You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.” – Abraham Lincoln
Expectations have become higher for the CFO and CIO positions within organizations, in particular when selecting ERP software that will become the foundation of the business. When the competition is armed with top notch cloud-based software platforms that provide access to company performance metrics and data analytics to key staff from anywhere in the world, the pressure is on. In a recent article in CFO.com, it states, “While 70% of CEOs at top-performing organizations said leveraging cloud-based ERP systems and other emerging technologies should be a top priority for finance chiefs over the next few years, only about half said their CFO is doing a good job of exploring and implementing the best new technology.” (Read the full CFO.com article HERE)
Here are 7 things financial and IT executives should look for in an ERP software solution that can help them achieve success:
- Accessible by everyone, with an individualized experience
- Each department, and even each individual, should have their own access to the system. And the solution should have the agility to provide each individual role within the organization their own tailored data access, processes, and communication tools.
- Mobility is key. Need access anywhere, anytime.
- Solutions that provide accessibility on any device, wherever there’s a web connection are becoming a necessity. In today’s environment, people demand information immediately when they’re in the office, traveling, or sitting at home. Whether it’s executives accessing KPI’s on a dashboard, project managers approving purchase orders, business development accessing contacts and opportunities, or employees in the field logging time & expenses, there are limitless mobile applications that can increase productivity across the organization.
- Reporting and Dashboards bring things into focus
- Key performance indicators are essential to the success of each department. Legacy ERP systems often leveraged third party reporting tools, and were not designed to support new business models. In order to navigate the complex waters of government contracting in particular, keeping your fingers on the pulse of your business is essential. (Read more about the top KPI’s for government contractors HERE).
- Extendable feature sets
- Many software solutions have features and functionality that are easy to add, and truly provide a personalized experience for businesses. Add-on capabilities include customer relationship management (CRM), human resources (HR), time & expense, requisition and purchasing, inventory management, budgeting & forecasting, and much more. And in addition, some cloud platforms allow the ability to truly customize the application with your own personal features, screens, and fields.
- The ability to rapidly scale as your company grows
- Easily and quickly add performance and data storage, support for multi-company or multi-currency capabilities, expandable roles and security, the flexibility to deploy anywhere, and customizable features and functionality. Careful selection of ERP software that has these features is key to enabling growth.
- Security in the modern environment
- It’s a common misconception that your data is not safe in the cloud. However, the truth is that cloud providers often have more expertise in securing data than in-house IT departments. Because of economies of scale, cloud companies can give your business a boost in ways that would be difficult to afford.
- Ease of use
- Many solutions now come equipped with web-based user guides, customizable documentation to provide personalized process help to employees, workflow, document management, communication and collaboration tools, and much more. Software that is intuitive and improves the end user experience is key.
So what is it that has brought about the rise of cloud computing? According to cloud ERP provider, Acumatica, “Fortunately, new technologies have been introduced such as widespread Internet availability, low cost of mobile devices, expansion of computing power and massive storage availability. Technology has improved so much that very high functioning applications can safely and securely run remotely on somebody else’s hardware. This eliminates the need for individual companies to deal with hardware issues and allows their employees to work anywhere at any time.”
To get a visual perspective on what current cloud ERP solutions can bring to the table specifically for government contractors, sign up for the latest JAMIS Insights webinar series “The latest trends in GovCon ERP. Can you keep up with the competition?” Click HERE to register.
