Table of Contents
Overview
Currently, enterprises tend to choose ERP systems to automate and streamline their business processes. However, how to integrate ERP to be suitable and effective for your business? This article will give the idea behind the ERP integration approach so that businesses can come up with the right solutions for their business.
Besides, one of the ERP system solutions that any business can consider to optimize their business processes is Acumatica Integration. This technology provider develops cloud and browser-based ERP software for small and medium-sized businesses.
What is the future of the ERP market?
Enterprise Resource Planning(ERP) is a type of software that is used to automate business processes, manage business activities such as accounting, sales, marketing, supply chains, human resources, etc. Besides, An ERP system ties a multitude of business processes together and allows data to flow back and forth.
ERP systems eliminate data duplication and provide data integrity with only an authentic source by collecting an organization’s shared transactional data from multiple sources. It results in better cost savings and productivity as people spend less time searching for the data they need.
ERP is a preeminent solution for any business with its range of outstanding features. ERP has become one of the indispensable tools of businesses who want to use resources wisely and conveniently. They help businesses save money by reallocating human and financial capital or building a more efficient process.
Specifically, it’s easier to track customer order or inventory details, which helps employees make adjustments to solve difficult problems. Moreover, ERP also improves communication and collaboration, providing a range of reports and analytics that can make a difference for your business and turning large amounts of information into clearly illustrated charts and graphs.
According to GlobeNewswire, there is $66.38 billion that the global ERP software market is projected to reach by 2026 with an 8,2% CAGR(2020-2026). With intelligent solutions that unify and standardize company business processes across different departments, ERP has changed the way businesses operate today and has grown dramatically. In the future, we will see the paradigm shift of ERP. With the advancement of technology, a wide range of solutions will be deployed by vendors. Here are the prominent trends that will drive the growth of the ERP market in the coming years.
1. User-friendly ERP systems
ERP vendors will create a more intuitive and user-friendly user interface. Ease-to-use ERP functionality is one of the key factors that will drive the next generation workforce to adopt ERP solutions
2. ERP integration
The need for seamless integration across several applications and platforms as well as integration with existing or new modules is driving the growth of the ERP market and significantly reducing hardware and software costs.
3. Mobility
Managers, executives, and workers can seamlessly manage key business operations on the go, accessed anytime and anywhere on any mobile device. Mobile ERP will bring the ultimate flexibility and convenience to organizations.
4. Internet of Things
The Internet of Things (IoT) helps businesses seamlessly network all connected physical devices or sensors and allows these devices to exchange data over a specific network without the need for interference with humans. Adopting IoT together with ERP will make the ERP solution smart, real-time, and flexible. According to Statista’s prediction, the IoT market will reach $1.1 trillion worldwide by 2023.
5. More Buyers for Cloud-based Solutions
Over the next decade, the provision of cloud-based ERP solutions will grow rapidly. The prominence of SaaS solutions will bring businesses many benefits such as automatic updates, patch management, universal accessibility, and high security. Cloud-based models will be especially useful to small and medium-sized businesses with limited budgets as they do not have to maintain their systems, significantly reducing the need for in-house IT.
6. Two-Tier ERP
Two-tier ERP is born for small and medium-sized companies running two consolidated solutions simultaneously, or companies with multiple locations or subsidiaries.
In this 4.0 technology era, easier deployment of different ERP applications will be more necessary than ever. As a result, ERP vendors will provide customized solutions to cater and respond to specific business requirements.
Why is ERP Integration so difficult?
Since ERP involves virtually everything in an enterprise, ERP needs to integrate with other business applications and systems of the enterprise, from web browsers to custom programs. There are some important barriers to ERP integration.
Achieving maximum integration requires prior and careful selection of the ERP system and the integrated applications such as the age and architecture of this system and the need to integrate new applications and systems into the original ERP. Therefore, most companies that need to integrate their ERP system with other applications have to use custom interfaces or have to depend on middleware.
Here are the challenges and barriers when setting up an ERP system. Businesses should consider and look for effective solutions before starting with this project.
Data exchange
Data transformation is one of the main challenges. Since it has to integrate ERP applications and systems, the ERP system needs to be able to read and write data to other applications used by the company. Most ERP systems require a separate application to perform the migration.
Project management
ERP implementation goes through many stages and each stage plays an important role. Thus, staying on track requires meticulous ERP project management.
Expensive cost
An ERP project involves a large chunk of work that leads to a lot of spending. Besides, data migration or training costs are also factors that break the budget. Therefore, to avoid draining the budget, businesses should consider and budget more than they think
System Update
When the latest version of an application or ERP comes out, it breaks the established integration. As a result, businesses need more modifications and custom programming to keep things working.
Data quality
Because many departments interact with the same customer, products and orders often overlap with the same information in their systems. In addition, some information may be inaccurate or outdated, such as a customer or supplier that has ceased to operate. Otherwise, ERP systems require data quality assurance related to data validation, removal of duplicates, and addition of missing values, and new data should also be thoroughly checked before data is transferred to an ERP system.
With the above barriers, businesses must know what applications they want their ERP systems to integrate with and what data formats will be needed for interoperability. Besides, middleware is also considered for integrating the ERP package with your other applications. In short, it is important that the ERP system ensures smooth integration and adapts to the environment of your business.
What are three ERP Integration Approaches?
ERP integration will help automate the business processes of enterprises, eliminating human errors. Sharing data and insights across departments will also be easier and more accurate. However, choosing the right integration strategy is crucial to creating an effective business. Therefore, businesses must apply the appropriate approach to discover the features of ERP in the most effective way.
Here are three common ERP integration approaches that you can consider for your business.
1. Application Program Interfaces
Application Program Interfaces(API) is a set of programming codes that allows companies to open and transmit the data and functionality of their applications to other applications or software. Other applications and software may be from external third-party developers, business partners, and internal departments within their own companies.
API is considered as a leading ERP integration strategy in connecting ERP with other business systems. The API first defines how ERP and other external systems communicate with each other. The APIs then set the rules for communicating with the system, and each API provides the code for data to be transmitted between software programs. Programmers will then match APIs from their ERP system with APIs from other systems they want to integrate with ERP.
Businesses can use APIs from an ERP vendor, create their own, or purchase an API from a third-party vendor as long as their ERP applications work well with their other programs. APIs act as intermediaries between a company’s ERP system and its external applications.
2. Integration tools of vendor
Most ERP vendors have ERP integration tools so that they can integrate their ERP system with other systems and applications. Each vendor will have different tools and methods as long as it is suitable for their integration process.
3. Third-party integration software
Organizations don’t have to build their integrations between their ERP systems and external applications because third-party vendors also provide integration platforms.
Beehexa Integration Platform is one of the third-party software that can make integrating your business faster and easier. We have successfully integrated data for ERP systems with eCommerce, CRM, BI, HR systems, POS, Accounting, etc such as Acumatica, Sap Business One, Infor Syteline, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, etc. HexaSync is in the middle of an ERP system and any other system that automates data sharing and reduces the possibility of human error so that your company can focus on efficiency and revenue.
Final words
To sum up, an ERP system is a leading solution for every business to automate business processes. This system will create loads of value, reduce human error and save a considerable amount of money and time for your business. This article gives the ideas behind the ERP integration approach to help you better understand and choose the right integration methods for your business.