Enterprise resource planning, ERP for short, is a practice that businesses around the world are adopting at an alarming rate. E commerce ERP integration may be commonly used, but it isn’t something that many people fully understand.

Part of this confusion is that every online resource seems to have a different definition of ERP, and there are very different ideas on how to implement an ERP system into a company. Even if you think you’re an expert on ERP, there’s a lot you probably don’t know. Especially when it comes to these surprising ERP facts.

ERP Failure Rarely Has to Do with the Actual Software

As soon as something goes wrong with your new ERP software, the very first conclusion is that the software is faulty in some way. It needs to be returned ASAP, the ERP company should refund you 100%, and a new software should be invested in. But then, the new software experiences the same problems, so what’s that about?

This is because an ERP failure rarely has anything to do with the software itself. More often than not, it has to do with something you and the company did wrong, not the software provider. New ERPs struggle from a lack of organization on the company’s part, especially during the implementation phase.

There’s No Reason for ERP Unpredictability

Your ERP solution does not have to be unpredictable, leaving you in the dark about what is to come for your business. In fact, these systems are very predictable and are likely to reach your expected ROI (or more), especially when you go about using it the right way.

The Options for ERP Software Are Endless

When shopping around for an enterprise resource planning solution, you might be surprised by the sheer volume of options available. The options can actually be quite overwhelming, especially if you fail to do your homework beforehand. Not only are there many ERP-focused companies to choose from, but many companies offer a variety of ERP software solutions. To make the process of choosing one less difficult, start off by considering what will suit the scale of your business. For example, if you are a large, multi location business, you might benefit from an open source, cloud based software solution like OneSila ERP, as you’ll be able to take advantage of the seamless integration between teams in different locations and scale up it’s use as your expand. Conversely, a smaller business might only require the use of a local ERP software, so this consideration is important when it comes to savings on costs and improving efficiency.

Implementing an ERP System Doesn’t Need to Be Difficult

For some reason, there’s a common misconception going around the business world, and that is that ERP implementation is challenging and complicated. Not only that, but entrepreneurs and small business owners believe that the implementation process is costly. Here’s what one ERP expert source has to say about that:

“Too many project teams and ERP consultants overlook important details, focus too much on software configuration, don’t spend enough time on business process reengineering or organizational change management, and make a variety of other mistakes that are avoided with experience.”

In order to keep ERP configuration and implementation from being an overly-difficult endeavor, it’s time to focus on the right things. The main takeaway to remember is that the implementation process is what you make it, and there’s no need to add challenges that shouldn’t be present in the first place.