Spring Cleaning for Your ERP System
By Jackie Aldrich
Happy Spring from your Visibility team! Just like our houses, closets, and cars could use a deep cleaning in the Spring, this is a great time check in on your ERP system.
Keys For Maintaining Your ERP System
Look at Your Internal Capabilities
Do you have a dedicated IT professional on staff to keep up with ERP system maintenance? When maintaining an ERP system is just another task on your IT team's list of responsibilities it can be difficult to keep up with it. Look at your resources and decide if it's worth hiring a 3rd party to help with ERP system maintenance.
Stay on the Latest Version
Keeping up to date with the latest version makes upgrades easier and quicker to perform. Staying on the latest version allows for your organization to take advantage of bug fixes and enhancements to the system.
Perform Regular Backups and Updates to Hardware
Backup your data regularly and stay up to date with hardware updates too. Ensuring your computer systems are running on the latest version will improve security and overall use of the ERP software product.
Assess Business Processes
Spring is a great time to check in with your business processes. Do you feel like your operation is running as efficiently as possible? Was there a "phase 2" of implementation that you never quite got to? Reach out to your ERP vendor for a Business Assessment to identify weaknesses in your business processes or schedule some consulting time to refresh your use of the system.
Invest in More Training
There are many options for investing in additional training. You could call your account manager to schedule some one-on-one time with an ERP consultant. You could schedule a business assessment where an ERP consultant comes onsite to observe and then help improve overall business processes. Or you could register for your ERP vendor’s annual conference, which may offer educational sessions, networking opportunities, one-on-one consulting appointments, and drop-in lab time.
Sometimes we see customers that implement the ERP solution, go live, and never touch the ERP system again. Although this type of customer will still see benefits from the ERP system, we recommend checking in with your system on a regular basis to ensure you are maximizing your investment.
Conclusion
Your ERP Vendor's Conference is a great way to stay up to date on your system and to ensure you are maximizing your ROI. Spring is the perfect time to dust off the cobwebs and reinvigorate your use and enthusiasm for the system. While Visibility's Customer Conference 2021 isn't until next year, we are already planning and getting ready for it. Learn more here about our VCC 2021, where you can join us to stay current on Visibility's best practices, strategies, and solutions.
To learn more about our business assessments, click here. If you're interested in learning more about our ERP solution, contact us now.
