In this second post in our two-part series, we’re continuing our exploration of what drives companies to modernize their ERP, CRM, and other business systems by taking them to the cloud. Whether or not your legacy systems’ relative age, dependence on paper-based processes, or lack of interconnectivity become limiting factors, it just might be that your pain points are caused by these challenges:
Missed part one? View here.
4. Decision Makers Have to Wait (even a few hours) for Insights
In today’s fast-paced business world, many critical business decisions can’t wait. Even if they can wait, decision-makers want to get their hands on supporting data, metrics, and measurements ASAP. There may be no such thing as the “luxury of time” when customers, vendors, and both strategic and operational management are clamoring for action. “Where’s that shipment?” “Where did the process break down?” “Who’s on top of this?”
The reality is that your competitors may not be waiting on their IT teams to deliver reports; their business systems are set up to support on-demand agility. With modern, cloud-based systems—automated and user-friendly for even the most non-technical users—decision-makers have access to self-service business intelligence providing 360-degree views of financial and operational business drivers, in real time.
More insights are unleashed in Power BI and Microsoft Dynamics: Decision Making for the 21st Century and Dashboards Elegantly Reveal The Truth Behind Your Data.
5. You’d Like to Grow, but….
Do you feel like simply keeping up with your day-to-day operations is taking up all of your bandwidth? You may dread the “call for change,” whether it’s demanded by an industry or government regulator, a customer, or employee, because tweaking (let alone overhauling) processes requires massive business system programming, band-aiding, and other costly and time-consuming efforts. Come to think of it, is growth-inspired change nearly impossible due to restrictive legacy software and workflows?
With flexible, cloud-based business software, it’s not only possible to keep up and respond to changes, but you can expect to get in front of them—proactively. Modern ERP, CRM, and other made-for-the-web business applications are built to be scalable. That means it’s easy and affordable to accommodate new business requirements by plugging in new functionality, integrating new apps, or adding new users to the system. And at the end of the day, that means it’s easier to identify new opportunities and take action on them, always moving ahead.
6. Your Customers’ Experience is Missing Something
In Why Organizations are Putting their CRM in the Cloud, we dive into how technology is essential to “putting the customer first.” And in How a Cloud-Based ERP System Helps Enhance Your Customers’ Experience, we look at how all-encompassing the customer experience really is—that is, how your front-office and back-office (and everything in between) impacts the delivery of your products and services.
It’s important to consider how your customers (and that includes employees and vendors, too) interact with your company at different touch points—and how those interactions shape the perception of your brand. Is it easy to get questions answered? Is service timely and transparent? Does the sales process leave room for options? These are just a few questions to get you thinking about the experience you provide through your day-to-day customer dealings.
If your customers are consistently hitting roadblocks or find it hard to get from points A to B to C, they may move on to work with a competitor who offers a more streamlined, customer-centric experience. Fortunately, well-integrated, automated, and web-enabled business software helps keep your operations and customer-facing processes aligned. These cloud-based solutions are designed to provide an intuitive user experience that transfers over to your customer experience; with everything “living and working” online, it’s easier for everyone to find what they’re looking for and get their needs met.
Don’t miss 6 Signs It’s Time To Migrate Your Legacy IT Environment to the Cloud, Part 1. And keep in mind: the transformation from a legacy to cloud-based IT environment doesn’t have to happen at once—and you don’t have to do it alone. Contact us to learn more.
Additional ERP Implementation Resources:
Thee 8 C’s of ERP Selection and Implementation: Making the Most of Your Journey
3 Best Practices for Highly Effective ERP User Training
“Knowledge Speaks, Wisdom Listens” – Two ERP Implementation Methodologies Compared
