Forrester describes enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions as key to analysing and managing the overall health of the business. With the sheer depth and breadth of features, capabilities and integrations, the modern ERP platform has evolved from a lumbering beast into a modular, scalable and agile boutique of services. Offering generative artificial intelligence (GenAI), smart integrations and consistently evolving cloud-driven capabilities, ERP can become the technology equivalent of the Swiss army knife for the business.
However, an ERP is only as capable as its integration and relevance. Implementing an ERP system, or evolving a legacy ERP to meet demanding modern expectations, asks that the business is both strategic and sustainable in its approach. This ensures that your ERP is capable of scale, can evolve with the business as it grows, and delivers precisely what your business needs within a relevant and agile architecture.
Scalable leads to sustainable
Your ERP needs to scale with your business, otherwise you run the risks of decreased efficiency, limited functionality, and increased costs thanks to incessant system upgrades or replacements. Your ERP platform needs to accommodate what your business needs today while still having the bend in its technology bones to accommodate what it needs tomorrow.
This means you need to look for features such as modular design, cloud-based architecture, and customisable features which allow you to adapt on demand. When you prioritise scalability within your ERP selection process and proactively plan for future expansion, you are effectively embedding sustainability within the bedrock of your business while maximising operational efficiency and minimising disruption.
Scalable equals modular ERP in the cloud
Cloud-based ERP capabilities have revolutionised the technology. It’s immensely practical. Allowing you to opt into features that are relevant to your business within a modular framework, a cloud-based ERP allows for you to tap into very specific benefits and capabilities that suit your business at each point in time.
The modular approach taken by Microsoft Dynamics 365 gives you access to an impressive suite of applications. These are designed to help you reimagine the shape of your business and engage with your customers in ways that support your existing structures and approaches. They enhance and improve your business, adding value rather than disruption.
For example, you can use Business Central as your all-in-one business management ERP solution if you’re a small to medium enterprise (SME) looking for improvements across finance, sales, inventory management, and other key operational elements. Or, you can invest into Dynamics 365 Sales which is focused exclusively on enhancing your Sales processes, giving you access to tools that include customer information management, sales automation, and personalisation and segmentation capabilities. Then there’s Dynamics 365 Project Automation which allows you to plan, execute and monitor your projects more effectively, or for the larger enterprise, Finance and Operations, Human Resources, and Supply Chain Management modules. Each one brings something rich and versatile to your ERP system and organisation, allowing you to sustainably scale according to your business needs.
Finding a route through all the modules to the perfect ERP platform should be supported by your strategy and overarching business growth, and by a trusted ERP partner with a deep understanding of the Microsoft ecosystem and how each module can directly benefit you. This is where Mint comes in – we can help you get the most from your Microsoft, your ERP and your business with the right solutions that are scalable and sustainable.
