One of the greatest challenges of a small-to-medium sized business (SMBs) is managing all aspects of day-to-day operations without driving up operational costs. Finance, business practices, supply chains, and other manual processes require high visibility and communication across silos in order to ensure optimal decision making. When it’s time to scale, spreadsheets, legacy filing systems, and fragmented communications no longer cut it.
Large organizations solve this issue by implementing an enterprise resource system (ERP) to automate all of these processes and more. An ERP can run financial operations, providing a data entry system that serves the entire enterprise and provides in-depth reporting through dashboards and analytics. Workflows are streamlined to better route tasks and define more efficient processes. In short – the key aspects of your business are optimized through automation, while communicating with each other across silos to ensure everything is running smoothly and in collaboration with each other.
For a large business, the cost of such a system, which can range from $1-10 million, and implementation time of several months is just part of doing business. But for SMBs looking to scale, those challenges make ERP a non-starter, at least in a traditional sense. Aside from the up-front capital investment and the time commitment for integration, SMBs are fearful of an investment in a system that offers little customization and collaboration, and generally forces the adoption of best practices more fit for a large enterprise and not a nimble, flexible smaller business. Fortunately, there’s a better way.
DIY ERP with Cloud-Based Apps
Cloud-based applications have been a defining technology for SMBs for a variety of reasons – they are low cost, easy-to-use, and require little to no integration time. New features and tools can be automatically installed without a complicated implementation process, and access can be given to anyone with easy permissioning. Fully integrated technology stacks through API-based interconnectivity allows other businesses to sync all of their relevant data into one place and collaborate with others with greater visibility, furthering automation and efficiency across the business.
SMBs can essentially build a custom ERP platform with only the capabilities they need, for what amounts to a fraction of the price and time commitment. This can also simplify or reduce complex electronic data interchange (EDI) connections required, making it easier to share data with suppliers in real time.
These ERP alternatives often only require a login to get started. For example, a solution like Anvyl’s has pre-built integrations with financial systems, freight forwarders, inventory management solutions, and more. If a full-scale ERP is out of your price range or the prospect of a time-consuming implementation is daunting, our solution can help integrate your preferred SaaS applications into an ERP-like solution that can elevate your business to the next level. Want to learn how Anvyl can help you DIY an enterprise resource system utilizing your preferred cloud-based SaaS applications?
Download the Guide
Read our entire white paper for more in-depth information on how to create a DIY alternative to an ERP for your business. Download the guide here.
