With each passing day, digital transformation is more vital for organizations. ERP, which is the first and most important step of digital transformation, plays the most important role throughout the process. In this article you can find out what you wonder about digital transformation and ERP.
Digital transformation is the order of the day to deal with a competitive and challenging business environment. Therefore, we witness that established as well as mid-sized companies invest significant amounts of money and time in implementing digital transformation strategies. Entrepreneurs also tend to keep the objectives of more efficient enterprise resource planning (ERP) and more productivity in mind while adopting digital transformation.
Simply put, the process efficiency or operational efficiency is the driving force behind integrating digital transformation in the workplace. Today, thanks to advancing technology, emerging concepts like ERP, big data, analytics, and IoT (Internet of Things) are included to reach the desired outcome of digital transformation. But how can ERP shape digital transformation?
Importance of digital transformation
As the term suggests, digital transformation is a process that leads business operations toward a digitalisation, thereby leveraging the disrupting technologies for increasing productivity and efficiency.
For example, the rise of cab-hailing startup Uber is largely attributed to digital transformation. The company has successfully integrated a mobile app in its system to bring automation and convenience in the user’s life.
Digital transformation aims to bring inclusive growth for the company. It helps companies to improve customer services and maintain compliance with the prevalent laws. As we live in the digital age, the ultimate goal of digital transformation seems to be to transform our daily lives by bringing more comfort and convenience.
ERP plays pivotal role
ERP has a major impact on digital transformation. It has the capability of bringing revolutionary changes in various processes of modern business.
As per the Panorama Consulting Solutions report, about 81 percent of companies are either in the process of implementing enterprise resource planning software or have completed integration. Globally, over 50,000 companies have integrated SAP Business One.
In today’s mobile-driven age, ERP can enable companies to offer the benefits of mobile apps and cloud-based solutions to employees and stakeholders. The implementation of the software can simplify key business functions like finance management, accounting, and inventory management.
Furthermore, ERP tools have extensions to connect with social media platforms for transforming the user’s social accounts.
Here are six major ways in which ERP can contribute to the digital transformation of your business.
ERP is here
Ever-changing requirements and growing competition in modern business have given rise to i-ERP or intelligent ERP. It aims to bridge the gap between the existing technology and business challenges. i-ERP is even more useful if integrated with other advanced tools like analytics and AI. It can analyse the user’s data to come up with a better outcome.
Effect of cloud-based ERP
Cloud integration is another benefit of ERP that gives it a capability of furthering digital transformation. From anywhere access to better utilisation of available resources, cloud-based software can work wonders in the organisation. It can also act as an extension of an existing ERP system; thereby accelerating the pace of transformation.
Competitive edge
Digital transformation has opened the doors for new opportunities for industries. The same is applicable to the ERP software as well. Vendors tend to develop customised solutions by integrating robust features and improved functionality these days. It can certainly give your business a competitive edge in the long run.
Improved integration
ERP software can perform various tasks through various features. In a way, it offers great scope for integration. Salesforce has integrated ERP functionalities into the CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system. Such integration can expand the reach of various tools and transforms various business processes. As a result, your company can leverage the benefits of a thriving technology.
Extensions are available
As we mentioned earlier, integration of ERP systems with analytics tools, social platforms and cloud technology can simplify complex business tasks. This is possible through various extensions. It can widen the range of functionality of your existing system and unleash the potential of ERP to transform the business digitally.
Also, advancing technology can provide various extensions to be integrated for obtaining a desired outcome in the future. For example, your company may grow in scale and size or you want to diversify business in the future. Extensions can make your ERP software ready to handle such tasks with ease. It is fair to say that it ultimately transforms your company digitally.
Enhanced scalability
Last but not least. Scalability is one of the best characteristics of ERP software. Being scalable, ERP can handle various business tasks irrespective of the size of your organisation. What’s more, technological advancements can bring new features and tools to make the ERP system more scalable and robust. You can just upgrade the system to stay competitive with scalable ERP.
From the aspects of convenience and cost-effectiveness, periodic upgrades of the ERP software are way better than replacing existing ERP systems. You can readily integrate the latest features and improve performance by updating the ERP version. It also contributes to bringing automation and digitalisation in your business.
Conclusion
When we say ERP can serve various business objectives with ease, we should remember that the software development process is full of challenges. From Microsoft Dynamics to SAP Business One, all the available software has some limitations and bottlenecks.
Vendors need to overcome these difficulties while developing a user-friendly and enterprise-friendly system. Once this is done, we can certainly expect the digital transformation from ERP solutions.
When it comes to industrial IT solutions, ERP remains one of the most prevalent solutions to enhance productivity and increase efficiency of the workforce. The software can certainly help you implement a complete digital transformation in your company. You can unlock great potential with it and keep your business ready for future challenges by ensuring the maximum utilisation of available resources.
