What business systems are most important in the era of the empowered customer? Today’s customers are empowered with information: facts, statistics, industry news, global business reports, and more. Any time customers search the web, they can find information that not too long ago resided in specialized databases scattered throughout the world. Now that information can be accessed by almost anyone, anywhere.

With all that information comes new challenges. Customers no longer rely on a favored vendor simply because that vendor provides the most comprehensive information about their products or services. Service now stands out as the sole distinguishing factor between companies. It makes good sense to focus on systems and methods that enhance customer service. Business systems in the age of customer empowerment must serve that purpose and truly make a difference in the lives of customers to enhance competitive advantage.

Business Systems for Competitive Advantage: Customer-Centric ERP

The new buzzword is customer-centric ERP. Best in class organizations, or those who have consistently demonstrated high revenues, lowered costs, and good service utilize a customer-centric ERP model to make their businesses stand out in the crowded marketplace. To these companies, facilitating customer transactions and improving service is the best way to maximize revenue growth.

ERP systems can provide a solid, stable foundation upon which to build a customer-centric business model. Systems such as Sage EM (formerly known as Sage X3) can help you proactively anticipate and react to customer needs.

Systems that enable viewing a customer’s account from multiple perspectives also enhance customer service. Staff no longer has to track down different information from various departments to answer a simple question. Customer questions can be answered swiftly and efficiently using the same data that everyone in the company has access to.

A customer-centric ERP system enhances order processing, enabling faster time to ship for many orders. It helps staff resolve customer complaints quickly and prevents missteps like trying to upsell an angry customer by showing unresolved complaint tickets. It can be a true asset to your company and help you build a customer-centric business model.

Business Systems You Must Have: Sage EM (formerly known as Sage X3)

Business systems such as Sage EM (formerly known as Sage X3) help you stay in front of business opportunities. Sage EM (formerly known as Sage X3) supports shared knowledge and consistent business value across the organization. Meet and exceed customer demands using the many features found within Sage EM (formerly known as Sage X3).

Sage EM (formerly known as Sage X3) includes:

• Centralized data, so that you can get more done a lot faster.
• Enhanced monitoring abilities so you can tackle problems before they start and take proactive steps to prevent cost overruns and other issues.
• Data to help you dig deeper into every aspect of your business.
• Mobile access so that you can work anywhere, anytime you have an internet connection.

Sage EM (formerly known as Sage X3) can be your start into the world of a customer-centric ERP model. Given that best in class companies who use a customer-centric business system such as Sage EM (formerly known as Sage X3) are more profitable and efficient, it’s a smart investment for future growth.

Learn More About Customer-Centric Business Systems

IWI Consulting offers ERP consulting and systems to help you manage your data efficiently. With the right ERP system, you’ll never feel as if you’re drowning in data. We can help you select the best system for your needs and learn how to use it for maximum benefit. For more information, call IWI Consulting at 1-866-916-3851.

Systems such as Sage 300cloud (formerly known as Sage 300) help your business grow its revenues while decreasing costs. If that seems too good to be true, then you may wish to download and read the new free whitepaper from IWI Consulting. Customer-Centric ERP: Integrated Systems for Satisfied Customers is available at no charge to help demystify the concept of customer-centric enterprise resource planning and to help you consider the many benefits to your business.

In this paper, researchers at the Aberdeen Group discovered that ‘best in class’ companies who use ERP systems and focus on a customer-centric model increased their revenues and decreased costs. They were also able to decrease time to order and improve customer satisfaction overall.

Increasing Revenues

ERP systems can improve revenues by enhancing worker productivity. Complete and on-time delivery increased substantially in companies using integrated ERP systems. Companies that used a customer-centric ERP solution increased profits 27% compared to similar companies in their industry who increased profits an average of 7%.

Increased Sales

Where did these revenues come from? Sales to new customers increased as did the upsells and cross-sells to existing customers. The enhanced communication found within the ERP system prevented the sales team from making embarrassing mistakes, such as trying to sell to an angry or dissatisfied customer, while enhancing their ability to make product suggestions that led to upsells or cross-sells. All of this translated into additional revenue for the company.

Improved Customer Satisfaction

Customer-centric ERP can also be used to enhance customer service and satisfaction. Since information is now gathered into one centralized place, customers no longer must chase down a specific employee who holds the answer to their question. All employees can answer the question using the same source data, making sure that customers receive a consistent answer no matter who they talk to within the organization.

Orders can also be fulfilled more quickly. When all the pieces of the data puzzle are in place, employees can clearly and easily see where orders are in the fulfillment pipeline. Problems can be identified and addressed before they turn into significant delays. Time from order to delivery can be cut down, making customers happier and companies more profitable.

Reduced Costs

Additional revenue will only take a company so far if costs aren’t contained. The new ERP system helped companies reduce time spent on task, or time spent searching for information. Standardized order processing also helped reduce data entry costs, which in turn lowered labor costs. These savings translated into greater net revenue for companies with customer-centric ERP models.

Features and Benefits of Sage 300cloud (formerly known as Sage 300)

Sage 300cloud (formerly known as Sage 300) is a comprehensive business management solution that will help you achieve your goal of a customer-centric organization. It’s flexible, so it grows as your company grows, helping you to meet revenue goals, keep costs low, and provide maximum benefit to your customers.

Sage 300cloud (formerly known as Sage 300) helps you manage financial and accounting assets throughout your company in one easily accessed place. It is a complete end-to-end financial management tool that provides you with the data that you need for greater insight and clarity into your business operations. You can identify potential issues earlier and make timely adjustments.

Sage 300cloud (formerly known as Sage 300) can:

• Reduce time-consuming manual tasks.
• Improve productivity.
• Empower staff with knowledge and information.
• Accelerate business processes and workflows.
• Grow your business with confidence upon a reliable platform.

The Sage 300cloud (formerly known as Sage 300) Enterprise Suite offers world-class ERP that your business can benefit from immediately. Whether you are looking to improve, expand, or manage your business with greater efficiency, Sage 300cloud (formerly known as Sage 300) can help.

Customer-centric ERP is a new and better way to manage your accounts using enterprise resource planning software.

IWI Consulting offers ERP consulting and systems to help you manage your data efficiently. With the right ERP system, you’ll never feel as if you’re drowning in data. We can help you select the best system for your needs and learn how to use it for maximum benefit.  For more information, call IWI Consulting at 1-866-916-3851.

Systems such as Sage X3 that impart a customer-centric focus to enterprise resource planning can improve both customer satisfaction and your bottom line. A new white paper from IWI Consulting, Customer-Centric ERP: Integrated Systems for Satisfied Customers is available at no charge to help demystify the concept of customer-centric enterprise resource planning and to help you consider the many benefits to your business.

Learn from the Best (in Class)

Best in class businesses have higher rates of customer satisfaction and success. Perhaps not coincidently, they are also much more likely to view their ERP system as an important component in a customer-centric model. These are the top performing businesses in the industry, as measured by the Aberdeen Group in criteria explained in the white paper.

Such businesses are 51% more likely to use a customer-centric CRM and ERP system to improve their businesses. Companies that can seamlessly integrate data across multiple systems through their ERP compared to others with siloed systems achieved an 88% increase in revenues with a 12% reduction in customer care. They could reduce the costs of customer care while simultaneously improving their company’s value and sales ability, a winning situation for any business.

Other Benefits of ERP Systems

Increasing revenues and decreasing costs are two powerful motivators for adding an ERP system such as Sage ERP X3 to your business. But there are many other benefits derived from an ERP system. This includes:

• Higher percent of completed and on-time delivery of customer orders.
• Improvements in both the quality and timeliness of decisions made within the company.
• Improvements in cycle time of key business processes over the past year.
• Higher percent of customers self-identifying as “satisfied” or “completely satisfied” with the service.
• Reduced days of sales outstanding.

With so many benefits derived from one major improvement, it makes great sense to consider adding an ERP system to your company. A customer-centric experience is one that will set your company apart from its competitors.

Today’s customers are better-informed than past generations. With the tap of a button, they can access millions of web pages to learn more about the products and services they are interested in. The one thing that still sets a stellar business apart from the rest is service, which must be experienced. To achieve such an experience, having consolidated and comprehensive data at your fingertips is a must.

Sage X3 and the Customer-Centric Business

While the paper itself does not specifically address Sage X3, the software is well-known for its ability to help businesses anticipate and act proactively to assist their customers. This is at the heart of a customer-centric business; putting customer care at the heart of every transaction. Sage X3 makes it easier.

Sage X3 offers:

• One dashboard to check on multiple points of a transaction, including inventory, ordering, expenses, and more.
• Monitoring of all aspects of your business, with the ability to dig deeper into any one area for more information if needed.
• The ability to integrate processes into one workflow.
• Truly mobile access, so that you can check on any aspect of your business from wherever your work takes you.

Sage X3 offers manufacturers a powerful tool for a customer-centric business. Learn more about it today from IWI Consulting.

Customer-centric ERP is a new and better way to manage your accounts using enterprise resource planning software.

IWI Consulting offers ERP consulting and systems to help you manage your data efficiently. With the right ERP system, you’ll never feel as if you’re drowning in data. We can help you select the best system for your needs and learn how to use it for maximum benefit. Call IWI Consulting at 1-866-916-3851.

What is customer-centric enterprise resource planning? What benefit is it to your business? A new white paper available from the IWI Consulting Group entitled Customer-Centric ERP: Integrated Systems for Satisfied Customers is available at no charge to help demystify the concept of customer-centric enterprise resource planning and to help you consider the many benefits to your business.

Enterprise Resource Planning Explained

Enterprise resource planning is a systematic approach to connect siloed data. Instead of separate and discrete systems for accounting, operations, customer relationship management and so on, these systems feed into one ERP system that provides a comprehensive overview of a company’s business. You can still drill down into each system for details, but the big picture is now available through a companywide dashboard that makes it easier to view and use data.

Why Focus on Customer Satisfaction?

Companies derive many benefits from enterprise resource planning. Customer satisfaction is perhaps the least recognized, yet the most important benefit, among them.

Customers today are empowered with more information than at any time in the past. The internet puts vast resources at their fingertips for instant fact-finding. With so much information so readily available, companies that wish to attract and retain customers must go to greater lengths to offer exceptional service. Such service is facilitated by a good ERP system.

Yet, according to the white paper available from the IWI Consulting Group, only 35% of companies have a unified view of customer data available to all relevant stakeholders. One assumes that the remaining companies still dig into separate databases, with varying levels of access to departments and employees.

Such a siloed approach is time-consuming, and time is money, especially when it comes to customer service. The longer you must make a customer wait for an answer, the more time he has to consider taking his business elsewhere.

Customer data kept in multiple, separate databases can also make it more difficult to offer personalized service to customers. Without that big picture view, it’s easy to focus on one aspect of a customer’s business without understanding how it fits into the big picture of his needs.

Customer-Centric Technology for Best in Class Businesses

“Best in class” businesses, when it comes to ERP systems, distinguish themselves in several areas. All embrace technology to form a customer-centric mindset and operating guidelines for their companies. Business solutions that integrate and streamline data enhance this customer-centric approach.

These best in class companies are more likely to rely upon ERP systems and use those systems to enhance customer service and satisfaction. According to the white paper previously cited, 51% of best in class companies use their enterprise resource planning systems to improve customer satisfaction.

Preventing Common Customer Complaints

Customers are often frustrated by companies who cannot access their complete records. Receiving a call with an offer for an add-on sale when the first sale was returned due to dissatisfaction is both frustrating for the customer and unproductive for the sales team. Customers complain that companies do not care about them, but only seek to get more revenues out of their account.

When ERP systems are used for customer care in a customer-centric way, such complaints can be reduced or completely avoided. A customer-centric approach to ERP can reduce customer care costs by 12% while improving service and satisfaction.

Get the Facts on Customer-Centric ERP

Customer-centric ERP is a new and better way to manage your accounts using enterprise resource planning software.

IWI Consulting offers ERP consulting and systems to help you manage your data efficiently. With the right ERP system, you’ll never feel as if you’re drowning in data. We can help you select the best system for your needs and learn how to use it for maximum benefit. Call IWI Consulting at 1-866-916-3851.

Sage Business Intelligence draws information from Sage 300cloud (formerly known as Sage 300) and Sage EM (formerly known as Sage X3), tying multiple databases together into one robust system. The result can break down department silos, as the report states, improve productivity and efficiency, and increase your profits.

Why Do Silos Occur in Business?

Business silos are something with which many people are familiar. Departments cling to their data and make others run circles to access it. In other scenarios, the data exists, but only one or two people know how to run the specific system to access it. The resulting information bottlenecks can throw off schedules, decrease productivity, and derail efforts at creating data-driven cultures.

Silos can be a result of poor technology infrastructure as well as people’s emotions and psyches invested in their role as gatekeeper over information. Some people subtly cling to older systems because their ability to access data gives them power in an organization. Others simply don’t know that alternatives exist. If your company has always operated in a specific way, and it does not know that there are better, easier ways of completing the same tasks, it might be difficult to make a change.

New Systems Foster Collaboration

The white paper provided by IWI Consulting emphasizes how new business intelligence systems foster collaboration and break down silos within organizations. Business intelligence data through systems such as Sage Enterprise Intelligence tie multiple data bases together for real-time operations.

Because data is no longer kept separate, it no longer requires separate access to obtain it. Everyone within the organization can find and use the same data.

Data can also be viewed across multiple platforms. This big-picture view fosters collaboration and cohesion among the teams at your workplace, ensuring that everyone is working from the same data source to form conclusions.

Lastly, an important benefit from such systems is the ability for them to alert managers of critical situations. Supply chain management becomes easier when you’re aware of low stock levels. Orders can be fulfilled more rapidly if you know how much you have in the warehouse, and so on. Data that is no longer contained in silos becomes a powerful ally.

Insights Originate from Many Places

It’s rare that insights arise from just one person within an organization. When managers throughout your company can access shared data, they have the information needed to make better decisions. These insights can be shared across teams, fostering collaboration among different groups to solve business challenges and create new plans and ideas.

Delivering True Data Visibility

Business intelligence solutions deliver true data visibility. By merging ERP and other systems, and providing insight into multiple data streams gathered from throughout the organization, it can deliver data visualizations and reports that help you see the big picture or drill down into the details.

The emergence of newer business intelligence solutions, powerful ERP tools, and other accounting, finance, operations, inventory, sales, and marketing databases has the potential to completely transform businesses. Manufacturers can especially benefit from improved visibility into supply chain management, inventory, and sales data.

By using these new tools, your business can remain competitive, utilize resources more effectively, and increase profits. But it all starts with the right business intelligence solutions.

 About IWI Consulting

IWI Consulting offers numerous Sage products to enhance your organization’s data-driven culture. Sage EM (formerly known as Sage X3), Sage 300cloud (formerly known as Sage 300), Sage Enterprise Intelligence and many other systems can transform how you use data in your organization. Manufacturers will find their productivity increases as data becomes more available throughout their organizations. For more information, call IWI Consulting at 1-866-916-3851.

Many companies seek to become “data-driven” enterprises. Business intelligence solutions can be an integral part of a data-driven culture. Their user-friendliness ensures that even the “non techie” people in your organization can learn how to use them for maximum benefit.

Creating a Data-Driven Culture

Many companies in the manufacturing area are transforming how they make decisions. Changing towards a data-driven culture may not be easy, but business intelligence solutions can make it easier.

The right business intelligence solutions combine accurate data, real-time updates, and simple dashboards that make logical sense for even novices to navigate. Such dashboards enable everyone—at all levels of the organization—to find, use, and understand the data inputted into the system.

To create a data-driven culture, data must not only be freely available to all, but it must be easy to use. Without ease of use, data remains untapped. Priority must be given to installing systems that work well for the majority of users.

Weaning Users Away from Spreadsheets

Many businesses have used spreadsheets to capture, analyze, and manipulate data. Spreadsheets are readily available, easy to use, and inexpensive. However, they lack the power that business intelligence solutions provide, and are open to mistakes.

Most spreadsheets require manual input of data. Manual stock-taking during warehouse inventory, for example, must be keyed into spreadsheets. If the typist makes one error, the error can multiply throughout the spreadsheets. It can then render business data inaccurate and throw off conclusions drawn from the data.

Spreadsheets can also be cumbersome when multiple data streams must be combined to form new conclusions. It can be difficult to get spreadsheets to communicate and share data accurately across worksheets; impossible across files. Time-consuming data manipulation compounds the frustration and renders real-time data impossible.

Business intelligence solutions tackle these tasks for you. Automated warehouses and inventory systems using barcodes can scan and input data quickly and accurately without the typical keying mistakes frequently seen in manual operations. Multiple data streams can be brought together and transformed into actionable insights through business intelligence solutions.

If you are struggling to convince your team that business intelligence solutions are better than spreadsheets, point out to them the amount of time (and frustration) they experience every time they are tasked with data manipulation. A simple demonstration of the power of business intelligence solutions may point out the flaws inherent in spreadsheets and convince even the skeptical that a data-driven culture, supported by a robust BI system, provides better support for decision-making at every level of the organization.

Sage Enterprise Intelligence

Sage Enterprise Intelligence provides powerful insight into your existing data. It merges multiple data sources including Sage 300cloud (formerly known as Sage 300), Sage EM (formerly known as Sage X3) and other CRM, accounting, finance, and operations data to provide big-picture and drill-down insights. Improved accuracy, access, and timeliness of data enhances your ability to make decisions. Data visualizations also add powerful information to the data so that anyone in the organization can access and use it effectively.

About IWI Consulting

IWI Consulting offers numerous Sage products to enhance your organization’s data-driven culture. Sage EM (formerly known as Sage X3), Sage 300cloud (formerly known as Sage 300), Sage Enterprise Intelligence, and many other systems can transform how you use data in your organization. Manufacturers will find their productivity increases as data becomes more available throughout their organizations. For more information, call IWI Consulting at 1-866-916-3851.

Many business owners seek a competitive advantage through better business intelligence. Business intelligence solutions, such as Sage Enterprise Intelligence can provide you with big-picture data of your organization’s performance. Such data enhances your ability to make timely, accurate, and judicious decisions.

These decisions aren’t limited to the big picture, however. Every portion of your business, from the warehouse floor to the manufacturing area, benefits. The more data your managers have, the better they can do their jobs.

There are many surprising benefits to be derived from the implementation of new business intelligence solutions. Sage commissioned Forrester Research to analyze data from a representative sample of companies on their implementation of Sage X3. The resulting analysis showed abundant benefits and cost-savings. Some, however, were surprising.

Three Surprising Benefits from the Implementation of Sage X3 and Enterprise Intelligence

There are dozens of benefits your company gains from implementing business intelligence solutions. But three surprising areas include:

• Automating compliance
• Improving processes
• Enhancing availability of data.

Automating compliance: Many companies have stringent approval processes over items such as discounts, price breaks, returns, and other areas that directly impact the bottom line. Workers, however, find themselves chasing down managers for approvals, sending myriad reminder emails, or making countless telephone calls to get orders and discounts approved in a timely manner. With Sage X3 automated alerts and messages, information alerts can be set up to remind managers that approvals are waiting in the queue. Instead of wasting time chasing down a manager, the system does it for you, speeding up the process and freeing the employee’s time for other tasks.

Improving processes: Business intelligence solutions can also be used to improve existing processes. One company that participated in the Forrester Research study found significant benefits from improving their sales processes using Sage X3. This company offered varying discounts, many of which had to approved locally or specifically when requested by a sales team member. By automating the process and providing a standardized discount structure from which the sales people could choose, the system eliminated the tedious approval process by providing structured, pre-approved choices to choose among for each sale. This process improvement saved considerable time for the sales people and improved customer service throughout the organization by speeding up the entire order process for the customers.

Enhanced data availability: Prior to automation, many companies kept important information such as copies of purchase orders or receipts in a central office. Field staff trying to check on a problem with a customer order or even just looking up the customer’s order history had to call the central office to have someone there look up the information. If the information was kept in hard copy only, that may mean a delay while someone tracked down the location of the documents. Today’s cloud-based business intelligence solutions retain this and other relevant information on the database itself. Because they are cloud-based, the sales team can access them using their mobile devices, tablets or laptops. It’s much easier to communicate, share, and retrieve data through business intelligence solutions.

 Learn More About the Benefits of Sage X3 Implementation

IWI Consulting is now offering the full copy of this important report on the many benefits and cost-savings of sage X3 implementation.

IWI Consulting provides Sage X3 and Enterprise Intelligence software, along with other tools for business insights, management and data. Call IWI Consulting at 1-866-916-3851 today.

ERP for manufacturing, such as Sage EM (formerly known as Sage X3), yields many benefits for the manufacturing industry. Some of these benefits are obvious, such as the availability of data, the ease with which you can run reports, and other time-saving benefits. What might not be as readily apparent is the cost-savings that manufacturers can achieve with ERP for manufacturing and distribution.

Sage contracted with the esteemed Forrester Research Group to analyze such savings. Although Forrester did not focus entirely on the manufacturing sector, they did discover among their many interviews with companies using Sage EM (formerly known as Sage X3) that manufacturers derived significant benefits. Here are just a few.

ERP for Manufacturing Provides Cost-Savings

ERP for manufacturing enables you to add many modules specifically tailored to your industry. One such module from Sage EM (formerly known as Sage X3) helps you standardize purchasing protocols and processes to achieve the best discounts on goods and supplies. The entire purchasing process saw a reduction in the cost of labor, according to the Forrester research. Because Sage EM (formerly known as Sage X3) saved considerable time and effort, it reduced the cost of labor by approximately 4% annually. Less time was spent on tasks since many were automated.

Inventory Materials and Labor Savings

While it is likely that your purchasing managers seek to obtain the best discounts possible on goods and supplies, without the best planning data, they may not be aware of changes in demand. Inventory management software such as Sage EM (formerly known as Sage X3) allows you to review past inventory history to predict future trends. You can also see sales figures at a glance so that you can adjust manufacturing needs to accommodate large orders.

Using Sage EM (formerly known as Sage X3) and its inventory module, you have visibility into your entire inventory no matter where it is located. You are able to move inventory to the sites you need it or request shipments from alternate locations. Using this visibility, an average organization experiences a 10% reduction in inventory levels and increased inventory turns. In addition, automated inventory management allowed reduced headcount of one FTE over three years.

Planning is everything in the manufacturing industry. Adequate planning can make a big difference in the profitability in your business, and such planning is facilitated through ERP for manufacturing.

Sage EM (formerly known as Sage X3) Reduces the Cost of Goods

Investing in Sage EM (formerly known as Sage X3) allows you to automated processes such as recording production transactions and physical inventory. With real-time data, inventory levels and production schedules were more accurate and on-time. With immediate access to inventory scrap rates and the ability to fix resulting manufacturing problems, the average organization can reduce the cost of goods by ½ of 1%.

Across-the-Board Benefits from Sage EM (formerly known as Sage X3)

Sage EM (formerly known as Sage X3) provides numerous benefits throughout your organization. With enterprise software in place, you can get the big picture of all of your business activities from one convenient dashboard. You don’t have to access the dashboard from your office, either. You can access it where you want to, when you want to, thanks to simple, easy cloud computing that provides access to your data through a web-based interface.

ERP for manufacturing benefits your sales department, marketing, operations, finance, and warehouse administration. Because data is kept in one system, it helps to improve communications and breaks down silos. With better data, you can run a better business.

ERP consulting from IWI Consulting can help you choose a system and add modules tailored to your needs. We have helped many Toronto-based businesses choose the best ERP for manufacturing software and implement it throughout the organization for enhanced productivity and profits.

Read the Full Report Now

Learn more about the exceptional discounts found after ERP implementation. With Sage EM (formerly known as Sage X3), you can achieve cost savings and other key benefits.

IWI Consulting provides Sage EM (formerly known as Sage X3) and Sage 300cloud (formerly known as Sage 300) software, along with other tools for business insights, management and data. Get more information on our website or call IWI Consulting at 1-866-916-3851 today.

There are many benefits of implementing Sage X3. Sage X3 helps the average business to improve efficiencies, automate workflows and alerts, and much more. Quantifying these benefits yields surprising information. Research shows that a mid-size company in the business of manufacturing, distribution and services can receive a net present value benefit of US $1.7 million and an ROI of 177%.

About the Survey: Forrester Research

Forrester Research conducted a cost-savings analysis at the behest of Sage, the parent company behind Sage X3, to assess the overall savings for businesses after implementing their product in the workforce. The results indicated considerable efficiencies and savings throughout the company.

When ascertaining cost-savings, it is important to identify key areas and winnow out extraneous data to ensure the results are accurate. Forrester’s research included customer interviews and other fact-finding, but was not an exhaustive assessment of the situation. Nevertheless, the benefits derived after implementing Sage X3 were noticeable and found in many areas of the company’s operations.

Labor-Saving Benefits with Sage X3

When Sage X3 financial module was implemented, customers reported labor and time-saving in the area of financial reporting. According to the report, the sample company whose data was analyzed would have had to add one full-time employee to receive the equivalent benefits of Sage X3 financial module. The amount of time and labor spent seeking, collating, organizing and analyzing the data by a person was saved by the use of the module.

Consider what the average salary is at your company for a mid-level financial professional. That is the approximately cost-savings one may assume from the implementation of Sage X3.

Improved Purchasing and Organization of Materials

Another significant benefit derived from the implementation of Sage X3 was in the area of purchasing and organization of materials. Such an area for many manufacturers can be quite challenging, and place within their company that is easy to overlook when seeking money-saving opportunities.

With the implementation of Sage X3, the organization surveyed saved 4% annually on the cost of materials. This was achieved through better management and purchasing foresight on global markets. Better management provided more lead-time to order goods, which resulted in the ability to negotiate discounts with suppliers and seek the most cost-effective shipping method. When activities are no longer on a ‘rush’ timetable, you can obtain many money-saving discounts.

Standardizing Sales Processes

It may seem that the sales department is an unlikely area to benefit from an ERP implementation, but that’s just what companies reported when Forrester interviewed them after their Sage X3 implementation.

Among those companies surveyed, an organization with a complex sales environment benefited the most from the implementation. This company sold numerous products with a complicated discount and bundling structure overlaid on the sales information. With the advent of Sage X3, the company was able to streamline, organize, and systematize their data, so that discounts could be approved globally. Prior to the implementation, discounts were approved locally and as one-offs. Now, discounting structures could be overlaid on the entire organization so that one-offs became an anomaly instead of the norm.

Think of what such a structure could mean to your business. If you are constantly handling single requests from the sales department, perhaps a standard process, implemented through your ERP system, could be the answer. Such a process could standardize and streamline the entire sales discounting structure to avoid losses and significant discounts.

Read More: Contact Us

Learn more about the exceptional discounts found after ERP implementation. With Sage EM (formerly known as Sage X3), you can achieve cost savings and other key benefits.

IWI Consulting provides Sage X3 and Sage 300 software, along with other tools for business insights, management and data. Get more information on our website or call IWI Consulting at 1-866-916-3851 today. Contact us for a free economic impact analysis for your business.

When it comes to enterprise software, it can be difficult to predict the future. Few would have predicted the rise of the internet and the ease and cost-savings of cloud computing, for example. Yet ERP consulting must take into account many factors, including certain trends that have followed throughout the year and that predict the future of the industry. These three areas are likely to affect enterprise software in the new year and beyond. Are you ready?

Prediction #1: Nearly Every ERP System Will Be on the Cloud

According to Right Scale, 93% of companies surveyed are using the cloud. Many use cloud-based systems such as Google Docs and other storage and computing software without thinking about it. To these companies, migrating their enterprise software to the cloud makes sense. They’re already using the cloud, so moving other applications such as Sage EM (formerly known as Sage X3) to the cloud are simply another step in the evolution of their computing needs.

Why move to the cloud? Cloud-based systems offer flexibility, cost-savings, and mobility. You can scale them up or down as your business grows without adding costly hardware. Generally, they are more cost-effective than site-based software purchases, and you can easily add more to your system without having to invest in additional tools. Many sync together; your ERP consulting team can guide you towards the best solution for your needs. Lastly, the cloud offers access through simple web-based applications, so they are highly mobile. Everything from accounting to inventory can be accessed and managed from your smartphone, tablet or laptop. It’s a solution that many businesses find appealing and useful.

Prediction #2:  Data Needs Continue to Grow

Data-based decisions were once the purview of big business. Now they remain a staple throughout all size businesses. Whether you are in manufacturing or services, having data upon which to form strategies and base business decisions remains an important component of enterprise software, and a valuable tool for your business.

A business is only as good as the people on hand to interpret the data, so keep in mind that even though you may have more data available, more doesn’t mean better. It does mean that powerful tools are now in your hands upon which to discover new and profitable business strategies to propel your business forward.

Data remains important, and may even grow in importance as new tools are created to harness its power for the average business owner.

Prediction #3: Enterprise Software Will Take Its Cues from Consumer Applications

Back in the early days of computing, PCs dominated the business world, while Apple products dominated the graphic design world. The two competing systems learned to stake out their territories in the market. Gradually, however, that shifted as more consumers gravitated towards Apple’s easier navigation and graphical interface.

Today it is astonishing to see how the lines have blurred between the two competitors, as well as how the lines between ‘business’ software and ‘personal’ software have blurred as well. Many features we take for granted in the business world, such as smartphone apps to access enterprise software, originated in the consumer world.

Our prediction is that devices, apps and other conveniences developed for the consumer market will continue to evolve and find their way into enterprise software, too. ERP consulting is all about finding the best solutions for customers, and software developers are always looking at the best practices in their industry to find new and innovative solutions for their business customers. It’s not much of a stretch to say that the more intuitive, convenient, and easy the software is to use, the more appealing it will be.

Sage EM (formerly known as Sage X3) already offers many convenient features and intuitive dashboards that appeal to different businesses and industries. It’s easy to predict that this will continually evolve over time.

IWI Consulting: Predicting Business Success

We predict that with the implementation of ERP consulting and enterprise software, you’ll have a more productive business! IWI Consulting provides Sage EM (formerly known as Sage X3) and Sage 300 software, along with other tools for business insights, management and data. Call IWI Consulting at 1-866-916-3851.