Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is a long and comprehensive process that involve several steps and procedures. Even one missing step or element can invalidate the whole project, leading to a massive waste of time and resources.

Traditional methods of forecasting, purchasing and inventory handling are common obstacles to innovative solutions. Creating awareness of options amongst consumers and suppliers are vital to their spread and acceptance.

Oftentimes, companies will not get the best industry practices as they assume that traditional systems are the best way forward. Knowing the business is not beneficial because companies lose the ability to receive objective and diverse business models which are created by outside industry professionals. It is therefore, in a company’s best interest to outsource their ERP system.

Furthermore, having an in-house ERP system can lead to many challenges. It is likely that the understanding of an ERP rests solely with the creator. This can lead to many complications should the creator no longer be part of the company. Moreover, creating and maintaining an ERP system is costly and difficult and often companies will benefit from an external provider that can cope with the demand of day-to-day operations, this is also a cost-effective solution.

It is strongly encouraged that you evaluate the costs and benefits of investing in an in-house ERP system while evaluating alternatives as it is going to be a long-term investment of your business that can drive the success of overall operations.

Rukshan B

An ERP is exceptionally known to be the DNA of a business as it adds immense value and competitive advantage by streamlining business functions, improving visibility, productivity and hence increasing customer satisfaction while reducing operational costs.

But the real question is, is your ERP scalable as your business grows and can it adapt to the changing needs and demands of your business? Let’s find out!

Below are four forms of scalability that you should have in your ERP Solution. Especially if you are looking for a new implementation or trying to move into a new system, confirming the availability below would give you confidence that you are choosing a flexible solution that aligns with your future plans.

1. Adaptability

• Ability to process a large volume of data and the availability of scalable hosting options.

An ERP should have the ability to process large volumes of data as it will be the place where all your organisation’s valuable information is processed and stored. Meantime, flexible data hosting options that allow you to shift on-premises to cloud or vice versa based on your requirement and the ability to expand the capacity are vital.

• Ability to adopt functions/features even after you go-live based on future requirements.

The ability to adopt new and advanced features to keep up with technology even after going live is a must-have capability in an ERP solution. On the other hand, as and when a business grows, they will require additional functionalities and features that they haven’t utilised in the previous implementation. Periodical updates with enhanced features are one way to stay up to date with the latest technologies and capabilities. 

• Ability to expand without slowing down the current processes.

Adding new modules and functions should not slow down the current business processes. Also, the time it takes to process information in an ERP should not increase.

• Adoptability of ERP system among multiple industry verticals.

A business needs to adopt a system that fits well with different micro verticals of the particular industry. Because most companies have future vertical and horizontal expansion goals, having a system adaptable across different micro verticals is important. On the other hand, minor configurations save money and time in the short and long run. Also, the modules that are available to integrate should be a vital selection criteria. Because getting all/ most of the solutions from one vendor always provides you with a great deal of synchronisation, fast implementation, cost-benefit, and many other advantages.

• Ability to connect to other systems with minimum effort.

An ERP system that is connectable to other systems, modules of the same vendor or a different vendor make a good choice for you. Because there can be certain functional areas that are sensitive to your company, and you want to migrate your all data to the new system only after you are confident with the system. Or else, a particular system is profitable in terms of the financial consideration or the depth of functionalities it offers you. So, if you have such concerns, you must consider how far your selected ERP is connectable to other software and can work in harmony.

2. Global Management

A fully scalable ERP is an easy breakthrough that promotes globalisation while allowing you to expand your business fearlessly across borders with supporting customisation. Below are some of the global management enablers.

• Multi-company, multi-country, multi-site, multi-currency, and multi-language capabilities.
• Ability to meet country-specific requirements/ functionalities.
• 24 hours support service during 365 days of the year.

3. Employee and User Expansion

With the increased growth of your company, it is obvious that the number of tasks and operations will rise directly proportional to the number of employees required, which will feed in more data to the systems. Thus, the ERP system should handle drastic changes in the workforce without halting or slowing down any existing processes. On the other hand, a sound ERP system should allow you to increase mobile or work-specific users (identified by shift/machines).

4. Cloud Hosting

Last but not least, your current ERP should provide you with the option of hosting your on-premises solution in the cloud since it’s more reliable, scalable and cost-effective. In contrast, scaling your on-premises solutions will be a huge investment and requires additional hardware space. Moreover, cloud ERP gifts you the opportunity of changing the subscription depending on your requirement without paying unreasonably and whenever you want.

On the other hand, you should see the downtime your ERP solution partner offers when you change your data hosting method. Because time is precious for any company, a one-hour additional downtime can cause you a surprising loss!

So is your question answered? All businesses evolve, adding more capabilities while growing to have their chance in the untapped markets which too are rapidly changing as new trends are introduced. Consequently, your ERP should not be stagnant, rather futuristic and easily customisable to adapt to increasing growth levels, responding better to changes in the market and delivering a competitive edge. On the other hand, selecting an industry-specific ERP solution provides many benefits as it uses speciality knowledge in developing systems to enable industry-specific needs and workflows.

Think smart and switch to a fully scalable ERP system and digitally transform your company!

1. Highly-skilled functional and technical consultants at your disposal: Platned always have a combination of functional and technical consultants available around the clock. This assists you to solve any issues in quick time saving you money and valuable time you can allocate for the business.
2. Support packages designed to cater individual client requirements: All companies have a customized method of operations and Platned provides a customized support package to suit the size and type of operations you need.
3. 24/7 global support: Platned has a 24/7 support team located in UK and Sri Lanka to assist you anytime of the day to give you the flexibility to resolve issues.
4. Feasibility of Changing the IFS Requirements: IFS requirements in the company is likely to change over time due to competition and technology developments. Having an on-call service desk helps you to change or amend your requirements quickly.
5. Compliance of service level agreements: Platned’s compliance of service level agreement gives the assurance that all incidents received through our helpdesk will be completed on time.
6. The ability to monitor the status of the cases: Although the support is outsourced by the client, the client will be able to log into the Servicedesk to know the current status of all their cases.
7. Detailed reporting: A detailed report on the total number of cases and hours spent on each case will be provided on request, to client ensuring that all cases are being monitored on a timely and accurate basis.
8. Well-dedicated customer service team: Platned provides a dedicated customer service team to provide you with a support second to none. You can always rely on them to clarify your queries against any tickets handled by the team.