Enterprise resource planning (ERP) is not new, but it certainly has improved. Formerly used only by large enterprises with budgets to match, ERP software was costly and designed only for certain systems.
Then came big data, and with it came cloud computing and mobile devices. ERP vendors had to change with the times, just like the companies they serve.
Big data refers to the storage and analysis of large data sets, and it requires advanced software to store, retrieve, and analyze the created data. Every hour, millions of gigabytes of data, especially financial transactions, are created. Big data is used across industries, from genomics to social media.
How ERP Uses Big Data
Thanks to cloud services storing data, big data analyzes the trends recorded by a company’s ERP system. Big data can even identify trends in customer shopping historically as well as through different channels such as social media or email marketing. If there’s a pattern due to weather, location, or demographic, big data can help determine what it is. Then, you can leverage that pattern to increase sales.
In addition, big data changes business operations by using data-driven insights to target customers with personalized offers. It can also assess customer feedback to best serve customer needs.
Big data analytics and artificial intelligence give companies the ability to more efficiently analyze data, leading to faster, more accurate decisions and better customer engagement. Couple that with IoT sensors to take advantage of real-time data and Cloud-Based ERP software, employees will have access to necessary data at any time from any device and any location.
With big data, ERP systems are changing the way companies operate on a grand scale.
How You Can Leverage Big Data with ERP
Companies gain a lot from big data. Here are a few ways the analytics of big data can enhance the workings of your company’s ERP system:
- Data provides essential insight into customer behavior and preferences, and coupled with historical data, it allows for prediction of the future needs of customers.
- In addition, it provides information and analysis for products and services that better fit customer needs.
- Data provides a clear view of trends in order to be ahead of change.
- Data identifies new opportunities for growth and innovation and creates more accurate business plans grounded in real-world insight about market trends and changes.
- Your customer service team can offer more personalized solutions, which can help to increase customer brand loyalty.
- Data can help IT with more effective fraud or malware detection.
Overall, companies make better-informed decisions using big data information on operations and markets. The technology is able to process huge amounts of data quickly and give unbiased, accurate interpretations.
Developing an Effective Strategy for Your Company’s Big Data
With more information at your fingertips than ever before, opportunities you have never thought about will present themselves. The potential for success is incredible and growing. But how can you process, consider, store, and determine who has access to data?
1. Identify Your KPIs
First, identify the type of information you want to track and analyze. To improve business processes, the indicators that will create a major impact should be monitored. Your ERP tool can track key performance indicators (KPIs) like gross margin percentage, balance sheet turnover ratio, and number of orders placed.
This information makes it possible for predicting customer needs and streamlining inventory management. Information can also be tracked and used to determine the questions that customer service receives on certain products or issues. The, issues can be resolved or clarifying information can be put into customers’ hands in advance.
Once you know what data would be helpful to focus on, the storage of data needs to be organized.
2. Craft Your Strategy
Using your cloud ERP, create a plan for storing collected data. The cloud is well-suited and prepared to handle the type of workloads of ERP tools. In as simple as a few clicks, a team can be set up for monitoring whatever key metrics needed, and it won’t take up any valuable office space. Because they will have access to data, they can be more strategic in marketing or in innovation, leading to new products and more growth.
Everything can be managed automatically, eliminating the time spent on backup and recovery tasks. Mistakes are fixed immediately. Therefore, the customer experience is accurate and streamlined.
It’s also important to create policies that outline how long you will retain the collected data and where historical data will be stored. Keep a log of what data is stored so that if it can’t be found or if security is breached, you can find the extent of the damages.
Get Your Team On Board
On top of having data organized, it’s necessary to have a communication strategy about who has access to collected data and when they have access to it.
If only one person requires regular access, establish rules about what constitutes an emergency and when that person should be contacted. Also, form clear policies for granting access to third parties, like marketing agencies or contractors. This will help to ensure that information is not leaked unintentionally. It will also ensure mistakes like naming proprietary sources are not made. Set up a contract with third-party vendors that outlines what data can be shared, how it must be stored, and when the information will need to be deleted.
ERP Big Data: The Bottom Line
Making smarter decisions comes down to collecting and analyzing data. Developing a strategy and staying aware of customer trends is much easier with data on your side. With a flexible report generator tool through you ERP system, you can build insightful reports (through interactive dashboards, charts, maps, and more) and share them with your executives and customers.
With access to more essential insight than ever, companies are able to manage supply chain networks and increase customer satisfaction levels simultaneously. Interested in finding out how? Contact the consultants at Godlan today by visiting www.Godlan.com or by calling 586.464.4400.
