Companies often underestimate the value addition an ERP software can bring in their business. It is very crucial to understand when and how you need to shift to a cost-effective and ROI-promised ERP.
ERP system upgrade from the existing application is an urge that management often feels during their growth. Even after realizing the reason for changing ERP software, the primary question on their mind will be, “When we need to move to an ERP?” The next question is on the practicality and easiness of migrating to an ERP.
ERP migration steps are simple yet complex. Below are some fact checks that tell you the right time and reasons to upgrade ERP system.
Your company is growing, and you find it necessary to implement an ERP.
An organization will find it hard to manage the complex volume of data manually or with the traditional software as the business grows and expands gradually. In such conditions, the employees will underperform and spend hours creating various reports for the management and will be out of focus from their core assignments.
The management would often find it inadequate and unsatisfactory on the reports and performance. There will always be frustration about managing sales, operations, purchases, manpower, resources, payables, receivables, PDCs, cash flow, etc. The scattered and unorganized data will not give confidence and make it difficult for the annual/biannual/quarterly planning. It is also prone to incur additional costs on future plans, projects, marketing campaigns, purchases, etc.
Changing ERP software should be a matter of discussion if you are facing such problems and we advise you to hand-pick an advanced & online (cloud-based, mobile) solution.
An ERP that cuts down expenses in terms of manpower, work, and cost.
An ERP is a powerful resource planning software that helps you streamline the company activities and enjoy optimal utilization of labor, resources, infrastructure, materials, and assets.
Reasons to upgrade ERP are many as the latest ERPs are cloud-powered and accessible from anywhere, offering interactive live mobile apps. Online ERP systems are hardware independent & multi-device supported, thereby saving a decent amount of time and cost. Updation and modification to the software happen in the cloud and do not cause downtime. Implementing a cloud-ERP is comparatively faster and easier.
An efficient ERP can cut down the costs in terms of stationery, manpower, resources, supervision, paperwork, etc. An ERP that can integrate with external resources and applications can cut down tremendous time and manpower by avoiding duplication of activities.
An ERP offers cutting edge technologies for quicker, wiser, and right decision making.
Modern ERPs offer cutting edge technologies and features for a seamless user experience. Some of the most sought after technologies that power the ERP are Business Intelligence, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Powerful Server, Intelligent Algorithms, Automation Tools, Powerful Software Architectures, and other futuristic tools.
Consider changing ERP software as these technologies will help the software to outperform traditional applications. The reasons for changing ERP system are improved overall operational performance, automated regular works, simplified tasks, quicker, wiser, and right decision making on time.
A better ERP is available in less than the maintenance cost of the current solution.
A legacy application will have its advantages yet becomes a headache when it comes to upgrading, troubleshooting, maintaining, and backing up, and re-implementing. Technicians will have to sort out issues directly, causing delays and downtime. Reinstallation, implementing additional features, and package enhancements to the system will be costly. Renewals are expensive as you upgrade ERP system, and familiarizing the staff with the new features is another vital concern.
A contemporary ERP is cloud-powered and allows anywhere accessibility. It does not require sophisticated infrastructure facilities or highly-powered computers and servers. Therefore, changing ERP software becomes practical and straightforward. Everything is stored in the cloud and therefore offers convenience, ease of use, interactive features, remote access, multi-level access controls, and support of futuristic technologies like Artificial Intelligence, Business Intelligence, etc. It also allows a company to integrate with third-party applications for improved collaboration and user experience. The company will not face any downtime as the version updates, troubleshooting, back-up, and modifications are happening in the cloud.
These are reasons to upgrade ERP software. Therefore, understand ERP migration steps carefully and consider switching to a modern ERP like RealSoft.
A complete ERP is available for an amount less than the upgrading cost of the existing application.
A new ERP implementation cost will be on par with your upgrade cost in most scenarios. Replacing your current software application with a versatile ERP system is a sensible decision as upgrading requires a re-implementation or installation of the existing system in most cases. It is prone to have debugging issues and functional gaps as well as you may need to migrate your master data once again.
We urge ERP system upgrade as it is sensible, and legacy software suppliers will charge you for the update package in addition to the reinstallation effort and time.
An ERP offers ROI and much more.
An ERP is used to improve the efficiency of the organization essentially and help you make faster and quicker decisions by analyzing the company’s massive data and reengineering the business processes. ERP provides you with accurate and insightful reports, forecasts, and analytics that will help your team focus on relevant tasks and optimize productivity.
ROI factors of ERP – Some of the most prominent and successful points
- Control and save costs in the purchase, administration, operations, inventory, labor, execution levels
- Reduce wastage, delays, and unwanted expenses
- Improve delivery speed, efficiency, productivity, and team performance
- Give intelligent forecasts and help you plan better for more business
- Smooth accounting and finance management
- Faster sales and quick decision making
ROI factors of ERP – Points in the implementation perspective
- Centralized and streamlined data
- Security and consistency of data
- Access control and anywhere access
- Improved transparency and visibility
- One-click information and analytical reports
- Cloud-powered and user-friendly
- No downtime and Anytime access
As you have decided to shift to a modern ERP like RealSoft, the next challenge is to understand the ease of migrating data into a new ERP. The process of migration involves the moving and restructuring of data into the latest ERP Software from the old one. Best Practices for Successful ERP Data Migration
The following are critical concerns while doing the same.
1. How do we transfer the master data?
ERP system upgrade has complex procedures to migrate your data. The Migration process requires full-fledged support and attention from the management and staff. The process has to be planned, reviewed, and executed carefully, or else, you may face issues with the data quality like corrupted data or incomplete data.
The saying “Garbage In – Garbage Out” suits a business environment under these circumstances. The data accumulated in the existing applications over the years may have duplicates and scattered data. The correct approach is to clean the ‘unwanted’ and provide ‘right data’ to the business. It is the first success of implementing RealSoft ERP Software.
ERP system upgrade and migration challenges are
- Corruption of data while transfer
- Mismatching of fields (rows, columns, title, values, etc.)
- Days taken to back up data
- Incorrect sourcing of data due to lack of preparation and planning
- Time consumed due to the massive volume of data
- Errors and problems due to system-level and role-level access
- Improper functioning of the new ERP software due to improper data
- Unorganized data and accumulated duplicates
Modern ERPs allow an optimal migration of data even if it requires restructuring and redesigning the existing data into their specified formats.
2. How about ‘Opening Balance’ and ‘Opening Stock’?
The management always has a raised eyebrow on how do they manage their ‘Opening Balance’ and ‘Opening Stock’ when migrating to a new ERP. Unprofessional ERP vendors will advise companies to keep the existing data in the old system and migrate the latest data into the upgraded application.
Maintaining two systems will make it difficult for the auditors to find exact and relevant financial information, and employees will require to enter data in both systems. It is also prone to have mismatching data and errors when you maintain two systems.
RealSoft lets you convert the existing data during the ERP system upgrade without difficulties and test it repeatedly for compliance and accuracy, ensuring a 100 percent success ratio. The data is validated multiple times to eliminate any possible discrepancies and errors.
3. Whether aging of AR and AP possible?
The successful financial functioning of a company depends on its ability to maintain a smooth cash flow. A company accomplishes it by managing the aging AP & AR reports accurately. The possibility of migrating and maintaining the aging AP and AR information in the improved ERP software is always a factor of concern for the management.
Intelligent ERP systems allow you to convert and transfer your aging reports that include AP and AR into the database effectively. ERP implementation team ensures the accuracy and adaptability of the converted data by frequently testing it and restructuring the templates if needed.
4. What about ongoing projects or contracts?
Moving your ongoing project and contract details from the legacy system is a headache for any organization. The team has to be trained in advance to do either a manual or electronic data relocation. Slight negligence and mistakes can bring a massive impact on the overall functioning of the organization. Collecting data, converting, redesigning, maintaining integrity, loading data into the latest system, and testing it for accuracy and usability become a herculean task if there is no proper support and guidance from the ERP developers.
Unique ERP migration strategies are used by RealSoft to allow a much more organized and systematic conversion and relocation of all your data that include the real-time project details from your legacy system into the new system without any gaps. Therefore, you must give serious thought to changing ERP software.
5. Will the complete data be transferred?
Companies possess large chunks of data in its database and worry if they can move the whole data into the newly implemented ERP system. Some of the improper data migration consequences are feeble data quality, incomplete & corrupt data, and lack of adaptability in the new software. The problems also include malfunctioning, nonfunctioning, scattered data, unorganized data, and incorrect database.
Modern-day ERPs have intelligent and proven methods to transfer the complete data from a legacy system into a modern solution without chaos. ERPs like RealSoft adopts highly efficient modus operandi for migrating data. Based on the nature and character of the business, ERP analysts spend days with the management and key staff to study, review, and prepare the selected (Entire or specific years) data for relocation.
These analysts follow the ERP migration steps to guide the employees to prepare the data and convert it into the desired structure for a successful migration. We can transfer the data manually or in electronic forms with the help of the right people. It is managed by importing and exporting files that include master data, historical records, and live data with precision and efficiency.
ERP system upgrade – How RealSoft performs in both concerns
We derive ERP data migration policies from international standards and unique customer requirements. RealSoft is an intelligent and concise ERP software in Dubai designed by Coral Business Solutions based on its 16 plus years of real-time industry experience and 4000 plus ERP implementations. RealSoft3 is a cloud-based ERP software that is dynamic, adaptable, and user-friendly. It guarantees to increase the teamwork, transparency, efficiency, productivity, visibility, quality, sales, and accountability of the people and organization.
As changing ERP software requires careful planning, analysis, and review of the requirements, our expert analysts spend hours with each department and identify the reasons for changing ERP software. We understand the complexities and risks you face in your day to day business operations and help you streamline these processes for improved productivity and efficiency. We outline the fundamental ROIs a company can achieve after implementing RealSoft.
We custom-build software to suit your unique requirements and offer dedicated training to your staff. We guide you with the ERP data migration best practices and assist you in backing up your data and restructuring it to satisfy the current design. We also provide world-class back-end technical support, migrate your entire data without damage or loss, familiarize you with the software operations, and partner with you to make your ERP implementation successful.
We have standard policies and practices to migrate your entire data to the new solution without functional gaps and missing links as you upgrade ERP system. We strictly follow a predefined and robust ERP migration strategy to assure you of the safe transfer of your data that includes historical records, master data, and live data. It also consists of live project & contract details, opening balance, opening stock, aging AR and AP, and contacts.
Some of the ERP migration steps we undertake while changing ERP software are;
- Customizing the software
- Conducting adequate testing
- Sticking to the standard policies
- Reviewing data and rearranging into desired formats
- Planning, scheduling, and preparing
- Involvement of users and management
- Validating data and migration assistance
- Reviewing completion, success ratio, and accuracy
- Eliminating duplication and errors
- Repeatedly testing and validating data
- Training, support, and guidance
Contact us today for ERP system upgrade & Successful ERP Data Migration and to learn more about RealSoft and its unique features.
– Jismon Joseph
