Small business ERP?

Before looking at ANY software, determine what your needs are. For instance; you need to track conversations with your customers, and delegate customers to your reps, do you also need to pay bills, generate retinpors about your sales and your financials, and so on. What are your technical skills, du you have someone to support a solution, do you already have a computer network, and which one, or do you want to have a solution that is hosted somewhere else so you don't have to think about software updates and backups?

If you make a list of your needs and the skills available, adn how you'd prefer to run a solution it will make it much easier not to fall for something that's over- (or under-) kill, and make sure you don't get yourself into technology you end up haveing to hire additional people to support. Remember, you are in the travel business, not in the technology business.

I would agree some type of CRM is probably what you are looking for, not ERP. I am from the ERP world, so I don't know what is good for your type of business, but I would look at stuff like InntopiaCRS (inntopia.com), SoftVoyage (softvoyage.com), Amadeus (amadeus.com), TAS (travelagentsoltuions.net), or look at these lists:

http://www.capterra.com/travel-agency-software?gclid=CJmi6KrI3KMCFRplgwod7Dlt7A

http://www.ask.com/web?l=dis&qsrc=999&siteid=14215&o=14215&q=solutions+for+tr...

Good luck!

Hi Kenny,

I tend to agree with previous posters. You'd like to explore CRM. It provides you with contact management, calendar management and sales management.

You might want to check http://www.borneosoft.com
It provides all three of them and it also has leave application management.

It is web based and it has Free Edition with 100MB storage each for 2 users.

I think you could benefit from checking out an all-in-one system.

WORKetc effectively combines customer relationship management with project management and billing - you can use it to run your entire business.

Not only that, but it's easy to collaborate and follow up with clients and employees alike (there is client login features). Set reminders, to-dos, and collaborate on tasks. WORKetc has email integration as well, and it's quite simple to use.

If you took advantage of WORKetc you would probably see a lot less mistakes by your fellow employees on top of more clients. WORKetc acts as a 'brain' to the business so-to-speak. A client could call and with one click you could have everything necessary to know about that client (established lead, previous conversations, specific notes and details) etc.

Worth giving a look in my opinion!

http://www.worketc.com/sign_up

David

Hi Kenny

ERP can be effective for a small company of under $10 million if you select the correct software. Most people utilize Quickbooks, but that doesn't handle multi-users, inventory, or the customer service requirements well. We work with Tier 2 companies, between $10million and $250 million, to implement ERP. One of the packages we utilize is Hansaworld, it was the first ERP package to be designed for the Mac, although it runs on Linux & WIndows. Hansaworld recently released a little brother called Hansabooks which has the same benefits of its old brother but not the Tier 2 price. Should you be interested I can send you the download information so you can review the software before you make a decision.

Best Regards

Fred McMurray
Mandatek - http://www.mandatek.com
Linked Local Network - http://www.linkedlocalnetwork.com

Enterprise Resource Planning is an umbella term. Software and services companies that grew out of the MRP world are now pitching ERP. Conceptually it sounds good but once you get into the actuall options you probably won't find a provider in the ERP space for your service based company expect for high end software.

I don't have a stake in the software business but I have done many and implementation of MRP/ERP and other specialized apps. If I were you I'd be looking for a package that targets your business operations specifically, if not exclusively. I just did a quick search... you might take a look at:

http://www.capterra.com/travel-agency-software

I also agree with previous posts thinking that a CRM solution may be the option - Microsoft CRM can manage calendaring, communication histories as well as sales, marketing and service – it also integrates with Outlook and mobile devices. You can create workflows and customizations to assign accounts to a specific agent and save time with automatic follow-up e-mails. Here’s a link with more details: http://smb.ms/duTaK0

Regards,
Jodi E.
Microsoft SMB Outreach Team
msftoft@microsoft.com

ERP is not meant for only large business, ERP can also be designed for any business according to their business needs, regardless whether it is a small business or a large one.

Regards,
Jeyanthi
http://www.binarch.com - Provides ERP for small to medium level business.
91-44-4501-4442
info@binarch.com

I would agree with Bente in that you need to define exactly what requirements you have of a piece of software before listening to the inevitable queue of people who will recommend some form of solution they are linked with.

From the little information in your original post, it looks like you are more in the market for a CRM system, and a basic one at that. An ERP system does have its benefits, but it really does depend on the complexity of your business processes whether it would be a good choice for you.

ERP is completely wrong for this let alone being too expensive. Your issue is a CRM one. Check out Sugar CRM, Salesforce, or another one. They can help you keep track of your customers, calendar, meetings etc. When you get bigger and need it integrated into other things, linked to your mobile phone, or customized call us www.trismax.com.

Hi Kenny,

I think SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) model would fit your requirement. Google app is one example of SaaS. It's whatever software that you can use without having to implement it at your own premise. You can use it online and pay monthly fee.

I recommend you to googling for such as 'SaaS ERP' or 'ERP on demand'. Hope this help. My company also provide SaaS but not ERP. We provide SaaS of 'Sales Tracking' so you can track and manage your sales projects. Please visit our site at http://www.salestrackingportal.com

Any feedback would be appreciated.
Regards,
Keith

You could check http://www.workforcetrack.com web-based ERP solution. It has several travel agencies among its customers. WorkForceTrack was created and developed as a cheap alternative to branded CRM and ERP solutions.

Majority of them use the system because of its CRM tool and mobile version. The prices depend on users' number so they are very flexible.

When choosing an integrated ERP suite you must look into these three essential questions: 1) What is the initial cost. It will likely include subscription + migration cost + business process re-engineering + add-on costs + consulting fees for more complex implementations 2) What are the subsequent years cost 3) How can I migrate my data out of the system to avoid vendor lock-in.

We just published a side by side comparison of 3 leading solutions among SMBs: http://www.getapp.com/compare/integrated-business-suite

Stay tuned for more up coming side by side comparison

Have you researched many of the programs available?

There are many enterprise resource planning programs available.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ERP_software_packages
gives you a lot to choose from
The GPL and LGPL licenses are "Open Source" and software packages usually available without charge.

best,
Reg
DotCom-Productions.com

Hi Kenny,

You can check out http://www.iwebnotes.com

Its comprehensive and very affordable. Unlike CRM / Invoicing apps, it has Accounting, Sales, Inventory and lot more. It is also Open Source (you can host it at your premise too).

The pricing is $7/user/month and there is a 30-day free trial.

cheers!

Rushabh