How do I know when I need a custom/enterprise software solution
Enterprise Software Solutions (or otherwise known as Custom Software Solutions) refer to a software product specifically designed and created for a specific organisation. This article tries to show the symptoms that an organisation may face which may mean that there is need for a custom software solution to be put in place within the organisation structure.
Enterprise Software Solutions bring a host of advantages to an organisation, including faster human processes, less red tape, competitive edge in market and smoother inter and intra-department communications. All of which have a direct and positive impact on the bottom line of an organisation.
The paperwork is piling up and only increases over time
When the in-tray is always larger than the out-tray, it’s an immediate indicator that the paper-based system has become inefficient. The consequences of doing it the paper-based way is some documents get lost, or forgotten, only to be remembered when they are needed. Some formal processes may be skipped at the expense of accountability and speed. In a dysfunctional work environment, some employees may go as far as hiding files that they do not want to attend to and simply hide the evidence that the file ever existed. Though that example is extreme, things like that have been known to happen. All of which would be taken care of when an electronic system is in place to make sure every issue, document and file is attended to, deadlines are mantained, reminders are made and operating procedures are followed without exception. The effeciency benefit will result in allowing staff focus more on the core business and less office politics.
Everyday, the same problems keep coming back
Everyday, a pile of documents need to be approved, need to be signed, need to be emailed, need to be handed over to the next department. An automated solution handles all these repetitive tasks for you so that you don’t have to. When the same things keep coming up everyday, the job ceases to be fun, motivation drops and unmotivated staff impact hard on the company’s bottom line. Automated processes mean that less time is wasted on non-productive activities and more time is re-couped to do the actual job. Documents can be emailed automatically when certain conditions are met. Electronic signatures can be applied to validate the authenticity of documents, and inter-departmental processes and communications can be tuned to run in-sync with automation of email messages and document exchanges and automated an chain of responsibility.
You are putting every effort but your customers seem to think you are unresponsive
If your business requires constant contact with the customer, then it is easy to understand the importance of acting quickly at customer requests and responding timely to their queries. When the number of customers/clients are such that the response time is a bother to your customer, it is a clear sign that an enterprise solution would be of tremendous benefit to you. An enteprise solution would automatically respond to customer emails immediately, whilst organising the queries in an efficient manner. The customer is pleased with how fast you respond, and the software solution handles common customer complaints for you which lightens your workload. Now, that’s a win-win.
It’s hard to extract actionable information from the large, slow-loading excel sheets
Spreadsheets such as Excel as excellent tools to handle most of your data, but when that data starts to pile up and different departments and individuals need to work together on the same spreadsheet, extracting meaningful information out of it becomes a chaotic process. A single cell, mistakenly edited by a junior intern, cascades throughout every single calculation with no telling who made what change and when. Analysis also has to be re-done once in a while to make sure the business is still on the correct trajectory. An enterprise solution would give you peace of mind in this regard. Every action is audited, individuals can only change data within their limited permissions, analysis can be done at any time within seonds or minutes nd coordination between differnet persons and departments can be done without stepping on anyone’s toes. A custom solution would also be able to handle larger amounts of data without slowing down as would a spreadsheet application with lots of data.
The organisation is growing and expanding to new markets and territories
When your business grows, your staff increases and the operations that need to occur simultaneously also increases exponentially with the staff count. An enterprise software solution enables those processes to be coordinated and monitored from a united front. Each activity is recorded for every branch/sector/market/industry/product/territory and analysed in real-time in order to make the correct business decisions at any given time. Not only will the staff be more efficient and productive but it will also cost significantly less than any paper-based solution.
Keep in mind…
Do keep in mind that a good enterprise solution can only be provided by a good supplier. Be sure to ask for warranties or customer support and follow up on any prior clients they have or had to see what kind of experience they had with that supplier. Allow the supplier to know what you need first before they quote you. By telephone conversation or by a meeting. This will allow you also to get to know your potential supplier better before you commit to starting a project with them.
Shirishanu has proven to be a reputable player in the Enterprise Software Solutions sector and comes highly recommended by private and public organisations alike. To engage Shirishanu for your own Custom Enterprise solution, do not hesitate to send an email to [email protected]