ERP Integration with Third-Party Applications: Challenges and Solutions.
One of the main objectives, when an organisation decides to start a modernization process, is to improve business agility. Enterprises can be more competitive, provide excellent customer service, and generate income in novel ways with more agility. The goal of an organisation may be to improve trade partner transaction visibility or to integrate its EDI platform with its ERP portal.
What especially does it involve for a company to commit to modernising its IT infrastructure to boost agility? Organisations should start by thinking about moving their legacy systems to the cloud while simultaneously maintaining operational availability for both front-end and back-end systems.
It’s challenging because businesses must integrate cutting-edge SaaS apps into their ecosystems without causing any form of business disturbance, yet these disruptions are more likely in the absence of the right API integration solutions. To streamline the process and enable any additional application interfaces, it is worthwhile to explore a simultaneous integration technology update if your company is planning an ERP portal upgrade.
Implementation Challenges for ERP
Finding an ERP that meets certain company criteria is the first step in the ERP for enterprises implementation process. After that, it entails business process mapping and configuration, end-user training, data migration to the new ERP system, and software installation.
Based on our ten years of experience working with manufacturing SMEs to adopt ERP, we believe it is our primary responsibility to inform the businesses about the Dos and Don’ts of ERP implementation. We have concluded that many issues or difficulties may be avoided with the correct design, discussion, and implementation of ERP.
Let’s now go through each of these in more depth and how to overcome the obstacles.
Challenge: How to choose the right ERP?
There are several ERP vendors. Which one is best? Which should you choose: customised or off-the-shelf? When choosing an ERP, these and other questions pop up.
Solution: Invite many ERP vendors, then choose the one that best fits your requirements.
Define your requirements, difficulties, and long-term objectives first. Invite ERP software vendors who have successfully implemented their products in your industry so they are familiar with the specific needs of your company. Have in-depth talks about their approach, procedures, and how they will support you in achieving your goals with the least amount of customisation possible. The first step to a successful deployment is selecting the correct ERP implementation partner.
Challenge: lack of management involvement, support, and commitment
The teams won’t take the project seriously, and the endeavour will be ineffective if management decides to move forward with ERP for enterprises without giving it the proper priority, importance, and value, or without allocating adequate time and resources.
Solution: Ensure complete management support
To achieve successful implementation, management should actively participate, aggressively drive and promote. Each implementation activity should get the appropriate funding, resources, and time, and the ERP project team should be held accountable for completing all tasks on schedule.
Challenge: Not laying out expectations clearly regarding impending adjustments
ERP implementation has an impact on all aspects of a business, including workers, clients, and suppliers as well as how they carry out their duties. There will inevitably be opposition and apprehensions on their part if you do not enlighten and educate them about the impending changes.
Solution: Setting Up Management change
Inform everyone interested in how data will be gathered for ERP, how reports can be seen, how it will benefit processes, and so on. To ensure a seamless transition, this will assist in allaying any anxieties and obtain their active involvement.
Challenge: Poor or insufficient ERP training might hinder progress. If your users are not properly instructed on how to utilise your top-notch ERP software, your investment will be for nought.
Solution: Ensure that users receive enough training and actively participate in learning ERP software.
To use ERP software with ease after Go Live, Management and Employees must not only attend training sessions regularly but also actively practise and have a solid grasp and ERP planning.
Challenge: insufficient testing before the launch
If you don’t thoroughly test the software’s functionality before it goes live, it can have issues that turn out to be expensive errors after it does.
Solution: through testing before the launch
Make thorough checks to make sure the business intelligence tools can handle all of your company’s requirements. Only once a cycle run, trial run, and user permission are acquired may something be made LIVE.
Challenge: Lack of Support After Implementation
ERP implementation alone is insufficient. ERP planning needs to be reviewed and corrected frequently since corporate environments, demands, and laws are always changing. This won’t be feasible if you don’t include the vendor for post-implementation support.
Solution: Post Implementation support
While preparing for ERP implementation, you should consider post-implementation support operations. Choosing an ERP vendor who is prepared to offer post-implementation support for business intelligence tools is therefore advised. Then and only then will you be able to get the most out of your ERP in terms of value and ROI.
Future Steps
Any new system integration software implementation can include snags and expensive blunders, but it doesn’t have to. You may maximise your company’s capacity to adapt to these changes by being aware of potential impediments and making appropriate plans.