Responsible for a ERP Budget? 9 Top Notch Ways to Spend Your Money

Your company has agreed on and purchased an ERP software and you've been put in charge of the upgrade. What are the most effective ways to spend your budget?

Here's 7 top notch ways to spend your money:

1. Customizations

ERP systems such as Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central are feature packed right out of the box and although some businesses may be like yours most likely there are no businesses exactly like yours. You may want to add some fields or some different processes that fit your business.

2. User Training

How can you be sure you are getting the most out of your new ERP software? User training. Your ERP software will only be as good as the users who are using it. Just because your ERP software has the capability to create a Quote, Sales Order, and then Purchase Order doesn't mean it can do it by itself. Users must be trained and trained well to be knowledgeable and proficient to maximize the business's investment in ERP software.

3. Add-ons / Extensions

Most ERP software today have the capability to download Add-ons/Extensions from a portal such as Microsoft AppSource to enhance your software. Popular download include everything from credit card processing software, to retail software, to software for tracking expenses.

4. Custom Apps

With software available such as Microsoft PowerApps you can either build the businesses apps you need that are specific to your company or you can extend upon the apps you already have.

5. Integrated CRM & Office 365

Some business software such as Microsoft Dynamics 365 have the capability to integrate with each other. For example, ERP info be seen in your Outlook Mailbox, as well as updated automatically in your CRM. This is extremely helpful in combating the many minutes lost due to switching back and forth between tasks.

6. Integrated Power BI

An important part of effective ERP software is being able to generate reports from data within that software. When using an ERP software such as Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central you have the option of integrating Microsoft Power BI directly into Business Central so you can not only generate reports but view these reports with stunning visuals.

7. Servers

Having a server that is capable of supporting your new ERP software is critical. For your ERP to run at it's peak performance your server has to have enough memory and speed.

8. Security

Going forward it seems as if security will always be an issue for organizations. You may think that your organization is too small to warrant an attack such as ransomware but the reality is these cyber criminals attack all sorts of companies. Having extra security measures and back-ups in place can be a life saver for your organization.

9. Software Support

Just because your ERP software has been implemented and is running perfect does not mean that somewhere along the line that someone will accidentally cause an error. Spending that extra budget on qualified support will save you money in the long run.

Have some questions regarding Microsoft's ERP offerings? We're happy to talk. Just fill out the contact form below and we'll be in touch shortly!