You’re aware that ERP systems can bring about cost savings, by integrating disparate systems. That it can make financial reporting easier, by reducing the need to manually enter and reconcile data. Just to name a few benefits. But perhaps these advantages aren’t materializing anymore.
Instead, you find it more challenging to get things done. Here are three signs that your legacy ERP system could be causing bottlenecks at work.
The IT spend for Legacy Systems escalates annually
More likely than not, your legacy ERP system is ill-equipped to handle today’s challenges and increased demand. Perhaps your system couldn’t generate reports that consolidate data from several branches out of the box, because it was deployed when there was only one office to speak of. To get around it, you had your legacy system customised.
While such customizations can help to plug the gaps, they’re complex and don’t come cheap. And they can’t be ported over automatically if you upgrade to a newer version of your ERP software. If you have to upgrade your system for any reason, expect to dedicate a big chunk of the budget to your vendor, so they can re-implement everything from scratch.
Your team’s productivity is lower than expected
If you find that consolidation takes up more time than you expect, your legacy system could be a cause. It might be that your legacy ERP system isn’t enabled with the latest technology, so your team have implemented complicated, manual workarounds.
A clunky interface like that could also make onboarding new employees a chore. You might find that a large part of your time goes into handholding them through the basics of navigating around the system.
No access to the Legacy ERP System when out of the office
Your ERP system should offer 360-degree end-to-end business visibility. But maybe it does, only in the office.
Imagine you’re in the middle of keying a new invoice into the system, and a colleague from Sales calls to check if a client’s invoice is due. He apologizes; he doesn’t have access to that data on his phone. Or perhaps you’ve had to drop whatever you’re doing to generate a quotation, when a sales representative calls in. So instead of delivering increased operations efficiency, a non-mobile ERP could be a major drag on your productivity.
