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INTRODUCTION
Few companies – of any size – disagree with or ignore the value that business management software can provide. Whether basic accounting functions, inventory management, e-commerce storefronts, customer relationship management, shipping, point-of-sale, purchasing or merchandise returns, these solutions have become, for many companies, the indispensable foundation that helps streamline operations, improve efficiency and minimize costs. In many ways, that’s especially true for companies from 5 to 250 employees who find that software solutions can provide disproportionate benefits over manual methods that previously governed business processes. Of course, as those organizations find traction in the market and grow, their software needs evolve to encompass greater complexity as well. There might be more retail or distribution locations, more sales channels, more products, more suppliers, and of course, more customers. No longer will simple standalone tools – a simple electronic checkbook or a collection of disparate tools – suffice. Instead, the business requires an increasing level of sophistication in both software functions and underlying technical architecture to accommodate new business needs and meet a mandate for greater efficiency.
THE ROAD TO INTEGRATION
Regardless of industry or size, sooner or later, almost all successful businesses reach a point where the scope of their business outstrips the simplicity of their initial (typically standalone) tool. The basic personal electronic checkbook or single-user solution for managing the books no longer offers the features needed to manage an increasingly complex business. For many businesses, the next phase involves a broadening collection of software tools. There may be a new point-of-sale system or a contact management system followed by a simple inventory-management application.
Later, the business adds a new application to track purchasing. Next, the business adopts an e-commerce application to accept Web orders. Pretty soon, the business has purchased and deployed a hodgepodge of different applications from different vendors for different users in the organization. Not surprisingly, this ad hoc aggregation soon becomes an unsatisfactory way of managing the business. A distinct lack of integration ensues, creating a host of challenges that hamstring the organization and inhibit employees from doing their jobs in an optimal fashion.
From wasteful re-keying of data and bottlenecked business processes, to inconsistent data and ineffective customer service, unintegrated business software hampers the organization in ways both obvious and subtle. That’s why, today, more companies are embracing all-in-one business software that tightly integrates functions and data. The many advantages of such an approach – such as consistency, speed, simplicity, and efficiency – present a compelling value proposition for businesses of almost any size.
If your business has reached an inflection point – growing beyond simple personal-productivity tools like fragile spreadsheets or single-user bookkeeping – you need to carefully investigate how integration of business software can positively impact the organization and provide a springboard to future growth and success. The following pages of this white paper present an objective and informative overview of the issues to consider when evaluating the merits of integrated business software.
“MANAGING THE MULTI’S”
One of the more apparent byproducts of ad hoc accumulation of software programs in a small business is the complexity of using and maintaining multiple programs. Consider the impact:
- Multiple Software Applications to Buy, Install, Upgrade, and Maintain – It’s easy to forget that when you have multiple software products cobbled together, it falls to you to manage several procurement cycles with different vendors. You have to install different programs on different computers for different users. And you need to apply updates (“patches”) at different times and install upgrades on varying schedules. That takes enormous amounts of time – and distracts you from your primary focus: running your business and satisfying customers.
- Multiple Systems to Learn – With different, unintegrated programs, you face the challenge of learning different interfaces, processes and functions. And, since no one person is responsible for every business function, you can end up with a situation where key employees become experts in certain programs – while other employees don’t know how to use those same systems. Those skill gaps can leave your business vulnerable when employees are sick, take vacation, or worse – leave the company.
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