The Truth is No Business is too Small for Using an ERP Solution

December 27, 2021

Have you ever sent a handwritten message to your customers — it indeed is a nice gesture!

But how about saving a handwritten invoice in between a pile of papers — not so much, right?

However, in reality, manually written invoices are one of the many main management processes that so many small businesses are still practicing.

Small and medium businesses (SMBs) often tend to rely on manual processes to handle various tasks from operations, accounting, payroll to sales, marketing, strategy, and more. In the long run, it may lead to human errors and create efficiency gaps in the organization.

As a business grows and expands, its requirements out-pace the capabilities of the existing system and call for an upgrade. In such a scenario, a mismanaged or fragmented software does not fully support the business operations (in case it did in the past). Or if you use various disconnected software tools, it can be a blunder for the business. As a business owner, you need to put best-practice processes in place. Especially in this day and age when everything is being automated, running your business manually is like entering the battlefield without any ammunition.

What is (ERP) all about?

Short for Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is a business tool capable of automating all core business processes, and providing real-time visibility into all operations thereby driving smarter business decisions. Owing to its capability of integrating information among multiple areas and providing a better data evaluation can be game-changing – more for small businesses. In short, it takes a lot of load off your shoulders.  

Let’s take an example of a product company. It would typically need to manage its inventory, sales and order, customer relationship management (CRM), among others. On the other hand, the requirement of a service company may include accounting, project management, service automation and CRM. Therefore, the software is designed to be custom-tailored to meet the specific needs of the businesses.

Let us understand how it works.

The different modules of the ERP solution will extract relevant information and further provide it to the central database. This central database will collect and transmit information to the other parts of the system. When all information is put together in the central database, leaders gain visibility into all departments and it lets them compare and evaluate the performance against different parameters. It helps them understand the full impact of decisions taken in the past and also predict the future. No wonder, many of the world’s best-known business firms have been inclined towards ERPs for the last two decades.

Why do small and medium businesses need an ERP?

As small businesses grow, eventually their customers, employees, processes, and data points grow even more. To deal with this development, businesses usually opt for implementing multiple software packages to manage their rising demands of the processes. These individual software packages may not work well together. It can lead to a lack of integration along with an increase in complexity which may cause some problems such as:

A comprehensive ERP system is born with the ability to become the lifeline of your business. Broadly, there are two key advantages of ERP software:

1) it will help you improve your business’ efficiency now

2) it will help you make better business decisions in the future

ERP compliments business growth

By installing an all-encompassing ERP system, you can organize and plan ahead of time and budget your processes accordingly. An ERP solution can be leveraged as a management tool, employee productivity tool, a tool for customer relationship building, a method to manage human resources within the organization and more. Not only do these actions result in saving time and money but also ensure quality performance.

Quicker and more informed decision-making

In a world where productivity relies on things being connected, ERP is a solution that eliminates data silos and enables passing information back and forth between departments. With a single, central nervous system, you can make sure all machines are properly synchronized while the employees share and utilize data more productively. An ERP software is also known for improving communication and collaboration since employees get the visibility of the other departments, with which they can guide their own decisions.

When you are ready to elevate your business to the next level, making informed, financially-sound decisions becomes even more important. And this can be difficult if you don’t have the complete picture, and your business data is all spread across dated programs and spreadsheets. This is why, ERP proves to be an asset because it can shine a light on every corner of your business operations. By gaining a clear overview of your business, you can see exactly where and how you can make things better. For sure, such kinds of insights are invaluable.

An ERP system can easily convert a huge amount of data into charts and graphs that clearly illustrate trends and help model possible results. As a detailed source of data, it can provide rich analytics and reports which every business needs.

ERP Solutions by ODP

It is clear that to keep a company running smoothly — not to mention profitably — is not as easy as it may seem. The ground realities can be jarring. That’s why many successful businesses use an ERP, and if you’re involved in managing a business, you might want to consider shifting to one too. Oman Data Park brings not one but two ERP as SaaS in Oman. The responsibility of seamless working of both the software lies with ODP. Let us get to know them in detail.  

SAP Business One

SAP Business One is a comprehensive, easy-to-use business management solution that grows with your business’ growth. This affordable solution allows your business to update in real-time and drive profit. From financials and sales to inventory and Trust relationship management (TRM), SAP Business One can seamlessly integrate all your core business functions to provide clear visibility across all verticals. Having all your data at a single, centralized location enables you to quickly access critical real-time information to maximize efficiency and decision making. Sap B1 is designed to accelerate business growth as it provides visibility through all your business functions for efficient decision making. Moreover, it can help streamline your operations end-to-end. By choosing Sap Business One, make faster and better decisions, reach untapped customers and drive profitable growth. To top it all, SAP Business One Cloud ensures all your valuable information is safe and secure which leaves you with more time to spend on focusing on your business and less time on internal IT costs.

Key Features of Sap Business One

  1. Integrated functionality: Deploy quickly with essential functionality & fulfill specialized needs with add-on solutions
  2. Transparent costs: Maintain control with one payment that covers software, service, & support
  3. Ongoing innovation: Stay up-to-date with the latest technologies and updates
  4. World-class security: Protected with an array of physical and network safeguards 24x7x365.
  5. Quality support: Deployed with confidence while ensuring high quality support
  6. Increasing Business Agility: Support businesses to take advantage of new opportunities swiftly.
  7. Streamline operations from end to end.
  8. Optimize time-to-value: Be up and running within 2-8 weeks with a single application. The intuitive user experience minimizes user training and reduces the cost of ongoing IT support.
  9. Support your changing needs: Tailor & scale with user-friendly customization tools and over 550 add-on solutions to meet your specific business needs.
  10. Low cost of ownership: Streamline operations and increase business insight with minimal cost and complexity, by minimalizing current IT costs.

Odoo ERP

Interestingly, the full form of the word ‘Odoo’ is On-Demand Open Object. It is a large collection of business-related applications and modules like CRM, Sales, E-commerce, Accounting suit, Manufacturing and many more. As the name suggests, these different modules can be custom-built ‘on demand’ for different user needs. Developed especially for small and medium businesses, Odoo is a simple yet comprehensive open-source ERP software that levies no proprietary fee and recurring costs. The ideology behind Odoo is inspired by the fact that complex problems should be solved without being complicated. Oman Data Park offers open-source model of Odoo ERP solutions on its cloud. It is offered as a dedicated hosted server or as a SaaS (multi-tenant) solution. It comes complete with self-service and partner managed options supported by SLAs to enable a one-stop-shop for your business IT needs.

Key features of Odoo

  1. Scalable solution: No matter what the size of your business is, you can add any number of users in Odoo as it uses the cloud. The integration and eventual scaling of the ERP software become much easier, and require the least effort from the customers.
  2. Cost Effective: The costs of server and maintenance along with any hardware are absent as all of these responsibilities are to be taken care of by Oman Data Park.
  3. Data Protection: With Managed and unmanaged ERP on cloud hosting, the data security is increased as the server is hosted with us.
  4. Ease of Use: No need to configure your device each time you access Odoo from a new device. Besides, in cases of emergency, you can log in to your Odoo account from anywhere and from any device.
  5. Dynamic dashboard: With this all-rounder dashboard module, Odoo offers a dedicated analytical space for all your data. When used judiciously, the dashboard can lead you to make better decisions to grow. It describes as a perfect analytical tool that offers unmatched flexibility.
  6. Custom readymade apps: 14000+ ready-made applications that everyone can access from the Odoo apps store.
  7. Proven Product: About 3+ million people are using Odoo to run their business processes efficiently. Some of them are Toyota, Hyundai, PCI etc.
  8. Up to date with Technology: Odoo gets updated frequently as per the latest technological environment. The latest versions are Odoo V10 and V11.
  9. Highly Modular: You don’t need to install the entire Odoo solution in one go. You can download and install selective application modules as per your business needs. Eg: Odoo ERP of POS with Accounting
  10. Easily Integrates with others: Odoo app is capable of being integrated with any other third-party APIs like Social media, publication sites, SMS platforms, shopping sites, etc.
  11. Less implementation cost and less implementation time frame.

How does ODP help in ERP implementation?

Oman Data Park offers world-class servers to carry heavy-loaded IT functions needed to implement ERP solutions. With a 99.985% uptime guarantee and SLA, the infrastructure ensures that your ERP software runs on the best x86 server hardware and your business is always ready to seize the next opportunity. In addition, ODP implements ERP solutions with the support of a highly experienced team that can help you plan your migration and set up your service. ODP also provides continuous monitoring to proactively identify and address any faults before they become problems for your business. If your objective is to save money on your software while achieving optimal performance for your Odoo apps, then Oman Data Park is the best choice.

The Data Park meets all three of the major criteria businesses expect from the move to a cloud-based ERP:

  • Updates and Support Packages
  • Technical Support
  • Continued Deployment and Expansion of ERP

Final words

As a business owner are you also fed up with wasting time on manual processes and wish to take the business to the next level using an ERP solution? Do you know which one will suit you? First, think about your business operations. Think about what are your most inefficient processes? Which areas do you think can be improved? What do you think takes up your time unnecessarily?  What could be the things you do manually but have the potential to be automated?

Just by thinking about the above questions, you have taken the first essential step. It is important to acknowledge and understand the key problem areas in order to get the solution. As you will move further towards making simple changes, it will have a big impact on your business. One of them is moving away from the old manual methods, which can help you save time, money, and bring your business to the next level.

So, are you ready to gain a competitive edge over others?

To know more, reach out to us via phone at +968 2417 1111 | +968 24171195 or email support@omandatapark.com |sales@omandatapark.com