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Functionality and Usability: A Perfect Pairing for User Adoption
/in Blog, ERP Software /by Chris HigginsFor growing businesses, an ERP decision is a hefty, stressful decision. As a decision maker, you already know you can’t please everyone—especially when looking at a software as broadly used as ERP currently is. From gaining value to recouping costs, there are two factors that need to be well balanced to ensure users adopt and embrace a project.
As we begin to wrap up our series on the realizations you may have when outgrowing entry level accounting software like QuickBooks, we would today like to turn our attention to two critical factors in getting users to embrace a new software—functionality and usability.
One of the many considerations you need to make as you vet and select your ERP vendor and partner, the ability to deliver these two criteria may be one of the most important.
Catch up with our accounting to ERP series by reading our latest posts: The Hassles of Using Desktop Software in a Socially Distanced Business, Never Let a QuickBooks File Size Hold You Back: Grow with Confidence in the Cloud, and Are QuickBooks Workarounds Putting Your Business at Risk?
Are You Getting the Most of Your Software?
For many businesses, QuickBooks delivered both of these in the early days. One of the easiest to use platforms, this software was built for the early stage, low-user business who just needed the basics. The file size maximum once felt like an unreachable ceiling. The processing power was enough, and it did basic accounting tasks easily. Familiar and functional, there’s no denying that it made life easy for millions of businesses just starting out.
But times have changed. That once-unreachable file size? You passed the limit years ago. Now It either puts you at massive risk of corruption or slows you down. The processing power? It was great for 5 users. The basic accounting tasks? Still does those—just a lot slower. But for many growing businesses, this isn’t enough. It’s still just as easy to use as ever, if you’re willing to put up with slowdowns, happy with disconnected processes, and content with lackluster information.
Why Both Functionality and Usability Matter
Though QuickBooks does provide the usability, you’ve long since outgrown the functionality. This leaves you at a crossroads en route to new ERP, and finding a solution that’s not only easy to use but able to deliver matters.
However, this does present a challenge—finding a usable software. Though nearly every solution available provides a wealth of features, ERP is a complicated beast, and has historically been known for having a steep learning curve. That’s why it pays to find a solution that delivers both a comprehensive product and a flattened learning curve.
The best software in the world won’t do much for you if no one’s using it. The easiest software can’t help you if it doesn’t do anything you need. More often than not, if a product lacks one of these two factors, it’s likely to be ignored—leading to very expensive shelfware.
Nucleus ERP Value Matrix Looks to Guide Leaders to Functional, Usable ERP
Luckily, a recent analyst report from Nucleus sets out to help decision makers focus their software choices by striking a balance between functionality and usability. Analysts note,
“The race to the cloud has been reignited as fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic caused an abrupt and permanent spike in the demand for the ability to work remotely. Cloud-native solutions stand to gain the most from this paradigm shift, but vendors with large on-premises deployment bases will have the chance to make good on their own transition roadmaps.”
An annual report on who’s who, the Nucleus Research ERP Technology Value Matrix 2020 lists eight Leaders—including Acumatica—and provides detailed profiles of 23 ERP vendors to enhance your research. Here are just a few things they had to say about Acumatica:
This report is provided to users free of charge by Acumatica, and will also discuss the following:
Click here to read the entire report.
The Right Partner Helps You Go Further: Just Call CCS
When companies move from accounting software to ERP, they are making a big decision that will impact the next decade of operations. If you’re looking for a local partner with the skills and expertise to make your ERP journey a reality, look no further than CCS Technology.
We were founded on the principle that technology should make it easier to run your business, and have spent our time in this industry ensuring our clients realize this.
We invite you to learn more about your journey from entry level to the cloud by reading Seven Signs You Need ERP Software, 5 Benefits of ERP for Accounting and Financial Management, and How to Improve Efficiency with a New ERP Solution. Read to learn even more? Contact us for a free consultation.
Getting Your House in Order as You Move from Recovery to Operations
/in Blog, ERP Software /by Chris HigginsThe recovery is coming. Slowly but surely, businesses are trying to get back to normal and focusing on a strong year-end and a better 2021. But before you do, it may be time for a bit of self-reflection. Things have been great for so long, you may have gotten a bit complacent, milking growth and living as usual. But the shock to the system provided by the recent pandemic and lockdowns may be a sign that it’s time to think of your next steps.
Following our last article on some of the technological challenges you may run into during the process of phasing in employees and restarting your business, we would today like to explore some of the ways to clear a path for takeoff.
From managing your current financials to planning for a variety of scenarios over the next 3-6 months to exploring ways you can modify your operations to focus on business transformation, smart decisions early on can go a long way in establishing resiliency at your business. Today, we discuss some of the steps you can take to fortify your business against present and future threats.
Take a Deep Look at Your Business
Hard times create or reward strong business models. It’s a lot harder to see gaps in your business when things are going well. With GDP growth more than 4 percent in the past few years, growth just came naturally. But the past few months presented economic adversity for the first time in a while.
Lessons Learned from Two Decades Back
Think back to the dot-com bubble, a time when internet companies could essentially launch a website, prove growth, and have investors beating on their doors. Especially during the ramp-up, no one really looked at how these companies spent their money. But when reality hit, it hit hard.
But take a look at some of the notable companies at the heart of the bubble, many of these companies had good ideas. While there were a lot of questionable ones, there were also a lot of players before the crash that delivered services you don’t think twice about using today. You could just as easily be watching your favorite gamer streaming on pseudo.com, posting hot takes to theGlobe, holding virtual meetings on Radvision, or connecting with suppliers on Traxex, VerticalNet, or PFSweb.
Part of this boom was built on impressions. Rather than focusing efforts on delivering for customers, improving (or even building) the product, or investing in talent, these companies put more effort into hosting lavish parties to announce the launch.
The crash hit and within months, tech companies either ended up folding, getting acquired for pennies on the dollar, or going under the radar for a while to focus on value. It resulted in the move to agile in the space, and set up a lot of case studies for the last decade of tech companies to learn from.
The Same Goes Today
Even if you’re not in the tech space, the lessons from the dot-com bubble still hold true. Smart, future-proof strategies and good business models are timeless. Being able to understand your business, deliver results, and focus on what improves both is critical.
Forging into a Recovery Starts with a Better Understanding
The challenges presented during the lockdowns have probably put stress on your company. Money may be tight, and it may feel like you’re starting all over again. So where do you begin?
Assess Your Business Model
One of the first steps as you push towards a new business model is to look at how everything about your business works together, determining if you need to make any changes in processes. Start with the key performance indicators that define success and tailor your business around improving specific models.
Not sure where to begin? Check out these guides including Key Performance Indicators for Manufacturing and Key Performance Indicators for Distribution. From here, take steps to establish change management metrics. Is a customer segment looking more lucrative in the next few years? Now is the time to make the pivot to serve them.
Ensure the Financials Are Ready for Anything
One of the hardest parts of the recovery process? No one knows the degree or speed of the bounce back. Business owners sound optimistic, but you can’t assume that. Begin by planning around a few recovery models in the second half of the year, running analyses that include acceleration, slowdowns, and consistent revenue flows.
Depending on how things look at your business, this is also the time to look at funding options. Maybe this includes renegotiating credit agreements, seeking new funding or credit, or finding grants.
Take a Look at Your Revenue Model
Paired with the aforementioned business model analysis, you may also want to look at the way your goods and services are sold and offered. Is there a way to make the money go further? Would a change in pricing model help you spur your recovery? These and other approaches need to be aligned with your business goals and put you in a position to achieve them.
Consider a Technological Update
Whether it’s measuring KPIs, planning and analysis built on a variety of scenarios, or understanding what’s working at your business, the right technology can go a long way in taking you there. Not only does it deliver more powerful analysis, it’s also a switch that might be easier now. People have already spent the last few months changing the way they work around the business, so why not offer a change that will help them do more?
Learn More: Five Companies Who Kept Their Business Running Smoothly
Despite the move from lockdown to reality looking less like flipping the switch and more like accelerating, resilient businesses who turned to the cloud either before or during the lockdown have been reaping the rewards. A recent Acumatica blog discussed how some of the companies who did embrace the cloud made it work.
Ready to learn more about empowering your employees no matter where they stand? Read How 5 Acumatica Customers Keep Business Running Smoothly from Anywhere, download the free IDC report discussing how the cloud enables business resiliency, and contact us for more information.
Gaining Momentum before the Recovery: Preparing for a Safe Return to Work
/in Blog, ERP Software /by Chris HigginsThe last few months have been, for lack of a better term, a wild ride. This isn’t to discount the challenges that you, your family, your employees, and your business have faced, but when you look at things like the stock market, retail spending, and confidence reports, there is optimism for the post-lockdown world. But you didn’t get this far in your career through blind faith in macroeconomic trends or surveys. You know that success is built on pragmatism, planning, and performance.
Your Journey Back to Business as “Usual”
Understandably, the same goes for your business’s recovery plan. There are many steps you’ll need to take to combine planning with action, optimism with caution, and the safety of your workers with the sustainability of your business.
Rather than thinking about the speed with which you get back to full capacity, you need to think about the steps involved and explore how to efficiently take such steps. Can you afford to take the step today or will you have to wait another month? Can you readjust your office to fit ten more people, or will that put them at risk? Should you go so far as to change your business model, pricing strategy, or vendor relationships? All valuable questions you need to ask.
That said, there’s not exactly a lot of time to ask them. Lockdowns could have lasted for months longer than they did, which would have put you in a different position than you are today. But with even slow-to-recover states jumping on board with the recovery, it’s safe to assume that you can start opening your doors to a few more employees, customers, and dollars.
So, as phases go from two to three or three to four, how can you build up your momentum while keeping a wary eye on your business to avoid any backsliding? Today, we explore a few tips for making that a reality.
Technical Challenges That May Emerge During Phased Reentry
The last thing anyone needs right now is a second lockdown. With articles coming out predicting that to be the case, your number one priority should be to avoid letting your workplace become ground zero for a new outbreak. From cleaning to distancing, you will need to take steps to prevent this.
This starts with the adoption of new practices focused on a combination of cleaning (removes dirt and germs), disinfecting (kills the germs), and sanitizing (lowers the number of germs). Develop a regimen that involves each. Learn more about some of the practices from the CDC.
Whether it’s a change in work schedule, a new floor plan, or temporary closure of common areas, communicate with your staff how their lives will change. No more water cooler (literally or figuratively), no more coffeepot, and maybe even a reimagined break process.
Technical Challenge: Hybrid Work-From-Home and a Single Source of Truth
The most likely scenario will be a phased recovery plan that allows for some employees to work from the office and others to work from home. In turn, for those companies using desktop software or who relied on limited access to software over the last few months may face challenges when half the office is back at the office. This may result in delayed decisions or slower processing—as those at the office have the instantaneous processing and those still at home might be minutes (or more) behind.
Technical Challenge: Easier to Call in Sick—But What About the Hardware?
When the first symptom is a dry cough, it’s better to be cautious. Luckily, we’ve gotten accustomed to working from home, so for most businesses, it’s okay to be overly cautious and allow sick days. Ensure you’ve communicated explicitly about how employees should report to human resources if they become sick or start experiencing any symptoms.
Unfortunately, for those legacy companies who had to buy new laptops or take hardware home to access on-premises software, this makes for a challenging time. Employees probably had to bring back the devices they used—and now those whose cough might have simply been the result of cold are left out of the loop. Luckily, for those companies in the cloud, it’s simply log in and go.
Learn More: Five Companies Who Kept Their Business Running Smoothly
Despite the move from lockdown to reality looking less like flipping the switch and more like accelerating, resilient businesses who turned to the cloud either before or during the lockdown have been reaping the rewards. A recent Acumatica blog discussed how some of the companies who did embrace the cloud made it work.
For example, C&O Nursery improved customer relationships without missing a beat.
“Before, if we were out in the field and a grower said, ‘By the way, do we have XYZ variety?’, we would call into the office. Now that we’re cloud based, we can actually log in, look at our inventory, and answer that person within about three minutes with an accurate answer,” says CEO and President Todd Snyder in the company’s customer success story.
Ready to learn more about empowering your employees no matter where they stand? Read How 5 Acumatica Customers Keep Business Running Smoothly from Anywhere, download the free IDC report discussing how the cloud enables business resiliency, and contact us for more information.
Additional Acumatica Resources
What is the Total Economic Impact of Your ERP?
ERP Evaluation Checklist: 5 Important Things to Consider
Why Every IT Executive Needs Cloud ERP Software