Special Report
Automation domination
Smart Business Orange County | April 2010
Page 3 of 3
Alex Attal, general manager, Sage ERP X3, Sage North America
Close your doors
Perhaps your largest concern with the decision to either install or upgrade your ERP system — other than the considerable investment of money and time — is security. Your data will not likely be susceptible to external hackers, even if you opt for cloud computing and store your data on a server outside of your offices, but there is always the concern that your own employees might attempt to tamper with the system.
“ERP is monitoring access to every aspect of company,” Attal says. “If you connect to my Web site to buy something, I want to give you the best customer service and the best access to as many processes as possible, but that’s all I want you to see. There are a lot of security tools embedded in the software to manage the access for each user and for each function.”
In other words, assign each user a unique access name and password, much as you or your IT staff would for any office system of considerable size and importance, and allow each user access to only the parts of the system he or she needs to use for his or her assignments. There are always concerns, but if you set up the security in advance, you will better protect your data and your business.
The other concern, especially after hearing the relatively sudden successes of Company A, is when you will earn back the money you put into the system. Depending on the speed of the installation and how quickly you and your employees implement the full range of process automation, you could see a full return within two years, and perhaps even just one year. But the consensus is that ERP has evolved so much during the last couple of decades that it is a sound investment, no matter your industry, business size or needs.
“When I meet with people, they sometimes come in with a bias,” Burles says. “They don’t know what ERP is, but if they just spend money, they will get some benefit. They know they have problems, but they don’t really know how to solve them. In the end, there is so much software and technology available, and you just need to figure out what areas of your organization are holding you back.”
ERP can, after all, help you improve the processes and efficiencies of your business, and it can change the way you do business. But you need to make the first move.
