The activities of every successful enterprise are based on a comfortable and functional business software – the right provider may essentially change the efficiency and profitability of the enterprise. But how to choose business software, and the provider of this service for an enterprise?
When choosing business software, you should ask yourself a couple of very easy questions: can it offer reasonable added value to the enterprise and does it help to generate more profit? Does it make the work of the employees quicker and more comfortable, does it help to optimize the stocks, and does it help to manage the communication with the customers and to flexibly integrate into the new sales channels, including the e-shop?
Firstly, you should, for sure, answer the question, why the replacement of the business software is being planned at all, what are the shortcomings of the current software, and which problems are to be solved by buying a new software. Most of the software has the same basic modules, but these modules give different opportunities depending on the software.
To make the choosing process more efficient, we have written down opportunities that the new software should offer.
Business software in the cloud is more profitable
Software in the cloud has many advantages compared to traditional solutions. One advantage, for instance, is quick and automatic updates, and access to the data from every corner of the world. In addition to higher security, a software in the could enables to cut the running costs. – there is neither a need for an IT guy nor for amortizing your own servers. Since many softwares ask for additional payments for automatic updates, the savings may be up to tens of thousands of euros per year.
For example, the cloud-based Erply economy software gives the enterprises the chance to use the opportunities of teleworking when they wish to do so, offering the employees and the managers a real-time access to all data exactly from the place where they are situated at the time. The manager not only gets a chance to follow the functioning of the enterprise in real-time, but also an opportunity to enable the employees to securely work for the enterprise from the distance.
Secure business software enables a good night’s sleep
In addition to their workers, the biggest wealth of entrepreneurs is their data. It would be wrong to think that if data is securely in the personal computer of the manager, it is well-protected. In addition to theft, loss, and leakage of data, it could cause breakdowns in the activities of the enterprise due to interruptions in data processing.
Before opting for a business software, it is advisable to ask, where the data of the enterprise is stored. How is the security of the data guaranteed, and how is the traffic of the data organised? Security is created through deliberate activities that include using a firewall to protect the data, separating the data in a high-quality database server, making a back-up of the database, and even better – replica for a real-time recovery, managing the servers by a competent team. There should be a recovery plan for an interruption. These are all minimum requirements for a good business software.
Innovative software
The world around us is changing with a crazy speed. The business software must keep up with these changes. Opt for a provider that has enough capacities to develop constantly, keep up with the changed needs of the enterprise, and to be innovative.
It would be good to choose a business software provider, who is also active in the international market, who has a strong team, and the knowledge needed, in order not only to keep up with the time, but also to be a bit ahead of it.
Well-functioning WMS helps to save money
WMS or Warehouse Management System helps the enterprise to keep its expenses under control and to earn more money. The daily work of storage workers becomes more efficient, they make less mistakes, and therefore, the customers are also happier.
In any case, you should opt for software that offers a mobile solution. The latter optimizes and supports the work process in the stock and with its help, you can make up sets out of the products and storage them even quicker than before. The mobile WMS supports all the standard functionalities of the storage, for instance, it shows how the products flow into the storage and out of it, how they flow between the storages, the inventory, and the current information about the stock inventories.
Why is it important? Mobile WMS helps to manage the stock records more smoothly and guarantees the instruments and the information necessary for functioning efficiently. It helps to avoid problems caused by using several databases/data pools, several interfaces, and management processes that do not support each other.
How to get a fair price?
The price is undoubtedly an important factor when choosing business software. Therefore, you should do a little preparatory work, and not only concentrate on the price of the software. If you emphasize the latter too much, you may, at one moment notice that the additional costs are far beyond the budget. For example, some providers of economy software assume that the new customer invests considerably in buying the licence, accommodating the software, or building secure communication channels.
If you make your calculations to estimate the software, do not restrict yourself with direct costs. Take the money you could save with the help of the software, and the higher productivity also into account. Find out, how long the lifetime of the software is, and how much the updates would cost. Is the software solution up to date and does it give you a competitive advantage? Does the producer have a good reputation? Remember that a low price means an elaborate contract. With a certain price offer, a big amount of unexpected expenses, changes of order in the future, and unavoidable conflicts may come along.