access the data from any part of the world using their web browser. Businesses can choose between an onsite, cloud or a combination ERP system.

A key aspect to consider is the user friendliness of the ERP software. Would employees require extensive training to use the program or is the ERP system intuitive and easy to use? The cost of training employees and the additional time required must be considered. The highly competitive nature of the current business environment requires the company data be accessible by users through the computers, mobile devices and tablets. In order to maximize the benefits of ERP and increase productivity companies should choose a program that would be compatible with multiple devices and operating systems.

Implementation and Customization

The organization must consider how long a particular ERP system take to be successfully deployed and fully functional. The implementation process and the time frame must be considered. Onsite ERP programs take an average of 12 months to be implemented whereas cloud based programs take approximately 3 to 6 months. Typically, the greater the customization of the program, the longer the deployment period. Additionally a highly customized program costs more, not only initially but each time when the program is renewed and updated as well.

A highly customized system would address the need to the enterprise better but would require more time to tailor, implement and cost more. It would also take additional time whenever the program is renewed and updated as the customisation have to be re-done. The companies need to strike a balance between the additional benefits of a customized program and the greater costs and time lags associated with it.

Vendor reputation and Support

Often not discussed but an important matter nonetheless is the vendor’s reputation. Is the vendor known to deliver upon his promises and are former and current clients satisfied with the services provided? A business may ask for references to clients in the same industry to obtain feedback about the vendor’s product and services.

The services offered by the ERP provider are another important aspect to consider. The enterprise needs to evaluate the support system of the vendor and the promptness of the support staff in addressing and rectifying issues that may arise with the ERP program.

A business must carefully weigh all key aspects and optional before choosing an ERP solution. It must be ensured that the system needs the requirements of the enterprise and is well suited to the organizational objectives.


Contributor - Vidushi 

BENEFITS OF CRM - Can a CRM system provide your business the boost...

Can a CRM system provide your business the boost that it needs to deliver the best to your clients?

Customer Relationship Management is essential. Companies are now subject to scrutiny from various governmental bodies. However, the most important scrutiny does not come from these institutions - it comes from potential and prospective clients.

What can a company do to alleviate a client’s doubts and suspicions? Ensure efficiency and expectation fulfillment of
every single consumer. A CRM system helps you manage your customers so you can provide world class service and have happy and satisfied clients.

A CRM system automates the ordering process, giving the buyers a smooth, hassle-free experience with the company. It saves time, both the customers’ and the employees’ and money by having a fast paperless order trial. All the business functions that are involved in the ordering, tracking, delivering, customer service and accounting process are made seamless with the implementation of this efficient system.

With an efficient CRM system, your business can look forward to the future:

1. Faster ordering process
2. Automated communication system
3. Real time order tracking
4. Seamless data integration
5. Significant time saving
6. Greater efficiency
7. Increased customer satisfaction
8. Faster company growth

Expand your business, generate greater leads, fulfill more orders and ultimately increase your revenue and profits. A CRM system ensures happy customers and happy shareholders. 

Contributor - Vidushi 

Think before you build your own IT infrastructure

Due to the sheer complexity and volume of business, setting up on premise IT infrastructure is the first thing that comes to mind. It is costly. Maintaining IT with in-house or third-party support team is

unmanageable.

Regular upgrade, update, patches, security fixes, troubleshooting compatibility issues are important for smooth business operation. Troubleshooting a software issue or printer issue or fixing hardware can sometimes take days due to limited in-house knowledge. Depending on third party can be time consuming due to their response time. For business, IT issues can cost dearly. It can lead to missing order deadlines and business can even lose customers. 

Every business or individual today is online on internet most of the time. We all use hosted applications in some way or the other like emailing, social media, file sharing or shared drives. With the increased penetration of Internet, more and more companies are looking to adopt more flexible, manageable and scalable infrastructure. The primary concern of the business owner is order fulfilment and customer retention. For proper management, Businesses needs undisrupted information flow and complete visibility of business. Moving to Cloud is the first step to empower the employees with world class IT infrastructure and better business continuity.  

Adopting Cloud is only one half of the solution. The other half is upgrading your legacy business application to Advanced Cloud based Enterprise Application. There will be advisors and providers for work arounds / patch for legacy applications but soon you will realise the pitfalls. In the globally competitive marketplace, your employees need robust and flexible application, that can custom fit the business and automate repetitive workload. This is ideal and most desirable solution for business success. This will lead to better efficiency and productivity. We at EXPAND ERP help mid-market with integration and automation to take advantage of latest in technology.

Contributor - Vineet

Importance of ERP Software in any business

Business is dynamic. The complexity of business is increasing manifolds. Aggregators and virtual market place is making business highly competitive. Disruptive technology like smartphones, mobile apps have revolutionised the way people transact.  

Businesses with basic and legacy software are finding it extremely difficult to manage business. ERP software is indispensable for any business. Businesses understand the need for integrated software and automation through ERP software for operational efficiency. Generally, the ERP software is comprehensive and hence complex by design. Selecting and comparing ERP software features that are right for the business is the biggest challenge. It is a daunting task for the business owner as it involves time, money and setting the processes is order with buy in from end users. 

Today, ERP software has most modules a business would want to integrate with. For e.g. Accounting, Inventory, Order Management, Procurement, and Production, MRP, Payroll and Quality control. EXPAND ERP goes beyond regular ERP software offerings. EXPAND ERP further integrates CRM, asset management, fleet management, POS, eCommerce, Mobile App and connectors for popular accounting packages and with large eCommerce players. With over a decade of experience in diverse verticals, EXPAND ERP has evolved with best practice and customer feedback for best user experience. 

EXPAND ERP understands the work environment of developing countries, training and support needs. EXPAND ERP through its ‘Quick Start’ methodology on Cloud makes the ERP implementation journey short and ensures success with quick ROI. Business owners get complete visibility of the business with the help of ERP software. ERP on cloud enables realtime information sharing and analytics capabilities. 

Business stakeholders can take informed and faster decision. Response time for the business to its customer is timely, consistent and quick. Business never goes silent with customer relations as system reminds for action. Overall customer experience improves and it’s the key to business success.

Contributor - Vineet

ERP Implementation = Failure! Not Anymore.

When it comes to deciding for an ERP for the organisation, the monster that comes to everyone’s mind is ERP Implementation. ERP implementation is not just perceived but in reality is a nightmare. We have come across more failure than success when it comes to ERP implementation.

This holds true for all ERP providers and any project size. All ERP vendors have to deal with this negativity that clutches the minds of decision makers.

In an implementation there are two and only two rules both the ERP vendor and Customer need to remember to make it successful!

1. For the ERP vendors: Do not try to push Customer to change everything in his business process to fit the ERP.

2. For the Customer: Do not try to change ERP to make every part work according to the business.

Of course, every Customer see ERP Implementation as an opportunity to adopt best practice and are tempted to do as much customisation possible but this is the number one reason for project failure.

Involvement of top management and important end users into the project planning stage is critical for leading project to success and avoid resistance on rollout. Lastly, training and documentation is taken lightly by end users until it is forced upon.  

The above dos and don’ts are totally valid for Vanilla ERP vendors. You can google numerous case studies in reference.

History and experience has taught us and we at EXPAND ERP have steered through this journey to bring industry specific solution to minimise implementation timeline and deliver quick ROI. With ready to go live on cloud from day one and on the go training, our customers have more success to share.

The summary, inspite of all the odds ERP system is something any business cannot do without in this competitive world. We have customers who have learned from failures and made successful rollout across their business expanse and taken business to newer heights with better efficiency and productivity. With Cloud technology and Internet of Things (IoT) taking the lead, it is high time that we make our business secure and easier to manage.

Contributor - Vineet

Is your ERP ready for Internet of Things (IoT) ?

Did you know there are more mobile phones than humans on this planet? The ever increasing use of smart devices, they are getting more intelligent with more sophisticated sensing capabilities. 
The extensive use of sensor embedded devices, The old saying ‘Garbage In Garbage Out’ seems no more relevant. The devices are getting smarter and increasingly the data input is automated with least human intervention. The data thus collected is analysed by enterprise software and ready to influence and guide human decision. Early adopters of Enterprise software are more than ready to get fully automated. Early days examples of integration of PLC, Weigh bridge, boom barriers at manufacturing units as management control has evolved further to offer real time update and statistics on patterns, forecast and better alert humans for preventive action and readiness. Early indications by Internet of Things (IoT) can reduce lead time, save costs and increase efficiency of businesses exponentially. One of the most widely used examples of IoT is GPS devices that are fitted on vehicles for tracking of location, movement, quality of driving and vehicle performance. The device only generates location data every few seconds that is captured on central servers and further analysed to get meaningful information. Most of the businesses today use GPS on their vehicles. Today businesses track the product they sell for its lifetime. Service industry offers more convenient ways to reach customers; on the contrary customers find services. Unless IoT is not integrated with analytics capability and enterprise application the organisation cannot see an impact on its business. To sum up, in days to come business need to ensure readiness on scalable infrastructure and flexible software that can consume and process data from IoT and make business more competitive in the market place.intelligent devices that are generating data and at the same time transmitting data. 

Contributor - Vineet

Advantages of Software as Service

With Cloud infrastructure availability across the globe, software vendors are rapidly coming up with numerous applications ready to use as a service. SaaS is expected to grow 3 folds in the next 3 years.

The foremost reason for exponential growth of SaaS is lower total cost of ownership followed by various technology and competitive benefits. Leading global organizations are using SaaS in many different ways like infrastructure outsourcing, analytics, big data, research and development, security, backup etc…
Companies with common objectives are able to come closer and collaborate on common platform resulting is efficiency compared to peers.
Due to the flexibility of Cloud infrastructure and SaaS model companies are able to quickly adapt to changing business needs and challenges.
Cloud + SaaS today is reducing time to market, encourage collaboration and innovation and of course bringing down the cost.
eDominer offers EXPAND business software solution as a service through cloud globally. Customers have seen significant improvement in resource productivity and utilization. Today eDominer is enabling customers of all sizes in Exports and Manufacturing domain to migrate to cloud and become more competitive in response time and customer experience

Contributor - Vineet

Common ERP Mistakes and How to Avoid Making Them

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems are huge investments of money, resources and time. And while a successful ERP implementation can help your organisation streamline workflow and cut costs, a poorly planned and implemented ERP can severely cost organizations, in terms of lost productivity and delays. To help ensure your ERP implementation is a success, productivity and delays.

productivity and delays. To help ensure your ERP implementation is a success, or at least to minimize potential problems we have come up with some commonly cited ERP mistakes and their fixes.

Inadequate planning – Planning is absolutely necessary if you want your ERP project to succeed. Many organizations do not do enough forthright planning before they begin an ERP software evaluation which often leads to confusion because they might not fully understand their current processes and how to develop them to maximize business benefits and efficiencies. To solve this problem, organizations should conduct an internal assessment of all of their processes and policies before choosing an ERP system.

Not understanding or using key features. Without knowing features, companies miss opportunities to automate business processes, complete functions faster, and meet business objectives. To solve this problem, create a ist with all features, tracking usage, and occasionally reviewing the list to determine which features are being used and which are the most helpful. This knowledge catalog can be used to train new employees, write test scripts, and help with review, compliance, and reporting requirements.

Underestimating the time and resources required. All companies underestimate the time and resources required to implement a new ERP system. So how can you calculate the necessary time involved? The time involved can be estimated by dividing the cost of the software by 100. Double that number if you plan to self-implement with minimal professional assistance. It is important to assign a dedicated project manager.

Not having the right people on the team from the start. Sometimes, organizations do not bring the right people together from the very start of an ERP implementation. ERP implementation is one of the biggest projects an organization can undertake, and consequently, mistakes can be made and plans might get out tracked if the right stakeholders are not involved in every part of the decision-making process. For example, many organizations focus on getting executive approval, instead of gathering key participants from across the organization, from finance, operations, manufacturing, purchasing, and the warehouse, in addition to IT. The benefit: employees who are actively engaged with the ERP implementation, who have an investment in getting it right, right from the start.

Contributor - Vineet