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In this article, we take a look at the increasing sophistication of ERP platforms, as vendors act to fine-tune their services against a background of changing working practices and the more specialized needs of the industry. We also look into the trend toward further integration, and the prospects for mergers and acquisitions in today’s unpredictable market conditions.

Why It’s Time For ERP Take-Off

The acceleration of enterprise resource planning (ERP) system adoption reflects its increasing importance not only to the growing business but also for organizations that are focused on cost-saving transformations. Even with a recession looming, there is no sign of a slowdown in the advance of ERP, as CFOs look to conserve every cent.

ERP is the key to integrating multiple business functions across an organization. Instead of having your data exist in silos, it becomes incorporated into a single digital space so that business platforms (spanning customer relationships, supply chain, and financial management) are made accessible from one portal.

This combined data becomes a single source of truth across the enterprise. As more powerful tools and technologies become widely available, the associated reduction in IT costs, inventory levels, and cycle times — with a reported average return on investment (RoI) in just over two-and-half years — is inspiring more businesses to plan their own ERP deployment.

Cloud ERP Deployments by the SME

ERP has slowly been making a move away from on-premises solutions. While similar technologies, including CRM and SCM systems, have already been in the cloud for some time, ERP has undergone a more gradual shift. Cloud solutions are especially appealing to larger organizations (over 1000 employees) because of low costs and greater economies of scale.

In recent times, the trend has accelerated. Vendors are investing more in cloud technology, and it is being successfully adapted for use by smaller businesses. In fact, the size of the international cloud ERP market is on its way to reaching $178 billion by 2030, according to Adroit Market Research. The financial and accounting solutions segment is growing the fastest.

However, cloud-based ERP solutions are also seeing an uptick in popularity across government, industry, and the retail sector because of rapid technological progress, including the emergence of the Internet of Things (IoT). Conveniently, today’s SMEs can choose between a system fully hosted in the cloud or a hybrid model that gives a degree of in-house IT control.

Cloud models offer many advantages to the modern SME, enabling them to ramp up IT investments without the need for a large internal IT department. It’s important that ERP vendors emphasize cross-platform capabilities and user-friendly software, thus enabling their SME customers to embrace more advanced technologies down the road.

A Stronger Focus on Mobile-Friendly, Real-Time Access

In the age of remote and hybrid working, ERP vendors must cater to a workforce that is constantly on the move. Clients are searching for devices that enable them to access valuable data, preferably by streamlining capture directly from the source. They want to send notifications, organize events, and approve sales orders and expenses on the fly.

For this reason, the trends toward mobile ERP and cloud ERP deployments are closely connected and overlapping. After all, when companies shift ERP functions to the cloud, they immediately gain the ability to tap into business insights around the clock from any mobile device — instead of needing to be physically stationed at the office to retrieve them.

Real-time visibility is a big selling point. Vendors should provide intelligent dashboards that enable clients to generate detailed reports and carry out more accurate forecasting. At the same time, mobile enterprise solutions shouldn’t neglect offline functionality. The inevitability of dropouts calls for automated data syncing as soon as the connection is restored.

The Continued Rise of Industry-Specific Solutions

Many businesses are satisfied with basic, plug-and-play ERP functionality, but often that’s simply not enough. ERP vendors now offer industry-agnostic technologies that provide core and advanced features to support any type of organization.

Some clients require a degree of specialization due to their more offbeat workflows. However, over-customization is expensive and time-consuming — and a major factor as to why so many vendors are opting to build industry-specific products. Government contractors, manufacturers, distributors, eCommerce operations, and non-profits all have different needs.