The Purpose of Modern ERP in an
SMB Technology Roadmap

When it comes to small-to-medium sized businesses (SMBs) deciding what technology could have the most impact on their business, it’s the replacement of their legacy Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) that winds up topping the list of priorities today.

Why do fractional Chief Information Officers (CIOs) advise SMBs to prioritize the evaluation and selection of modern ERP when contemplating changes to their company’s technology, particularly in support of strategic goals? As SMBs scale and take on complexity, they begin to understand that their current technology and overall approach may not be well-suited to support their next steps and strategic vision. In recent research, SMBs admitted to crucial shortcomings in their legacy systems:

• 49% reported that their legacy business systems can’t track business processes.
• 47% said that their business systems can’t interact with each other. 
• 40% believed that legacy systems lack important collaboration features.

The reliance on outdated, legacy ERP systems often has a number of inherent limitations, such as manual data entry and manipulation, burdensome and costly patches and upgrades and the perpetuation of siloed data, that simply can’t support growth strategies and vision for the future. As a result, legacy technology can lead to wasted time, excessive manual steps and/or workarounds, employee and customer frustrations, inaccuracies and profit loss. When assessing their line of business applications in place today, SMBs working with their fractional CIO should have legacy ERP be among the first – if not the first – solution to be replaced in order to achieve success. 

“When SMBs are assessing their line of business applications in place today, legacy ERP should be among the first – if not the first – solution to be replaced in order to achieve success.”

Three Ways SMBs Can Benefit from Legacy ERP Migration to Modern ERP

Modern ERP solutions, like Sage Intacct, Acumatica, NetSuite and Sage X3, are designed to centralize, streamline and facilitate the improvement of business processes within a company. As the common database and overall platform to connect virtually every department in the organization, these cloud ERP systems support critical functions, such as inventory and purchasing, accounting, sales, and many industry-specific areas of focus, ultimately fulfilling a digital operations platform (DOP) approach that companies like Power Curbers have adopted. 

All of this enables modern ERP solutions to deliver a wide range of impressive benefits for SMBs:

1. The power of automation: One of the first, and most impactful, benefits can come from automation and Artificial Intelligence (AI). Before implementing a next-generation ERP system, SMBs may over-rely on manual processes related to siloed systems and outdated legacy technology. These inefficient processes can waste valuable time, lead to costly errors, and hinder employee productivity. Modern ERP can successfully automate many of these once-manual tasks, such as through GL Outlier Detection that flags irregular transactions based on historical patterns, leading to new efficiencies and enhanced productivity.
2. Modern ERP, as a core component of DOP, facilitates comprehensive data visibility across the entire organization. By integrating with other next-generation applications like Human Capital Management (HCM) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM), this access to real-time data allows SMBs to make data-driven decisions and gain valuable new insights into the performance of the business. As a result, leadership can make faster, more-informed decisions to quickly respond to market changes and opportunities. 
3. Cost savings: Beyond automation and the ability to streamline business processes, modern ERP can enable more efficient procurement, facilitate better resource allocation, better financial management and more. Also, since these systems are deployed in the cloud, they reduce the need for IT resources to execute data redundancy, data replication and disaster recovery procedures for additional cost savings. 

By delivering these benefits, modern ERP systems can help SMBs better position themselves for newfound success. With the right ERP solution, SMBs can efficiently manage resources, quickly respond to market changes and new opportunities, and achieve their growth targets, all for a new – and sustainable – competitive advantage.

Next Steps

To learn more about the purpose of modern ERP in technology roadmaps, download the complete white paper, “A Comprehensive Technology Roadmap Can Deliver a New Competitive Advantage for Today’s SMBs.”