By now, you’ve probably seen articles about cloud ERP. Cloud ERP is transforming how manufacturers collect, analyze, and use data. It offers real-time data collection and sharing across multiple locations without time delays or gaps.
Information from a cloud ERP system can be used with business intelligence software for collaborative analytics. Collaborative analytics is a method by which many people, rather than one single person in a company, reviews, analyzes, and compares data from business operations. Companies who use collaborative analytics as part of their cloud ERP strategy believe in the power of many people sharing information for better decision-making and creativity.
Easier Data Sharing Through Cloud Technology
Even if you’ve been in a business for a long time, it’s hard to remember a time before cloud software was readily available to all. Today, in our business and personal lives, we use cloud technology without thinking twice. Do you use Microsoft Office online? That’s cloud technology. How about social media? Cloud technology again.
Now cloud ERP is changing the world of business intelligence. These systems make it easy to share data for better business insights.
Prior to the introduction of cloud ERP, data came from the CEO. Reports would take weeks or months to reach the CEO’s desk. Then, the leader decided what was shared with the managers, and managers decided what to share with subordinates. It was a laborious, time-wasting exercise that limited who knew what with a company.
Today, business intelligence and cloud ERP make it easy to share data throughout a company. Information is shared to anyone with access to the ERP system. Business intelligence reports can be produced with the touch of a button or the click of a mouse, providing everyone with equal access to information. Collaboration, teamwork, and creativity are enhanced, thanks to cloud ERP.
Equal Data Opportunity
Data use is no longer the purview of a select few employees. Today, business intelligence reports transform raw data into useful graphs, charts, and other information so that everyone on your team can understand the information presented. You don’t need specialized knowledge to understand the data; you need to interpret the results and put it into action.
In the older management style, data was kept tightly under wraps at the top. Workers had to rely on what the CEO said about the company or what their managers decided was the next right step. Today, workers are empowered with better information so they can make decisions for themselves. This frees up top management to develop strategic direction, establish relationships with suppliers and customers, and handle big picture items. Day to day decisions can be made easily thanks to freely shared information.
Data: The New Normal
For companies struggling to use data right now, all this may seem like wishful thinking. After all, if you have data from a site-based system, why can’t you use it in a similar way as a cloud ERP system?
You can … with several exceptions.
Site-based systems limit data to what’s available on site. You can’t access it from another location without costly setup. Older systems may still require manual data export into spreadsheets to produce charts and graphs. And this, of course, is prone to error. How many times have you produced a spreadsheet only to realize later that one tiny mistake in a formula resulted in a bigger error in the final report?
Wouldn’t it be easier to have one system with real time data producing immediately useful reports?
Okay, so that may sound like wishful thinking … until you consider that your competitors may already have this ability through cloud ERP.
It’s time to embrace the cloud!
Cloud ERP: Emerald TC
Emerald TC can help you with cloud ERP selection. We are a certified Acumatica Cloud partner and have a long and successful history of cloud transition with our customers. If you’re hesitating about using cloud ERP, we can assure you that Acumatica makes software so easy to use that companies find the adoption time less than they expect. Contact us or call 678-456-6919 for more information about Acumatica ERP.