Here’s a quick GPS-guide for your journey of ERP for midsize business - how to Choose
an ERP System for a 100+ Employee Company

Horses for courses. That’s a good business adage that holds water even in this decade. Every executive, every software and every new region you pick is always an investment. And every investment needs solid scrutiny, careful assessment and the backbone of expert advice, if possible. There are a lot of Do-s that your fellow CIOs and CEOs in the industry will shell out at any get-together or conference you go to. But one advice, whenever honestly given, never changes- do not blindly follow what others are choosing. Keeping up with the Joneses – that’s never advisable when it comes to picking business levers – and specially so, when the lever in question is a business software tool. An ERP for midsize business.

Here’s why.

You Need Not Just Any ERP But ERP for Midsize Business

Your neighbour may have just bought a huge SUV. You may also see a lot of these roadsters parked in those palatial porches when you visit your boss’s house for a party. It may look like the flavour of the season. It may appear to be the high-end choice of the elite club you aspire to join soon. It may be a head-turner. However, it may be a very wrong choice if you want to bring it to your house.

For starters, just the very gut-feeling that the SUV will not fit your garage should make you second-guess that decision. No matter how robust, latest, roar-iest, sturdiest, finest etc. that SUV is; it may be too huge for not just your garage but also for your family. And hence, for your wallet too.

You pick a car not because your golf-club buddies are buying it. You pick a car because it will help you driver better, faster -and make you and your family comfortable. ERP is no different. This software solution should fit the size, needs, budgets, scalability goals, people and existing IT environments of your organisation. As Grand View Research forecast (2020-2030) indicates, the medium enterprises segment would grow significantly over the forecast period. One cannot miss the increasing affordability and flexibility of ERP solutions, particularly cloud-based ERP, that appeal to medium enterprises that may lack the IT resources of larger corporations. Cloud-based ERP solutions – with their lower upfront costs and reduced infrastructure requirements- are appearing to be ideal for medium-sized businesses with limited budgets. Also, noteworthy is the scalability of these solutions so that medium enterprises can add features and functionality as their needs evolve, supporting their growth without requiring major system overhauls. All thus matters specially when you are a 100+ employee company.

Experts suggest that the ERP for midsize business you choose should be strong on these aspects:

• Capabilities to scale your business to the next level
• Savvy on process reengineering needs
• Elastic enough to handle the user-base of 100 employees – specially business-users
• Able to scale as per increased headcount and business growth
• Injected with AI, ML and automation for faster decisions
• Modular and flexible for accelerating business growth
• Easy to manage and control
• Non-monolithic and not too complicated
• Full of choices and features that work for your context
• Customisable and extensible as a right-fitted ERP for midsize business
• Guided by vertical experts and fit for mid-size bracket

In short, you can, of course, show off that you have bought that big ERP box that most giants run on. But why bring an elephant, specially a white one, in the room- when it just does not fit? It may grow out of control. It may be difficult to manage. The upgrades and maintenance bills can cost you not just expensive money but resources and time too. To top that, it can hamper your business growth instead of propelling it because your employees may be caught up in untangling its complicated processes and understanding its vast intricacies. You need an ERP for midsize business -something that is easy to manage, scalable, cost-effective, well-sized and would not require a heavy IT team to always understand it, deploy it, run it and support it. You need something that understands your business. Like Presence 360. It is built with a business perspective and loaded with everything latest and smart that you can imagine today- from AI, automation, real-time analytics to process agility. It also covers – in one smooth stroke- all areas that are crucial for a 100+ employee company as it steps forward and upward on the path of growth. The wide spectrum of Presence 360 straddles all processes and areas that have to be fit to help your business run faster:

• Financial management
• Supply chain
• Inventory and expenses
• Revenue management
• Tax and compliance
• Contracts management
• Centralised hub for reporting
• Drill-downs and easy dashboards
• Pro-built reports, solid insights and analytics
• Asset tracking and accounting
• Budgeting, forecasting and scenario planning
• Strategy management

When it comes to ERP for midsize business – pick prudently and objectively. Choose what will fit you. Choose what will help you grow. Don’t compare apples to oranges. And don’t buy apples when you need oranges. Always a sound advice.