How well will ERP software help me prioritize my business needs?

Understanding whether an ERP solution makes sense for your business is not a simple proposition. Prioritization of the key goals and strategies is critical to determining what steps you must take as a business owner to grow your business to the next level.
Most ERP systems are predicated on the following backbone:
o Financial
o Distribution
o Human resources
o Product lifecycle management
* Advanced Applications
o Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
o Supply Chain Management software
+ Purchasing
+ Manufacturing
+ Distribution
o Warehouse management system.

* Management portal/dashboard
o Decision support system
Determining which of these modules is necessary for your business is the first step in the process. Keep in mind that each of this modules can be implemented as a contained system or individual modules.

Your priorities will be determined based upon the key goals for implementation:
Alignment, Growth, Management, Structure, Cost Savings, or Efficiency.

What is most important is determining what direction your company is going and what areas need to be implement through the system. Because the ERP system integrates that data, it will give you access to across the board data with which you can use to create business strategies for all aspects of the business.

Consider first what is the most important outcome from the implementation of an ERP system.
What gaps would it fill?
What functions must it provide?
Are there areas of overlap which would become redundant in the new system?
Data migration is one of the most important activities in determining the success of an ERP implementation. And a significant amount of planning must occur even before you began the implementation.

Unfortunately, data migration is the last activity before the production phase of an ERP implementation, and therefore receives minimal attention due to time constraints. The following are steps of a data migration strategy that can help with the success of an ERP implementation:

1. Identify the data to be migrated
2. Determine the timing of data migration
3. Generate the data templates
4. Freeze the tools for data migration
5. Decide on migration-related setups
6. Decide on data archiving

Unfortunately in most cases, the data migration process is the last thing to be considered since it is the last step in the implementation process
Therefore consider what data input to and output from the new system is absolutely necessary for your business outcomes can be an important first step.

ERP software is usually too complex for in-house developers, so it is more advisable to hire outside consultants who are professionally trained to implement these systems.
Key Metrics will be:
1. A linking each current organizational process to the your business strategy;
2. Analysis of the effectiveness of each process in light of the current business capability
3. Creating a culture of understanding the automated solutions.

Typical installations for a company of around 25 which is small project (e.g. a company of less than 100 staff) can be planned and delivered within 3–9 months.
Many organizations do not have sufficient internal skills to implement an ERP project. Many organizations work with a consulting services for ERP implementation. A normal ERP engagement with a consulting team involves the consultant being responsible for the entire ERP implementation including:

1. selecting
2. planning
3. training
4. testing
5. implementation
6. delivery

As a business owner, sitting down with an ERP consultant can help you to clarify your needs, priorities as well as provide you with clarity on the cost associated with a customized system versus configurations using out of the box modules.