Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems start to show their age over the years.
Senior managers that are tasked with pulling data for critical business decisions become aware that the system isn’t performing to its optimum level. Processes that used to run smoothly begin to lag, and as a result, efficiencies can suffer.
If not dealt with early enough, there can become a time when your ERP system starts to cause unplanned for business disruptions that negatively affect revenue.
Don’t wait until you reach this point. If your business is starting to feel the drop-off in quality, you may want to considering ordering an independent ERP health check, a system review that can be carried out on a remote basis.
Here are the top five clear benefits to your business of an ERP system health check:
Know The Health Of Your System
The first benefit of an ERP health check is getting a chance to see the bigger picture. A review gives you an idea of how efficiently the system is working for your business.
Do the operational processes allow your business to maintain peak performance? Are there opportunities for improvement? How is the integrity of your data and reporting accuracy?
By answering all these questions and more, businesses are able to identify areas for improvement. Furthermore, senior managers have the opportunity to label conflicting operations and point out system shortcomings.
Maturity Level
The three stages of maturity for ERP system usage are well-defined.
- Stage one is the initiation of the ERP project.
- Stage two is the post-implementation phase when functionality is fully-exploited across the organization.
- Stage three is when the ERP system is integrated into business operations. This is the stage where strategic value is being gleaned regularly from its use.
By determining the maturity level of your ERP system, experts can assess how the system is performing. This informs your business if the system is at optimal performance levels, not merely on a system-wide basis, but also in regards to integrated software and peripheral applications.
Knowing the maturity level of your ERP system is critical to your ability to improve. This quantifies the benefits for each department in the company. An ERP health check assists with providing appropriate and measurable progress based on your history with the system. Pinpointing the maturity level of the system helps to accurately assess financial projections based on this feedback.
Reduce Downtime
Department directors love ERP health checks because they provide information about what the business currently does and how to accurately reflect this in your system. In essence, the key people in your company who are pulling data from your ERP system and handling the business resources, get to collaborate directly on enhancing the overall system performance.
That said, executives and data directors are not people who can wait around for tech issues to crop up. Their time is valuable, and the topline data they receive should be delivered quickly so that your business doesn’t lose momentum. An ERP health check enables a business to solicit the correct expertise to reduce downtime from performance issues.
Added to this, an ERP health check gives these decision makers the opportunity to be heard, a chance to improve the business in a tangible way, and a way for the company to increase job satisfaction of those managers who work in the system on a regular basis. It also ensures that the topline data handlers at the executive level aren’t left waiting when they should be moving forward.
Ensure Integrity Of Your Data
Running an ERP health check leads to improved data integrity, therefore increasing reporting accuracy and speed. Part of a typical check involves reviewing master setup files and transactional data files. Data managers get the chance to imagine implementing a ‘clean’ workable system.
With that feedback, ERP consultants can suggest ways for your business to move forward based on your resource management budget.
Plan Your Future
Ultimately the purpose of performing an ERP health check is to decide what to do next. There are three general outcomes:
• Keep the system as it is
• Upgrade with add-ons or choose an updated version of the system
• Shop for a new system
Even in cases when your system is performing well, an ERP health check is valuable. System consultants can offer quick fixes to nagging issues that can make huge differences to business processes. The financial savings from these fixes often more than neutralise the cost of the health check on their own.
