A study conducted by a Bangalore based research organization shows that 22% of SME’s have opted for ERP solution in countries like India and Thailand. At the same time another research organization from Hyderabad raises the question on the utilization of ERP deployed in SMEs. This low percentage of ERP adoption in SMEs and an even lower utilization raise a question ‘Do SMEs check readiness for ERP before going for implementation?’
We did a good amount of debate on social media like LinkedIn on this topic where various veterans on this subject joined the discussion and shared their thought on ERP readiness. This discussion was very insightful and gave a good degree of understanding. At the same time based on our experience we also realize that SMEs should know about how they can check readiness for ERP before taking decision to buy an ERP. We have seen many SMEs who have taken decision of implementing ERP without knowing their preparedness. It is something like diving in a pool with no water or without knowing how to swim.
So here goes our check-list to check readiness for ERP:
- Check for symptoms:Your business will give you enough sign to understand whether you need an ERP. If your people feel difficulty in accessing relevant information on timely manner, if accounting is difficult and takes time to complete and if your sales & customer experience are suffering, then surely your business has reached a point where you need an ERP.
- Culture/ Social norms of the company: ERP is all about process and discipline. If your organization has a well defined procedure and policy to do the things and if you follow standard business practices then your organization is ready to adopt ERP. But if your organizational culture gives importance to people rather than process then ERP is strictly not for you.
- Ability, intelligence and commitment of people:It is people who work at various levels like executive level, HOD’s and Management and use ERP as a tool to increase their productivity and make better business decision. To fully leverage the capacity of ERP system the various small team should ready to handle their business function and apart from proficiency in their job the team should know what to extract from an ERP.
- Check your attitude, process and then go for ERP:As it is stated in the starting of the blog, ERP is inevitable for a market challenger. So before going for ERP solution ask yourself whether you have an appetite for growth, whether you want to meet or surpass the business standard and service level of the renowned companies in your field. If the answers to these questions are affirmative then only you should go ERP, otherwise it will be a kind of dead investment for your company.
- Know your need and priority:Do not consider ERP as a silver bullet which will solve your all problem at once. However the truth is until and unless you don’t know which thing to target & priorities first and what to gain from ERP, you can’t get your ROI.
Now you would be able to check readiness for ERP. You may also like to visit our blog on ERP implementation issues