No one wants to tell their grandmother that she knitted an ugly quilt. It’s cruel to point out that the colors clash and the thing looks like a hodgepodge of cloth she found in her garbage bin. So we accept the quilt with a smile and place it begrudgingly on our perfectly patterned bedspread.
In business we may accept the outcome of a patchwork of business systems out of necessity. As our business grows we purchase the first and most affordable accounting software program available. Then as we grow larger we may sew in an inventory management system or work order management software. Then we may add an updated accounting software program to deal with multiple subsidiaries. Of course, none of these systems communicate with each other very well, so we pay our employees thousands of dollars to take an order from one system and re-key it into another.
The Silo Effect: “Grandma’s Ugly Quilt”
Companies can go years with this ad-hoc approach to building their business systems. Eventually, however, it catches up to them. Employees aren’t computers after all. They make mistakes. All it takes is one employee inputting incorrect data in one part of the system to destroy the flow of business operations—kind of like sewing in a brown paper bag to a cloth quilt. Something’s going to tear when you try sleeping in it.
It’s worse when customers are affected. For instance, Wine Market in Australia had difficulties processing order information so that a customer could attain their order status. It would take 45 seconds on average before a customer service call could even be answered. Most calls required the company service rep to call back with an answer. After upgrading to NetSuite ERP, they cut call wait time to 11 seconds, and their first call resolution was 95%. Customers who get what they want when they want are happy customers. That’s the power of having a unified tapestry of business systems.
Final Thoughts
Making the right decision on a unified system is complex, and your business is unique. At BCS ProSoft we help you choose the best system for your business. Because we offer multiple business solutions, we’re able to offer unbiased recommendations on which system we think would best support your company’s growth requirements. We form lasting partnerships with our clients to help them grow as their business needs and internal processes evolve over time. We understand that the system you implemented 10 years ago, may not be the system you need to take your company to the next level.
As always, you can reach us at (800) 882-6705 or contact us online. We encourage you to reach out to request a technology consultation if you’ve been struggling with your systems and processes or take a short “which ERP is right for you” self-assessment quiz to determine which solution we’d recommend for you.
