What is the Best ERP?

The other day I stumbled upon this question on Quora, and it got me thinking what is the best ERP? Obviously, my first answer was Genius ERP, of course!

But after thinking about it for a little while, I realized there isn’t one ERP that is truly the best. The question that should be asked isn’t ‘what is the best ERP,’ but should be ‘what is the best ERP for my business?’

The right ERP, after all, is all about fit, and it will vary depending on your business, your industry, your size, your budget, and your needs. What may be the best solution for a multinational organization will not meet the needs of an SME that is just starting out. To find the best ERP for you, you need to take a hard look at your business, your strengths, your weaknesses, and your needs, and then do a little research to find an ERP that was built for your unique business.

Not so long ago there were only a few ERP providers in the marketplace, but today there are ERP vendors for every industry, size, and speciality. The best ERP for you will be one that specializes in your business line, and has the features you need to improve your business.

All good ERPs will help you increase your efficiency and reduce costs — an ERP will connect and integrate all the different aspects of your business into one database, let you streamline tasks and processes, and let you share accurate information across your company. But to truly find the best ERP for you, start thinking about what your business needs to get out of an ERP. I could list a bunch of features that ERPs have — inventory management, accounting, scheduling, CRM — but, quite honestly, that will not help you select the right ERP for you.

Before you start researching ERPs, and are dazzled by cutting-edge features and sales pitches, sit down with a small, trusted group of people at your company and ask yourself what do we need to improve to be a better business? The best sentence to use for absolute clarity is “We need to improve ______ by ______.” Maybe you need to improve profitability by cutting down on raw material costs. Maybe you need to reduce errors by clarifying procedures. Once you know what you need, what your organization definitively needs to improve your business, then you can start looking for an ERP system with the right features for you.Looking for more information on how to pick the best ERP for you? Check out our eBook here on how to select the right ERP for your manufacturing company.