Common ERP System Integration Challenges and Benefits

March 4, 2022
Jhansi Rani
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Published On March 4, 2022

ERP systems like Oracle and NetSuite are designed to automate business processes and improve overall productivity. An effective ERP system implementation can strengthen your business model, increase efficiencies and reduce costs. However, in many cases, the number of ERP systems implemented in an organization grows over time. What began as a few basic modules expands into a complex web of ERP systems from multiple technology providers. This architecture model can increase overall complexity and create ERP system integration challenges when working with multiple disconnected enterprise systems. Businesses must find a better way to implement and integrate these disparate systems that provide a unified application architecture and a complete, integrated view of your data. This type of integrated architecture proves valuable in increasing business agility and flexibility. So, what are some of the most common ERP system integration challenges?

Support for Multiple ERP Systems

Organizations begin by installing applications from the same technology provider early on at the beginning of the ERP system implementation. But as time goes on, organizational needs evolve or expand, and businesses often find themselves running a complex combination of applications from different ERP vendors. The company now needs to update the existing integrations with other applications and support data transformation across several additional data formats. If the existing integrations are modified, this would involve additional costs and add to the complexity.

Batch Integration vs. Real-Time Integration

Business process integration for ERP systems has traditionally been batch integration, which worked well when the transactions were mainly inbound integrations. However, there is an increasing need to also provide outbound data from one ERP to other enterprise systems. Often, these systems require real-time information which can’t be delivered using traditional ERP system integration and requires a comprehensive integration plan and roadmap.

New Integration Protocols

With the advent of SaaS and mobile applications, organizations need to integrate their ERP systems with internal systems in their data centers and external systems such as cloud applications, and mobile apps that use modern protocols yet are still evolving. Therefore, businesses need to develop an integration strategy that is future-proof, compatible with all the latest integration protocols, and can keep up with the future evolution of these technologies.

Benefits of ERP System Integration

ERP system integration helps companies take maximum advantage of their data and deliver the best customer experiences. Here are a few key benefits that companies gain from effective ERP system implementation and integration.

Increase Efficiencies

It can slow down many business processes because data is scattered across multiple repositories. By automating the processes needed to pull data together from different systems, businesses can reduce unnecessary bottlenecks in their mission-critical processes and reduce process delays in almost every function from finance, HR, and supply chain to sales and marketing. Access to all your business information in a single interface improves your visibility, resulting in greater efficiencies and faster decision-making.

Improve Customer Experience

ERP system integration connects your business data and provides intelligent insights into your customer’s needs. Businesses can access all their data from the back office, create tailored offerings for their customers and personalize their experience. Effective integration can help you seamlessly combine ERP data with other on-premise, cloud, or third-party sources to build a single, comprehensive view of your customer. You can run analytics effectively to develop personalized offers and communication in your future interactions.

Eliminate Data Silos

Data silos prevent businesses from getting the most out of their ERP systems. Systems implemented long ago might reside in outdated on-premises data silos, while newer methods are in the cloud. ERP system integration eliminates complex data silos resulting in greater efficiencies and more accurate data. A complete view of business data enables organizations to understand customer behavior better, quickly adjust to market fluctuations, and optimize business processes. All the manual processes that run using this data also speed up due to the integration.