Besides rising business costs, rapid changes to technology poses a challenge to businesses in Malaysia. According to Monash University Malaysia’s Business Sentiment Survey 2017, one of the major issues concerning Malaysian business leaders is the rising cost of doing business.
While there’s no denying that ERP – or Enterprise Resource Planning solutions – form the vital backbone of any business, it is generally daunting for business owners to consider costly technology solutions because they tend to lack ease-of-use and scalability, leading to increased overheads without adding much value. An ERP solution can restrict your company’s growth and even endanger its financial health. The key lies in reviewing the costs and benefits of implementing an ERP.
Alternatively, a faster, simpler and more flexible option to the ERP is a business management solution (BMS). BMS can revitalise your business, allowing it to scale while providing international functionality and security, without the cost and complexity of typical enterprise software solutions.
Conducting a health check on your current ERP solutions can determine if they are indeed limiting business growth. Here are the five tell-tale signs that you should move on to BMS instead.
- You have high operating costs
You have paid thousands, or even millions of dollars to select and implement one or more ERP solutions for your enterprise. But are you still shelling out thousands every year to maintain it, add licenses, change elements and update it to meet the requirements of your growing business?
Future-ready BMS solutions are fast and flexible, allowing you to meet changing organisational needs at a speed that ERP systems cannot, and without costly custom development or professional services.
- Your business procedures are complicated
Do your staff feel overwhelmed by the sheer size and complexity of existing ERP software? Do you have to repeatedly call in experts to educate employees about basic features like customising dashboards or sharing information?
BMS is highly configurable to suit a variety of business processes and user preferences, increasing its ease-of-use across a wide range of industries. For example, users from the manufacturing sector can boost process cycle times and quality control, while distributors can enable supply chain acceleration and cost reduction.
Thanks to its integrated suite of applications, businesses only need to think about managing one set of software infrastructure. BMS can also be deployed in a secure and compliant manner, in the cloud, partner-hosted or on-premise.
- Your customer complaints have increased
This is a common scenario among business builders and enterprises – products are returned due to faults, but a disconnect between ERP solutions and customer service leads to continued manufacturing of faulty items. A lack of integration between departments is guaranteed to invite customers’ wrath.
A BMS will help organisations integrate processes, while updating data in real-time for increased responsiveness to customer needs. From purchasing to manufacturing, inventory management, project management, sales, customer service and financials – it handles all functions, improves collaboration and reporting, and delivers timely insight, allowing for better cost controls and performance optimisation.
- Your team needs a more powerful tool for mobile working
BMS provides complete enterprise management software for teams to use on-the-go, without burdensome compatibility issues. Teams can access business data on any mobile device, allowing them to do business on the go – they can check inventory, take customer orders, approve purchases, create and send business invoices and view key performance indicators (KPI). This allows for consistency in processes, improved data collection and the chance to eliminate inefficiencies.
- Expanding your global reach & profits feels unachievable
Are you planning international business expansion of an already established global business, but feel your ERP solution is not equipped to handle the complexities that expansion brings?
A BMS eliminates the complexity of expanding a business, without costly upgrades or module add-ons. With a multi-country and multi-currency solution, all locations are connected seamlessly, providing for a complete, global picture. This will prime midsize organisations and enterprises to manage customers, suppliers and contractors across geographies, in order to scale a profitable business internationally.
Today’s businesses need technology solutions to be faster, simpler and more flexible. Choosing an international BMS will boost your business’ ability to adapt to changing market conditions, with enterprise-class business management functionality, security and scalability.
Using a data-driven approach to business management from any country, anytime, using any portable device – now that is freedom.
By Robin Chao
Chao is the Vice President of Sage Software Asia. He is passionate about helping businesses succeed by providing them with the information, insight and tools they need.
