Don’t Overlook These Information Security Basics

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The reason companies fail at information security isn’t because they aren’t installing the latest high-tech defensive software. It’s because they aren’t taking care of the security basics, like installing patches on time. What are some of the other information security basics you might be overlooking?

Managing employee access

Employee access rights shouldn’t be permanent. As job functions change, you should review and revise their access to match the responsibility of their roles. While ideally you’ll do this as soon as they take on a new role, at least review access privileges annually. Even more important, when employees leave the business, you should be sure to disable their access immediately.

Changing default passwords

Admin/admin? Everybody knows that login and password, including the bad guys. It’s easy to overlook changing passwords after you install new software, but it’s necessary in order to keep your systems secure. Use a unique admin password on all your systems in order to ensure you’re protected.

Reviewing security logs

Don’t just review log files after a breach occurs. Log files should be reviewed on an ongoing basis in order to spot breach attempts before they succeed. This doesn’t have to be a purely manual effort; there are good analytics tools to help identify suspicious behavior.

Enforcing secure mobile device usage

It’s convenient to have employees use their mobile devices to conduct business, but it also can be risky. Develop your “bring your own device” policy, teach employees safe mobile computing practices, and consider using mobile device management software to enforce your policies.

Protecting the cloud

Relying on your cloud provider for security of your data in the cloud is a mistake. Information security in the cloud requires both your organization and your cloud provider to take steps to protect your data. In addition, employee “shadow IT” usage of cloud resources can lead to security risks you aren’t aware of; consider using tools that help you detect unauthorized usage of cloud services.

Learn more in 6 Ways to Keep Your Cloud Secure.

Verifying configuration settings

Many security vulnerabilities, especially in the cloud, are the result of incorrect system configuration. Don’t rely on default settings, but make sure you explicitly set them to the values you need. Limit the ability to modify configurations to authorized employees, and use tools to detect configuration changes so they can be reviewed and verified. Use automation to ensure configurations are deployed consistently across all your resources.

Performing risks assessments

There are too many potential security threats to address all of them at once. In order to get the most value from the actions you take, it’s important to assess the risks you face so you can prioritize your responses.

Securing information resources requires implementing basic and advanced controls at multiple levels, including the network, the cloud, and endpoints. CCS Technology Group offers IT security services to help you comprehensively address your information security needs. Contact us to learn how our services can help protect your critical systems and data.

Additional Security Resources

Closing the Most Common Cybersecurity Holes

Is Your Network Safe From Cyber Attacks?

Ransomware 101: Keeping Your Organization Safe

6 Ways to Keep Your Cloud Secure

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The simplest way to migrate to the cloud is to lift and shift your applications, migrating them exactly as they are. That doesn’t work for security, though. To make sure your cloud resources are properly protected, you need to review the security features offered by your cloud provider and make sure you implement them properly. You should check out the following:

1. Cloud provider compliance certifications

Meeting your own security standards is easier when the cloud provider offers a strong base. If the cloud provider offers infrastructure certified to meet the compliance standards relevant to your industry, be sure you deploy to that environment.

2. Encrypt your data

Store data in an encrypted format to keep it protected. You can usually easily turn on database encryption in the cloud. It’s simpler to allow the cloud provider to manage the encryption keys, though you’ll gain additional security if you manage them for yourself. Depending on how encryption is implemented, encrypting stored data may not require any application changes, making it compatible with a lift and shift migration.

3. Use identity and access management controls

Identity and access management (IAM) lets you limit access to your cloud resources. You may be able to use the same IAM tools in the cloud as in your data center, allowing you to lift and sift this security control as well. In either case, make sure privileges are set properly.

4. Don’t adopt default cloud configurations

The default configurations established by many cloud providers are not security conscious. Don’t assume they’re set the way you need them. Make sure these settings are appropriate for your applications and modify them when they are not. Where possible, use templates or base cloud images that have the settings you need built in to create all your cloud instances.

5. Separate production, test, and development environments

Because cloud lets you create and shut down instances as needed, you may see recommendations to speed production deployments by turning the “test” instance into production and creating a new test instance the next time you need it. The problem with this is that test environment configurations are often not as secure as those needed in a production environment. You’ll lose a little deployment speed but gain a lot of additional security by keeping the distinction between environments.

6. Don’t forget about the devices that access cloud

Securing your cloud resources requires more than just securing the cloud; it requires securing the devices that access the cloud. Don’t forget about tools such as firewalls to protect your network, and consider mobile device management software to protect your cloud from mobile device risks.

CCS Technology Group’s cloud services ensure your cloud provides a cost-effective, efficient, and secure environment that meets your IT needs. Contact us to learn more about building and using cloud safely.

Additional Cloud Security Resources

Closing Common Cybersecurity Holes

7 Common Mistakes That Place Your Data in Danger

Protecting Your Business Against Phishing Emails

Overcome the Challenges of Hybrid IT With Managed Services

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There’s no doubt your data center is a mix of technologies. Hybrid IT is the way the world works today. It’s not about hybrid cloud, though that might be a part of it—it’s about choosing the right environment for each application, whether that means public cloud, private cloud, hybrid cloud, or purely in your data center. It means having multiple cloud providers as you match each workload to the most appropriate service. It means complexity that allows you to deliver tremendous business benefits but can leave your IT team struggling to keep the environments under control.

Challenges of Hybrid IT

Some of the challenges of hybrid IT come simply because the complexity means there are more choices and more decisions to be made. When you use a single technology, when the business comes to you with a request, you know the tools you’ll be using. When you support a hybrid environment, you need to spend additional time understanding the business requirements in depth so you can deploy it most effectively. This means spending more time talking with the business before you start implementing their technology.

Hybrid IT means you’ve got to develop a multitude of data migration strategies, one for each environment. Although the environments may be isolated, it’s likely they’ll need to share data, so migration, or at least synchronization, isn’t a one-time effort either.

Keeping the data secure and in compliance is also challenging, because each of your different environments has its own controls. Bringing them all into alignment with your own policies can be time-consuming. Assuring consistency across the environments requires ongoing monitoring and the assistance of automation to promote policies.

With multiple types of technology in use, it’s harder to keep an eye on costs. Usage statistics and spending details come from multiple providers and offer differing levels of granularity. Hybrid IT can result in silos that hide the overall spending picture. Consider using tools that bring multiple bills into a single dashboard and make it easier to monitor spending. Analytics can identify opportunities to reduce spending through consolidating and shutting down instances.

Monitoring multiple systems is difficult, too, again because it’s hard to get an overall picture of how your infrastructure is functioning. You also have to manage multiple vendors, track multiple contracts, and interface with multiple contacts to resolve issues. It’s difficult for your team to have the expertise needed across all platforms to keep your entire infrastructure operating at a high level of performance.

Managed Services Address Hybrid IT’s Challenges

Hybrid IT is unavoidable; there are too many benefits from having the ability to tailor each workload’s infrastructure to match its requirements exactly. Managed services can help you get control back over this complex infrastructure, bringing in a team that’s experienced with all the technologies you use and overseeing daily operations. Contact CCS Technology Group to learn how our managed services can help you take better advantage of your hybrid IT infrastructure.

Interested in learning more about the benefits of partnering with a managed services provider? Check out our guide How Managed Services Make the Difference.

Additional Managed Services Resources

5 Tips for Getting the Best Results from a Managed Services Provider

Choose the Right Managed Services Provider for Your Business

6 Big Benefits from Using Managed Services

Craft An Effective Disaster Recovery Plan

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If you don’t want to be scrambling in the middle of a crisis, you need a plan. Here’s what to think about as you develop your disaster recovery plan to make sure you get out of the situation and back into normal operations fast:

Communications plan

There’s bound to be lots of confusion during an incident, but you don’t want there to be any confusion about who’s in charge. Make sure your plan identifies who decides to invoke the disaster recovery plan and how this will be communicated to everyone who needs to be involved in the recovery.

Scope of potential threats

Crises come in all sizes, from a single accidentally deleted critical file to a fire that destroys your primary data center. Spend time assessing a variety of possible situations and determine how you’ll match your response to the size of the outage.

Lists of systems and people

You’ll need a complete list of all hardware and software that your business uses, as well as network diagrams. Also create a list of all the staff you’ll need to help bring the systems back online, including their contact info. Include contact info for third parties, such as vendors and partners, that may need to make changes on their side to connect to your recovery site.

Priorities and targets

It isn’t possible to bring up all systems at the same time, and it usually isn’t necessary. Take your list of systems and evaluate the priority of each system so you know where you need to focus your effort. For each system, set a specific recovery time objective and recovery point objective, specifying how rapidly you need to restore that system to operation and how much data you can afford to lose. Once you know these numbers, you can craft a recovery strategy for each application to meet those targets.

Recovery procedures

Document the details of the recovery procedures for each application, including the complete details of the commands that need to be executed. Identify the other processes the application depends on in order to start up. Include validations that allow you to confirm the application is running properly in its recovery mode.

Fallback procedures

Once the disaster is over, you’ll want to resume operations in your normal production environment. Executing fallback processes can be as complex as the disaster recovery procedure itself, so document the process to the same level of detail.

Once your disaster recovery plan is complete, schedule a test to validate that it works. Then update the plan with any corrections, clarifications, or critical information that was missed the first time around. Because your infrastructure changes continually, your plan should be a living document. When you place new resources into production, you should also update your plan to include them. The entire plan should be periodically reviewed and tested, at least annually, to make sure there are no omissions and that it works with your current infrastructure.

CCS Technology Group provides comprehensive disaster recovery services. Contact us to find out how you can make your plan more effective.

Did you know three out of four small businesses have no disaster recovery plan at all? Learn more in Why a Business Continuity Plan is Essential.

Additional Disaster Recovery Resources

7 Common Mistakes That Place Your Data in Danger

Backups Are Not A Disaster Recovery Solution

The Differences Between Backups, Disaster Recovery, and Archiving Matter

How ERP Software Can Promote a Sustainable Supply Chain

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Businesses that are winning in today’s competitive market are making more eco-conscious decisions that impact the way they conduct business. Going green can help a company’s ability to retain customers who are environmentally aware, as well as the rising millennial market, which supports growing climate concerns.

For solid companies that are looking to drive customer loyalty, improving efficiencies around the supply chain can help to create a more sustainable business ecosystem. Improving the optimization of logistical processes and the rush to get items to market can greatly reduce waste.

Implementation of a state-of-the-art cloud-based ERP solution could improve efficiencies within the company, while streamlining the supply chain, to grow a more profitable company for decades to come.

Sources of Waste

The first step toward determining what areas need improvement is auditing the supply chain process from start to finish. Where is waste occurring? Looking at trends can help reveal the issues — whether obvious or less so.

It’s likely that issues will show up in areas of over-production or the over-purchasing of materials, which can often be attributed to errors around forecasting. Businesses looking to attain a more eco-friendly model should mitigate negative impacts of inventory management. 

Another matter that can drive waste is unnecessary transport of items; issues in this area can cause a company’s carbon footprint to soar. The least amount of miles a product travels, the better this will be for the company: manufacturing, packaging, storage, and distribution all have an impact on emissions. This is something ringing true to more and more of the population, and a business that reflects awareness in this area will no doubt benefit.

Utilization of an ERP solution can track these matters, while also improving coordination and communication between suppliers and partners — as well as providing unified messaging across the entirety of the organization and ultimately its customers. With complete data and important information available in real-time at the click of a button, risks can be alleviated. Costly issues attributed to human error can be minimized, and employees will be enabled to make better decisions to ensure a more connected supply chain.

Making it Agile

The goal of a successful business is being truly agile. The best bet in achieving this is implementing business management technologies that can support the supply chain’s efficiencies, identifying and removing any processes that lack value. The company will lighten its carbon footprint and also see a cost savings that can positively impact the company’s overall profits.

A cloud-based ERP system gives the company flexibility and the ability to respond to issues quickly and certainly, as industry demands dictate. Business leaders should be concerned with improved service over inventory girth — what matters is being in touch with the market and reducing excess inventory. 

Through insight-driven dashboards, managers and functional departments can monitor supply and demand and make adjustments based on data. Guesstimating is a thing of the past, thanks to advances in technology.

Today’s companies need to be concerned with staying ahead of the competition in regards to sales, but for the long-term, brand positioning will set them ahead and better secure customer loyalty. 

Visibility for the Future

An ERP solution can bring insights otherwise overlooked by even the most qualified employees. The visibility the system provides offers easy-to-digest charts and graphics speaking to the needs of members of the C-Suite and each department. While the master dashboard offers a simplified view with vital information, the system should also provide drill down capabilities that offer deeper insights.

With a one-source solution in place, a company can imbed its financial information into every function of the business. This gives everyone insights that simply wouldn’t be possible with outdated technology. Once users are up and working in the system, human errors will be reduced and employees will be able to focus on tasks that are more advantageous to the company’s well being and, ultimately, growth.

Moving beyond manual spreadsheets and outdated legacy systems will arm a company with the ability to stay relevant in the time of digital transformation. With the right strategy, companies can reduce emissions and achieve sustainability into the future.

An environmentally aware company will be streamlined for efficiency and drive the push for improved processes around waste in the supply chain. Keeping up to date with the latest in cloud-based technology allows business leaders to be a force of change for the better, while driving profit margins.

Partnering for Success

The time to innovate is now! The first step of the journey is realizing when a company is ready for a cloud-based ERP system. Acumatica Cloud ERP is an award-winning solution that offers Acumatica Distribution Edition. One of its many features is Advanced Inventory, which is designed to streamline processes for efficiency and eliminating waste, which can improve customer retention and profitability. 

Partnering for the future enables a business to improve capabilities and develop a strategic vision that drives growth. As an Acumatica partner, CCS Technology Group brings cloud expertise to take a company into the next decade and beyond. Read testimonials and contact us to learn more about implementing a cloud-based ERP solution.

Additional Distribution Resources

Benefits of Inventory Management Software for Your Distribution Company

ERP for Distribution Companies

The 7 Irresistible Qualities of Cloud ERP

The Value of Implementing an ERP for Professional Service Organizations

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Leaders in the Professional Services industry can benefit from a modern cloud-based ERP system that enables them to provide a better service delivery methodology with employees that are prepared to provide customer support — transferring both timely response and expert quality.

To make significant impact in this ever-changing industry, it’s essential that organizations have a solid handle on project management, contract management, and accounting processes. Companies are able to create more efficient processes when they combine the management and oversight of multiple processes into one system. Implementation of a streamlined solution can ease daily tasks, while improving the ability of the entire work team. In the end, this means more efficient work.

By modernizing a company’s operational infrastructure, professional service firms are capable of breaking away from disparate practices and bringing together wide-ranging functionality into one fully integrated tool — imagine the advantage having both back-end and front-end processes accessible when working to innovate client projects.

Visibility

An ERP system enables the business to view data and insights across the entirety of the organization in one simple solution. Leadership will have dashboards that display the information needed to make decisions quickly and accurately.

Because the cloud-based system is updated regularly, there are no lapses that could provide the team with conflicting data. Real-time reporting keeps everyone on the same page — a perk that can eliminate issues and keep all employees “in the know” at every juncture. Drill down architecture enables employees to reach whatever details they are needing to transform their work function.

Accounting is integrated into the organization’s various departments; this means that finance can see where sales and marketing are focused and those working in these areas are able to attribute gain and loss to the area’s efforts.

Acumatica, an award-winning cloud-based ERP solution, tracks integrated performance with its ERP Solution for Professional Services Lead, including:

  1. Sales and purchase order management
  2. Service and support automation
  3. Project cost tracking
  4. Time and expense
  5. Material requirements

Customer Management

The more a company knows about its customer base, the better the employees can serve the clients’ needs. Likewise, the happier a customer is, the more loyal they will become. With this in mind, it’s essential that leaders engage state-of-the-art business software that can help them maintain a competitive advantage.

First is understanding who key clients are, and next is learning how to better capitalize on these money-making accounts. By studying purchases and needs, a company can better determine opportunities to retain, extend, and even up-sell whenever possible. An ERP system reveals shifts, whether negative or positive, which enables leadership to make decisions that can grow the company’s relationships — and, thus, its bottom line.

Real-time views provide not only leadership with understanding of where processes are successful or lacking, but also employees working at client locations. With access to Internet or Wifi and a smartphone, tablet or laptop, service technicians or consultants can provide up-to-the-minute insights to customers. This adds value to those who have face-to-face relationships with clients, enabling them to provide the best possible service — and become the company’s personal and accessible expert — and close deals quickly.

Project Pricing

Professional Services firms need to quote accurately and make sure they are able to come in at the projected amount. Employees who are working within a cloud-based ERP solution have the best chance of providing the best possible service.

An ERP solution enables consultants with detailed information around resource allocation, project budgets, and delivery dates. Tracking project actuals can assist in avoiding costly overruns, which can be a black eye for those responsible for project management.

With a system that provides insights and detailed project-based reporting, a team can fully understand a client’s profitability —both in past and current runs, as well as what the forecast is for future performance.

Professional Services employees know that the work they do today will reap rewards for future business. The best a company can do for its staff is arm it with the most advanced technology, which in turn enables their best and brightest to deliver results that exceed expectations and make working easier.

Learn more in The Importance of Project Cost Management.

The Cloud Advantage

Implementing a cloud-based ERP solution is one of the best ways a business leader can prepare a Professional Services organization for the future. Modern technology can help a company to lead successful projects through even the most challenging timelines, on budget.

The first step is partnering to improve business capabilities and efficiencies, both of which are imperative to growth. At CCS Technology Group, we understand cloud expertise and how it can benefit Professional Services organizations. Interested in learning more? Read our testimonials and contact us to get started today!

Additional ERP Resources

Qualities to Look for in a Cloud ERP

How to Improve Efficiency with a New ERP Solution

What’s New in Acumatica 2019 R1

Don’t Click That Link! Protect Your Business Against Phishing Emails

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The weak point in your information security strategy is your people. There’ll always be somebody who falls for a phishing email and clicks on a dangerous link. It’s important to take steps to block dangerous emails.

Phishing Techniques

All online phishing techniques send emails or texts that try to trick employees into allowing malware into your organization or to expose sensitive data. There may be a link to a malicious website masquerading as a legitimate site that prompts employees for login credentials. There may be an attachment that contains malware, including ransomware, that executes when the file is opened. Or the email can impersonate a legitimate contact and request information such as account numbers.

Spear phishing is a targeted form of phishing. Rather than a generic email, these messages are targeted to specific employees and carefully crafted to be believable. CEO fraud uses an email that pretends to be from a senior executive and requests employees to make a financial transaction, such as transferring funds to the attacker’s account.

Learn more in Phishing 101: What it is, how it works and how to avoid it.

Protecting Against Phishing

Guarding against phishing requires both technology that attempts to block the phishing messages and dangerous websites, plus training that teaches employees to recognize them.

Technical Solutions

Antivirus software and spam filters can keep out malware, and web filtering can prevent users from connecting to known dangerous sites. All systems should be kept up to date with security patches. Data loss prevention software can help prevent data from being removed by unauthorized users. Use multifactor authentication to block hackers who’ve gained passwords.

Training Solutions

Perhaps the most important thing to know about training employees is that you need to train all your employees, including senior executives. Senior executives are frequently targets of phishing because their passwords grant access to sensitive systems.  Remind employees not to click on attachments from unknown senders, to double-check all URLs before clicking on them, and not to share their passwords via email.

Training isn’t a one-time process, either. New employees need to be trained, not just current employees. All employees need a periodic refresher. You can also consider periodically creating your own phishing email to test employees and identify personnel who need additional training.

Learn more in Different Kinds of Malware Need Different Kinds of Defenses

With more than 3 billion malicious emails sent daily, there’s a strong chance they’re landing in your employees’ inboxes frequently. Even the best employee can have a moment of carelessness or inattention that leads to a dangerous click, but proper employee training in conjunction with other information security measures can help minimize the risks and the consequences. CCS Technology Group provides security services that educate your employees and guard your systems from threats. Contact us to learn more about protecting yourself from phishing and other cyberattacks.

Additional Cybersecurity Resources

Closing the Most Common Cybersecurity Holes

Spoofing: What it is and how to avoid it

Why a Business Continuity Plan is Essential

The Differences Between Backups, Disaster Recovery, and Archiving Matter

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Backup, disaster recovery, and archiving all create or use copies of data, but they have different purposes and objectives. We’ve talked before about how backup is not disaster recovery; backups are also not an archive solution.

Know the Purpose of Backups, Disaster Recovery, and Archiving

Here’s a quick reminder of the purpose of these three processes:

Backups Are Data Copies

Backups are simply data copies; that’s all. Backups don’t do anything to the original data, and the purpose of a backup is to be able to restore the original data if something happens to it. If a file is corrupted or accidentally deleted, it can be replaced with an undamaged copy.

Disaster Recovery Isn’t Just About Data

Disasters are almost any scenario that brings down systems in a data center, including equipment failures, fires, and weather conditions. Data may be damaged and need to be restored, but first you need to get servers and possibly entire data centers back online.

Archiving Preserves Data

Archives provide unchanged historic copies of data to meet legal and compliance requirements. Unlike backup files, which may be kept for only a short while, archives are kept for the long term. You need quick access to backup files in order to restore files rapidly and minimize the impact of lost data, but archives are not used by routine business operations and can be stored in low-cost, off-site locations. Working with an archive may require using special e-discovery software that can search through large data stores to find records relevant to a legal process.

Don’t Use A Backup Tool as an Archive Tool

It may seem that you can create your archive simply by keeping your backup tapes (or other backup media) instead of recycling them. That’s a shortcut that will create many problems in the long term. Backups aren’t tagged in any way, so searching them for data is difficult. In addition, backups don’t let you easily delete data.

Why would you delete data from an archive if the purpose of an archive is to preserve data? Storage costs money, so keep data only as long as legally required. There may also be legal or other risks if older records are exposed. Making sure data is preserved and deleted appropriately requires a workflow that backup tools can’t support.

Don’t Use an Archive Tool as a Backup or Disaster Recovery Tool

An alternative would be to take the opposite approach. If your archive contains all the copies of your data, why do you need separate backup and disaster recovery tools? Couldn’t you just extract the necessary data from the archive?

First, if your archive is kept on a lower tier of storage, retrieving and restoring data can’t happen as fast as you need during an outage. More important, archives simply aren’t built to manage a data restoration process, which requires getting a specific file from a specific location on a specific data.

Although they sound similar, backups, disaster recovery, and archiving are all unique processes that require distinct tools and strategies. CCS Technology Group can help you make sure you have the right solution in place to meet specific backup, disaster recovery, and archiving needs. Contact us to learn more.

Additional Business Continuity Resources

Understand the Different Cloud Options for Your Backup and Disaster Recovery Strategy

Don’t Lose Your Files to Ransomware

5 Changes to Make When You Switch to Disaster Recovery in the Cloud

KPIs for Manufacturing and ERP Software

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No matter what the industry, an organization relies on measurements that provide perspective on performance, including both successes and challenges, for insights that can drive improved decision making. By reviewing these key metrics, business leaders can shift focus to improve efficiencies and boost profits.

Manufacturers work with a wide array of measurements, such as profit and loss, cash flow, production schedule compliance, inventory turns, to name a few. There are so many areas to consider, that the task can become overwhelming — it’s easy for business leaders to become buried in weighty reports, there’s a greater likelihood of missing important issues, and the result can prove disastrous for the company. Without providing clarity around the data, it can be a real information overload!

To keep focus, industries rely on a handful of measures that reflect the overall stability of the business. By collecting Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), decision makers are able to critique matters much more quickly. Modern ERP systems can track these metrics and present them in easy-to-read dashboard displays with graphics that provide real-time views.

Types of KPIs

Most ERP solutions will provide general “out-of-the box,” pre-defined KPIs, which provide the basics for businesses across various industries. There are different types of KPIs; some are financial, historical, while others are predictive and give a glimpse into future expectations.

Ideally, manufacturers will want to identify approximately 8 to 10 that reflect the work their company does. Some of these will relate to the work the entire company is doing — such as Inventory Turnover Ratio and On-time Delivery. It makes sense that individual departments or functions will also benefit from measurement that speaks to their focus. Executive dashboards provide detailed performance views that can drill down for more granular results.

Let’s look at a couple of KPIs that are standard for manufacturers:

Plan vs. Actual Hours and Cost

Interested in knowing how the plant is functioning? This KPI pulls data from various areas of the organization, which can reveal how processes and products can create differing scenarios and impact the company’s health.

Utilization and Capacity

Planning for optimum utilization of available resources can benefit an organization, even though “lean manufacturing” doesn’t place emphasis on this area — it instead centers on the basis that having idle equipment is better than overproducing or early production. Finding the right balance can mean lower costs, as well as improved performance in an array of areas, including completions, overtime and expediting, and reliability. A key benefit of a Work Center Dispatch KPI is visibility into what each location is working on and where processes stand.

Scheduled Production

Workflow and resource utilization greatly impact production schedules; this is an area an ERP Manufacturing Dashboard can assist with, combined with the Work Center Dispatch KPI. It also helps for manufacturers to understand which clients and products bring in the most profit — looking at profitability by customer/items, category, and item will reflect the best results. These insights help the business create distribution plans and budgets that impact the overall company strategy.

Putting KPIs to work

Data is only as good as those who are reading it. It’s essential that a company train its employees in what KPIs mean and how they relate to the work they are doing on a daily basis. With this approach, the staff will build a personal connection — think ownership — of the KPIs that they need to be most effective. Management should use these measures to make key decisions.

This isn’t a one-time process; KPIs need maintenance to stay relevant. Working this into the overarching management process will ensure that updates are made to reflect shifts in the environment, such as customer preferences and market changes.

Don’t expect to tax the IT team; today’s KPI dashboards are limber enough to roll with developing needs. User-friendly tools make updates and new reports an easy process. The dashboards are truly designed to simplify employees’ tasks. Being cloud-based also means that information can be accessed anytime, anywhere, on any device as long as Internet or WiFi is available.

Read more about how technology can create powerful, flexibile KPI systems in Acumatica’s white paper Key Performance Indicators for Manufacturing.

Getting Started

The first step toward better measurement is implementing a cloud-based ERP, while the pivotal part of the journey is finding a partner that offers understanding and various capabilities. CCS Technology Group is experienced in cloud expertise and enterprise resource planning to develop, implement, monitor, and support effective solutions.

We understand that the easier working is, the more freedom a company will have to achieve its goals. Read our testimonials and contact us to learn more about how to implement an effective cloud-based ERP system — we’re here to improve processes and efficiencies that can drive growth.

Benefits of Inventory Management Software for Your Distribution Company

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Managing inventory in the most efficient and profitable way, is a top concern for companies across the globe. It’s essential that businesses are able to fully understand customer needs so they can make better decisions that impact ways inventory is handled. With cutting-edge technological developments, it’s becoming much easier for distributors to better manage inventory.

Through modern ERP software, organizations are able to improve customer service with real-time access to important information around inventory, as well as key data. Implementation of a cloud-based ERP system, allows companies to manage the distribution process efficiently and without losing track of costs.

Challenges Distributors Face

Visibility provides distributors a way to realize and understand inventory, which can impact supply chains. In this area, the entirety of the business revolves around receiving, replenishing, stocking, compliance labeling, processing customer service requests, tracking, reporting, and shipping, etc. By understanding the complexity of the inventory ecosystem, a business is able to set in place protocols that drive efficiency, which helps to reduce costs.

  1. What does the inventory look like? Knowing a business’ core (continuous, year-around) items and non-core items (seasonal merchandise), as well as the marketplace, enables companies to manage ordering. A company should know what’s in stock, what needs to be ordered, the quantity and shape of the order, as well as what gaps need to be filled.
  2. Has the business moved beyond outdated processes? Manual ways of doing business can add to the complexities of the work environment and deter a company’s growth. The first step forward is identifying where improvements are needed.
  3. Is the company keeping up with customer demand? When it comes to customer needs, it’s essential a business remains limber enough to respond to changes —- shifts can happen daily. A company is expected to keep abreast of customer needs by managing its inventory to meet demands, and those that do not risk losing out to the competition.

The ERP Advantage

An ERP system gives a real-time glimpse of the company’s inventory; distributors are no longer pressed to work with ambiguities in critical areas. Effective businesses will learn to keep a handle on costs as they manage both inventory and distribution processes.

Many businesses are challenged due to the sheer expanse of the business. Multiple warehouses often have location-specific inventory quantities, allocations, and costs. An ERP system that focuses on inventory management, helps companies to redistribute product from a central warehouse to other warehouses with ease, as well as granting rights to the various locations, so employees can access information and enter transactions in real-time.

The systems assign multiple valuation methods, so businesses can determine standard cost, moving average, FIFO (first-in, first out), and item-specific methods. Unique valuation methods can be attributed to each inventory item, while report and inquiry views help distributors make direct adjustments to cost and physical inventory counts.

Being able to know where each and every item is becomes exponentially easier with lot and serial numbers assigned on receipt, issue, or assembly. Costs can be managed with item-specific valuation methods associated to serial numbers — all of which makes tracking that much more effective.

Learn more in ERP for Distribution Companies.

Impacts on Distribution

Imagine the advantage of having access to warehouse information, including the ability to make updates in real-time. With a cloud-based ERP solution, distributors are able to modify and analyze inventory, as well as restrict access to inventory by item or warehouse. All business insights are accessible in the cloud-based system — employees are able to get secure access anytime, anywhere via smartphone or Internet-connected device.

Visibility gives the team the tools they need to make better decisions, faster. Drill-down reports and user- or function-specific dashboards reveal past actions and data that can help positively impact the future. With the entirety of the organization viewing real-time inventory levels and customer-specific pricing, the team is able to clearly communicate to customers. When customers are told the same insightful information from all parties, expectation is better managed; a company that honors contracts and successfully fulfills orders will have a better chance at gaining repeat customers.

A modern ERP that meets the needs of distributors can help to manage costs. Outdated spreadsheets become a thing of the past, as ledgers are automatically created from inventory transactions. It’s easy to see what goods have been sold, and also any inventory holding costs.

Another cost saving measure, is the benefit an ERP system brings to the actual workforce. There’s no longer a need for employees to perform time consuming data entry, which also helps to mitigate risk due to error. Default accounts can be set, reducing the amount of work the staff must do. The increased efficiency leaves time for distributors to focus on other areas of business that can drive growth and profit.

Implementing for the Future

The first step of the journey is realizing when a company is ready for a cloud-based ERP system. Acumatica Cloud ERP is an award-winning solution that offers Acumatica Distribution Edition. One of its many features is Advanced Inventory, which is designed to improve customer service and profitability.

Partnering for the future enables a business to improve capabilities and efficiencies, both of which are imperative to growth. As an Acumatica Partner, CSS Technology Group brings cloud expertise to take a company into the next decade and beyond. Read testimonials and contact us to learn more about implementing a cloud-based ERP solution.