There are different types of businesses in the world: they can differ on the basis of size, what they specialize in, whether they sell services or products, what their target demographic is, and so on. It should not be too difficult to understand, as such, that any form of business policy or process that is implemented to improve a business will have varying results and degrees of success from one business to another. That being said, a number of business models, policies and processes have been constantly shown to improve the performance and standing of the average business, which is why companies continue to introduce and implement them within their own workplace.
One such implementation that tends to have different results for every business is the implementation of ERP system. Enterprise Resource Planning system is basically a catch-all term for the many different applications within a software suite that are aimed at unburdening a company from the duties of accounting, customer support, inventory, maintenance and other rote core processes every business has. Now, you might be wondering how exactly ERP can have different results for companies, but generally, the reasons would be threefold: businesses underestimate the budget required for a solid ERP implementation, they underestimate the timeframe required for a likewise successful implementation, and lastly, they often fail to fully understand how the company stands to benefit from an ERP implementation.
When the above three factors come together, it is not hard to see why ERP software can easily fail and cause problems to one company, but cause tremendous success and improvements to another. As a result, businesses have to carefully plan their implementation of ERP: a sound plan must be devised that takes into account the nature of the business, the type of ERP that is best suited to it, and how the implementation should take place. More than anything, planning for ERP implementation allows the management and upper levels of the business hierarchy to discuss and come on board with the planned implementation: you might not expect it, but resistance from the employees is a real issue for ERP implementation more often than not.
A good plan can easily solve most of the issues that plague businesses haphazardly implementing a specific software or system. For example, the issue of budgeting can be easily solved if the company fully realizes how ERP changes the business, and what resources are exactly needed to make this happen. This ensures that the business gathers the required funds and resources to make this happen – and does not go over the allocated budget. Likewise, a good plan will definitely set a sufficient timeline that allows for the full implementation of ERP. It will set achievable goals and realistic expectations.