Previously, enterprise resource planning was used only of large business companies. It required lots of money to be invested. Small scale and medium sized companies were not ready to invest a large amount for buying software and employing staffs for managing ERP software.

Keeping this in mind, ERP vendors started diversifying their enterprise resource planning software by releasing many versions of the software which could assist small companies too.

Also, small sized companies might not require all the tools and customizations available for the big companies. The ERP software got tailored particularly to meet the small sized companies and for increasing the productivity. After this, small sized business people also started buying ERP software which matched their investment amount.

From the early 1990’s ERP helped the companies in driving down their cost and also helped them in operating more efficiently. Effective data management also helped streamlining the business process effectively. Planning, manufacturing, marketing, sales and quoting services kept on improving. Stock control, financial tracking and customer service also got better with ERP. Many time consuming and labor related processes were eliminated by the small business with the usage of enterprise resource planning software.

The flexibility which ERP offers is definitely a very big advantage which interests the small business. Flexibility and the real time control over the price and the jobs are the key features for a small sized company. Concise reporting is also a main factor which decides the quality of the company.

Based on these needs, ERP vendors have made installation of the related software as very less complex with much less manual job needed. The user friendliness of the applications also got improved. Adding more users or customers will no way affect the functionality of ERP.

Many small businesses are already enjoying the benefits after successful ERP implementation. The profit of the company has certainly increased after the usage of ERP provided the implementation procedures are followed perfectly. Business which implemented ERP successfully saw their business profit increasing within one year itself.

A good ERP system comes with essential features that will provide the functionality of comparing the hours of working of the professionals and the actual hours of work which was paid as a salary. In fact, many small businesses just doubled their return on income with just using this service effectively. With this ERP, they were able to monitor the time of production, cost, employee activity, overall performance of the company and many more crucial information.

Before setting up ERP systems, small business must first identify the business requirements. The impact which the ERP is going to have on the business should be well analyzed. Cost factor involved in implementation should be set aside initially. Once the requirements are well planned, then comparison can be made on different vendors available and the vendor which provides cost effective service and be opted.

The science of business performance management heavily relies on the ability to create a series of critical tests to assess whether the program is successful or not. These do not necessarily have to be on a strategic level. They can also be set on an individual or local basis.

The first stage is to set up a business data analysis program with the specific goals of trying to change the performance levels of the organization from the less desirable to the more desirable characteristics.

The desirable characteristics are crucial because they will contain a basis for ambition as well as a realistic target based on the knowledge of the industry as a whole. Once these goals are measurable, they then become key performance indicators (KPIs) that will form the basis of any assessment of the project either on a one off basis or on a continuous basis.

Key performance indicators are always supported by data and therefore it has to be a management priority to ensure that there are facilities for presenting accurate data in a timely fashion. Obviously performance management will mean different things to different people and there might be the scope for allocating different data sets or schedules depending on need. Sometimes there is an obsession with financial performance indicators whereas it is possible to measure the non-financial data which gives you an accurate picture of the organization.

There are a large variety of business performance metrics and indicators, and they cannot be exhaustively described within the constraints of this article. However I will briefly touch on some of the major ones; the most important metrics will measure customer satisfaction and their relationship with the company. This is the basis for any profitability and therefore they ought to be prioritized.

The accountant will naturally pay close attention to the financial metrics such as cash flows, debt, capital investments and the speedy conclusion of commitments. Without finance the company will fail so managers must never ignore the implications of finance in any business performance management activity that they undertake. However this should not be to the total exclusion of other criteria.

There are also non-traditional metrics that are slowly creeping into business practice. For example twenty years ago the environmental impact of business activities was largely ignored as a fad for the dopey rich kids or the political correct tree huggers. The pursuit of the bottom line was king and such concerns were not even subordinate. They were simply excluded altogether. However as the awareness of ecological issues has grown, it has been necessary to insist that this is included as part of the core metrics.

As always the key is to understand what is need to get your business to the place you want it to be. The metrics and key performance indicators are the tools for you to assess whether you have been successful in your business performance management program.

ERP has a variety of applications and processes which are available throughout their all business units. Implementing an ERP system is too complex and it can be done only by experts who have in-house skill in this software. This is also the most cost efficient way. There are many consultants and technical advisers available who can assist and implement the software provided requirements are clearly stated.

There are basically three types of services associated with ERP. They are consulting, support and customization. The amount of time required to implement ERP varies for different companies. The factors which depend on the time of implementation are the size of the business, number of modules the business includes, customization required for ERP as demanded by the company, the possibility of the implementation of the demand posed by the company.

ERP systems are distributed applications. They can’t be implemented all at once. There are a number of phases and steps involved in implementing an ERP system. A typical ERP implementation system requires one year and it involves around 150 consultants. This is for big and medium sized companies. But, for small scale companies which have less than 100 employees, the amount of time required for implementation is less. For these companies, planning and implementation doesn’t require more than 3-4 months. With the increase in demand for customization of the software, the time to implement will also increase.

For a successful implementation of ERP, companies should hire third party consultants for a short time till their implementation is over. The companies which implements ERP should also employ some staffs who are dedicated to manage the ERP systems.

Some of the management services required are business analysis, program management and change management. Employing these staffs is also a prerequisite for implementation of ERP. A significant amount of time is required to plan for data migration. This is also the most important point in implementation.

Process preparation:
Most of the ERP vendors have a standard process for their clients. The companies are generally forced to implement the ERP software according to the standards. During this process, vendors make a clear understanding of the business operations of the company and gathers as much as information required from the company.

Configuration:
Before starting the installation of the software, a check is made on the systems to verify whether they could meet the requirements for the software and service to run without any problem. If the systems don’t meet the requirement, the company should upgrade their system configuration. Once the configurations are verified, installation procedure is started.

Services:
After the installation is done, vendors trains the staffs who are going to use the ERP. Trainings are given on using the ERP applications.