An Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system will provide you with a view of your business from an operational perspective, but it is not designed for a deep-dive analysis that reveals strategic insights.
With the wealth of data locked away in ERP systems, trying to analyze it without business intelligence (BI) may only lead you deeper into a spreadsheet nightmare.
Business intelligence software alleviates the ERP burden by collecting all of your data from its many sources, analyzing it, and presenting it as clear and actionable insights.
Reporting from ERPs is complicated and time consuming
Relying solely on your ERP system to generate reports is time consuming and requires expert-level skills in understanding complex spreadsheets. As a result, most companies rely on their IT team to build and generate reports. An IT report, however, can take a few days or up to a week to land on your desk, and by then the information is outdated. A BI report, however, is generated in a matter of minutes and reflects a real-time view of what’s happening.
With over 15-years' experience working with manufacturing, wholesale distribution, and retail industries, Phocas knows exactly what our customers want and need. Our dashboard has been designed and refined to capture the key pieces of information executives need to know, and can be personalized with unique KPIs, to reflect individual needs.
The functionality of Phocas ensures staff of all technical abilities can use business intelligence with minimal training, and the time you’ve saved can now be spent building your business, and enjoying time with friends and family!
Reporting from ERPs has serious limitations
ERP reporting is not only complicated and time consuming, it can also be static and incomplete. A static report only provides a snapshot of information, and users are unable to discover underlying insights and trends that lie beneath the business. Incomplete data occurs when information is spread across different systems. While the majority of data may sit in your ERP, some may lie in CRM and be missed, leading to unreliable ERP reports.
Even more problems can arise when you need to export integrated data to spreadsheets, which can be susceptible to errors, difficult to troubleshoot, and at risk of security breaches.
A quality BI solution, like Phocas, collects your company’s data from disparate sources to reveal actionable insights and form a coherent picture of the business. Now employees across your entire company can explore the data behind the reports, and discover potential issues, trends, and profitable opportunities.
ERPs often lack mobile access
Having mobile access is a must in today’s fast-paced business and data-driven environment. It enables end users access to vital information at any time, and eliminates lengthy preparation periods spent in the office.
ERPs are not typically accessible on a mobile device because the reporting is so complicated. Phocas business intelligence, however, enables users mobile access and easy to understand visualizations, so anyone in the company can access insights in a matter of minutes.
As more organizations adopt BI solutions, their employees will be more efficient and productive decision makers. Companies without business intelligence, however, will continue relying on ERP reporting and will be pushed out of today’s competitive marketplace.
Phocas Software’s commitment to its customers’ success has resulted in a 97 percent client retention rate, a clear indication of their satisfaction and significant ROI.
To learn more about how Phocas provides users with high-level insights that can be drilled into, download our free eBook: Dashboards and Scorecards.
