SAP Alternatives

Best SAP Alternatives and Competitors in 2021

SAP is one of the largest ERP system vendors in the world, comprising more than a lakh customers globally.

With a range of features and tools such as customer relationship management (CRM), human capital management (HCM), financial management, inventory and supply chain management, and product life cycle management, SAP is famous for its extensive list of apparatus that covers every aspect of running and streamlining a business. 

It can be deployed both on-premise and on the cloud and comes with a comprehensive mobile app for both Android and iOS.

Nevertheless, besides all the features and integrations, SAP is also famous for its complicacy. Although suitable for both large and mid-size businesses, SAP can be pretty difficult to deal with and requires a certain level of expertise and know-how. All in all, SAP is not for everyone, which makes for an argument for the vendor’s competitors, who mostly offer the same features at a more user-friendly level. 

In order to help you reap the benefits of the best feature that SAP has to offer on a more interactive and user-friendly platform, we have compiled a list of the best alternatives to SAP. Let’s take a look:

NetSuite ERP

NetSuite ERP is one of the best alternatives to SAP, thanks to its scalable, customizable, end-to-end platform that can be utilized to accelerate growth and drive innovation. It offers a range of features, including finance processing, order management, revenue, billing, inventory, back-office tasks. NetSuite also comes with financial management and business intelligence to help you make the right decisions at the right time.

Best features:

  • Provides you insightful reviews by combining data with visual analytics
  • Quick cycle time to allow you to enhance your planning process
  • Helps you streamline business process and save time and resources so you can focus on more productive aspects of the business
  • Easily customizable and integratable to keep up with growing business

Microsoft Dynamics GP

Although at its core, Microsoft Dynamics GP is a CRM, it offers an array of additional services to make itself among the list of best ERP contenders. With Dynamics GP, you can consolidate all your business data and centralize the entire operation to stay organized and at the top of your processes. Created in parallel to MS office software and SQL database, Microsoft Dynamics can optimize your business reporting and business intelligence aspect. This means you can easily evaluate market trends and KPIs to stay ahead in the industry. 

Microsoft Dynamics GP can also be integrated with a number of third-party solutions to help you manage and maintain different aspects of the company in one place. 

Best features:

  • Allows you to develop new database-powered apps
  • Creates quick reports with Excel and Word templates
  • Reduces the number of possible errors by minimizing data entry
  • Provides easily modifiable dashboard and visualized data for detailed insights

ERPNext

ERPNext allows you to take complete control of your business in one place. It offers features such as HR management, financial accounting, inventory management, and project management, to name a few. 

Like SAP ERP, ERPNext can be deployed both on-premise and on the cloud, and it offers mobile apps for both Android and iOS. ERPNext also allows businesses to create their own website and design product catalog and shopping cart.

Best features:

  • User-friendly interface with full control given to the user
  • Allows easy adding and removing process of clients and agreements 
  • Is open-source 
  • Extensive range of features to help you manage all the aspects of your business

Priority Software

Priority Software is a business management solution that offers CRM, ERP, and HCM functionalities. It is one of the best solutions to manage your business’ finance, manufacturing, logistics, human resource, time and attendance, warehouse management, project management, and business intelligence.

Besides all the features, Priority Software also offers off-the-shelf mobile application development, allowing businesses to build their own mini-workflows without having to indulge in the coding process. Moreover, Priority Software is also integratable with an array of third-party software, making it easier for you to simplify your business process and manage everything in one place.

Best features:

  • Short learning curve and ease of use
  • Lower total cost of ownership
  • Looks and feels like renowned applications such as Microsoft Excel
  • Agile ERP solution for easy scalability

Oracle ERP Cloud

If you are on the lookout for a robust ERP that can facilitate the growth of all kinds and sizes of business without having to deal with the complicacy of SAP, Oracle ERP Cloud is probably your best choice. With a range of tools under their belt, including a strong data analysis tool, Oracle ERP can help you efficiently perform project assessment, financial analysis, and risk management. Oracle ERP is designed to cater to the changing environment and business’ scalability potential. You can use this ERP platform to automate a number of core processes such as financials, reporting, and compliance.

Best features:

  • Easily automates core processes allowing you to pay attention to more productive aspects of the business
  • Provides an easy way for employees to submit, view, and track timecards
  • Different plans for various-sized businesses
  • Seamless functionality across different business aspects
Conclusion

These are some of the best alternatives to SAP ERP. However, you must keep in mind that while choosing an ERP platform for your business, you should make a thorough assessment of your business as well as the platform of your choice. 

Before finalizing an ERP platform for your business, you must consider the usability of the application. The ERP solution you pick must be user-friendly and easy to operate, so you don’t have to hire a technician only to run your ERP program.

The second thing to look for in your ERP platform is scalability. Make sure the ERP you are choosing is scalable, flexible, and adaptable according to the change in your business. Go with a solution that can keep up with the growth of your business.

Last but not least, look for reliability in the ERP solution you choose. This means the system should offer you an end-to-end platform that can take care of all your business requirements. The best way to make sure you are choosing a reliable ERP solution is to figure out user reviews about it on the internet and through real-life users. Moreover, make sure you are getting 24/7 customer support and technical assistance. 

By alpana j 0 Comments
POS Inventory management

How Point of Sale System Helps with Inventory Management

For a retail business, the stocks you have in your store servers are one of the most important aspects. As a retailer, a large part of your job includes being in control of merchandise and ensuring you have the right products at the right time. In fact, nothing can bring your business down like carrying the wrong amount of inventory. This is where inventory management comes in. 

Inventory management is the process of ordering, tracking, and managing your stocks. 

Why is Inventory Management Important?

As a retail business owner, it is imperative to stay on top of your inventory to keep your business up and running. When you manage your inventory, you are able to maintain stocks that sell and reduce the ones that don’t. This will help you make sure you have the products in your stock that your customers are frequently buying and, in turn, make more sales and profit.

Being out of stock on products does not only affect your sales but also makes you lose your customers. With proper insight into your stock, you can avoid such situations and retain your customers by offering them their favorite products. 

Moreover, with proper inventory management in place, you can reduce the chances of shrinkage, which is the reduction in inventory due to theft or admin error. 

Why is POS the Best Way to Manage Inventory?

There are several ways of managing inventory. Some retailers stick to the old-school way and use paper receipts, records, and clipboards. Others go a bit advance and make use of a clipboard. Nevertheless, the best way to manage your inventory, especially in the digitized era we are living in, is implementing stock control through a point of sale system.

A point of sale system, also known as POS, is a technology that goes beyond the traditional cash register to offer a more sophisticated way of managing sales, inventory, reports, and administer customer loyalty programs. For a retail business that sells online or through brick-and-mortar stores, investing in a good POS system can be one of the most beneficial decisions.

A POS with a strong inventory management feature can help you streamline your business process by keeping your sales and stock data in sync. Whenever there is a sale in your store, the POS will automatically update your catalog to match the product quantity you have in your store. This automated process essentially eliminates the need to manually update records every time you make a sale. 

Moreover, POS inventory management also reduces human errors since most of the operations related to managing stocks are overtaken by the system. Lastly, a POS system can quickly produce reports and allow you to get a view of important metrics so you can make key decisions to scale your business performance. 

How does POS Help you Manage Inventory?

Now that we have understood what inventory management is, why it is so important, and why a POS system could be the best solution for it, let’s take a look at some of the specific tools you can use to best manage your inventory:

Your inventory management database contains all the information about your products, including:

  • Product name
  • Description
  • Category
  • Supply price
  • Retail price
  • SKU number
  • Barcode number
  • Quantity
  • Supplier

The database can be extremely helpful in finding out information about specific products as well as add and update your catalog. A good POS system also comes with a purchase order generator tool, which you can use to create invoices to send to your vendor. 

An accurate reporting and analytics tool also comes with most POS, using which you can have clear and error-free information on your best-sellers, slow-movers, most profitable products, and the items that are low on stock. Such information can help you make effective decisions regarding the growth and scalability of your business. 

Advantages of Using POS for Inventory Management

As mentioned above, using a proper POS system is one of the best decisions a business can make, regardless of the type of business it is. If you run a business that sells products, inventory management through a POS system can help you save time, money, and resources.

Here are some of the major advantages of using a POS system for inventory management:

Here are some of the major advantages of using a POS system for inventory management:

  • Automation of inventory management

    A POS system automates the task of inventory management, so you don’t have to manually update the data. This can help business keep their inventory in the best shape and their customers happy.

  • Automatic report generation

    POS can generate both sales and inventory reports accurately at any given time, allowing you to get a deeper insight into your business trends.

  • Increases business profitability

    Since POS helps in lowering the ordering and carrying cost of inventory with proper inventory management, your business is bound to increase its profit margin and scale through new heights.

  • Remote management

    For businesses with more than one location, a POS system can help keep track and maintain stocks across multiple stores. 

Final words

Both the retail and restaurant industry is getting incredibly competitive, which means it is more important than ever to keep your inventory in the best shape. Fortunately, there are a number of systems and tools available in the market for proper inventory management. We recommend looking through them and selecting the ones that best suit your unique needs. Explore the plethora of options to find out which POS system works best for your inventory management so you can retain your customers and grow your business with ease.

By alpana j 0 Comments