What to Stay Away From When Purchasing a New ERP System

The quote from Albert Einstein that goes, “Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result,” may or may not be true. Whoever it was that made the comment, it also holds true for purchasing a new ERP system.

Spending countless amounts of money, time, and resources to replace an existing system with a similar one does not make sense if it is not meeting the demands of your business and replacement is a viable option. But many businesses have actually done just that, purchasing a new system before customizing and/or altering it to behave, feel, and appear exactly like the old system.

Why would businesses act that way? The explanations/excuses typically fit into one of these groups:

The users are accustomed to doing things in this way, thus they won’t be able or willing to change.

We have been managing the business in this manner for many years, and we don’t want to change it.

Best practices are what other people do, albeit well, and we are not the same as other people — we are superior. Why are you changing systems if everything is working so well?

A company will want to see some operational performance improvements as a result of this significant investment – lower costs, higher productivity, quality improvements leading to more sales, better customer service (leading to more sales or higher margins), etc. Unless the replacement project was triggered by an old system going up in smoke (literally or figuratively), and even if that’s the case.

Even though this is only a straightforward replacement for a broken system, some of the cost is due to new features and functions that have been created and added to the new software since the old system was put in place, however long ago. Why not opt to benefit from all that the new acquisition has to offer?

Best Practices Utilized in a New ERP System

Customizing or changing the new system to be exactly like the old one won’t produce better operational performance or unique outcomes. With such kind of undertaking, it would be challenging to estimate the ROI.

Don’t be so ready to write off “best practices” as being too banal to be taken into account. Best practices are so-called because they are successful. Adopting such techniques could just bring your company back into parity, which is a terrific starting point for future changes that can accelerate business success moving forward, especially if your rivals are employing them to successfully compete against your company.

The Value of Avoiding Modifications to New ERP Software Codes

To fit the way things are now working, it is absolutely OK to modify screen layouts, reports, procedural flow, and the like. However, take care not to alter the functions. Before making any of these cosmetic modifications, be aware of what the function, as built, is expected to do, how it connects to the entire system, and how it will influence business. You might determine as you learn more about the new system that the new reports and flows are actually superior to the previous ones.

So, don’t change the software code that comes packed. Find another software program that can be used if the new system can’t be used as-is or by taking advantage of the customizing possibilities offered.

Why SMB Solutions for ERP Solution?

ERPNext is an open-source cloud-based ERP Software. It gives you complete control over how things develop within your business.

Even though certain ERP solutions are viewed as being difficult to use and expensive because of the input into the system itself, paired with the hardware and knowledge, the majority of firms prefer a web-based ERP solution. It is also less expensive and reasonably easy to use and maintain.

You might now use ERPNext to help you manage your accounts, data, inventory, purchases, sales, production, manufacturing, CRM (customer relationship management), finances, HR (human resources), projects, tasks, and employee training.

ERPNext deployment requires rigorous professional guidance and support. In this instance, SMB Solutions comes into play. Due to our experience in the industry, we can recognize our client’s needs and offer the best ERP solutions.