6 Must-Know Benefits of ERP Consolidation
Enterprise resource planning (ERP) consolidation gives business owners the best of both worlds. They can enjoy the benefits of running a single integrated ERP system without the hassle starting over and completely rebuilding from scratch.
This is becoming a prominent strategy for businesses that have complex environments. While some companies may be able to get by with one simple ERP configuration, it’s common for larger organizations to run multiple systems in tandem. However, this is not always ideal.
Running multiple ERPs may seem unavoidable when your company has a diverse range of business functions to manage. But in many cases, companies are better off consolidating these systems to a single, cohesive platform.
Top 6 Benefits of ERP System Consolidation
Every IT project has its pros and cons. For example, there will be up-front IT costs to consider, as well as productivity losses that will occur as your teams get up to speed with a new platform.
But in general, the benefits of an ERP consolidation far outweigh the drawbacks in the long-term. Let’s look at a few of these benefits in more detail.
1. Create an Easier User Experience
Primarily, an ERP system consolidation creates a simplified experience for users. Those managing the ERP won’t need to worry about learning multiple systems. Additionally, supervisors can reduce time spent training new employees on disparate platforms.
2. Boost Efficiency
Not only does streamlining your ERP environment accelerate internal adoption, it also boosts your IT efficiency.
When a company has disparate ERPs for managing accounting, inventory, and manufacturing functions, IT teams need to invest substantial time in managing each platform individually.
Unifying all platforms under a single ERP umbrella streamlines this process and supports a more responsive, efficient, and flexible IT architecture across the board.
3. Single Source of Truth
Most companies end up incorporating new ERP systems and functions, as their business grows. But it can disrupt coordination and data visibility.
ERP consolidation takes business elements such as production and transparency and transforms them into key data points. It is far easier to run revenue and cost projects from a single system, for example, than trying to manually pull financial data from each system.
Consolidation creates a single source of truth for all business data and brings much-needed visibility to your system.
Interested in learning more? Check out these blogs:
- What is a JDE System?
- What is Production Line Balancing?
- Cost of ERP Software for Small to Medium Sized Business
4. Simplify Auditing Trails
When all of the platform data is coordinated and accessible, it becomes easier to manage both internal and external audits.
This may apply to compliance regulations that are specific to your industry or to more generalized regulations (such as Sarbanes-Oxley) that apply to all publicly-traded companies.
Using a unified system makes it easier to generate reports, monitor database changes, and review before/after values without undue manual burden from your own teams or external auditors.
5. Lower Total Cost of Ownership
Maintaining and upgrading multiple ERP systems can be costly over time. Consider the licensing fees, subscriptions, and support costs associated with each ERP.
And what about platform modifications? The more extensive your customizations, the higher your ongoing maintenance and support costs will be.
Aside from the complexity of the system itself, these costs reduce the ROI of your technology investments and increase the total cost of ownership (TCO) of your IT assets overall.
Consolidate your ERP systems with ease with insight from Corning Data’s expert consultants.
6. Risk Management
The more disconnected and complicated your IT environment is, the more risk you are subject to.
This is necessary for compliance and auditing. But it also applies to other areas of your business, such as vendor and financial management.
Poor system integration creates barriers that prevent you from accessing data in real time. This increases the difficulty of staying on top of asset management, vendor performance, and other workflows.
Consolidating multiple enterprise planning tools makes it easier to manage your risk profile. It brings visibility to key financial processes, data points, and reports crucial to long-term decision making.
Is Your Company Ready for a Data Consolidation ERP?
Consolidating your ERP solution can save you time and money while streamlining many of the key business processes that your company relies on. But like any IT project, it’s important to have a plan going in to ensure that the implementation goes as planned.
If you’re curious about what kind of benefits an ERP consolidation could bring to your enterprise, contact Corning Data. We have 40 years of experience providing turnkey solutions for IFS and JD Edwards ERP consulting, planning, and implementation.
It’s this experience that gives us the insight we need to assess your system and determine which aspects could be consolidated for the benefit of your business.
