Since so many large enterprises greatly benefit from SAP software, it is often assumed to be only available to larger enterprise operations. However, small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) account for 80% of all SAP users. Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems are popular for managing daily business tasks such as accounting, project management, risk management, compliance, and supply chain operations.
Can small and medium-sized operations really benefit from the same SAP resources?
The global pandemic provided small and medium enterprises a digital push into the new era of automation and the cloud, both enhanced through SAP. While large companies use SAP to connect all departments, smaller companies will see the most significant benefit from SAP in five critical ways:
- Increased accuracy
- Financial visibility and compliance
- Streamlined customer service
- Automation of daily processes
- Data-driven decision-making
The ever-growing need for data storage and simplified integrations has intensified as vendors and suppliers make the switch to forward-thinking business processes. SAP provides a single platform that allows your business apps to sync in real-time and handle tedious business processes to free up employees so that they can focus on other profitable business endeavors like product enhancement, market research, customer relationships, and more.
Digital Transformation Evens the Playing Field for SMBs
Even as technology rapidly evolves, many SMBs still rely on manual processes and spreadsheets in addition to software solutions. This disconnected approach takes up a considerable amount of time that could be better spent during the workday. And, as a small company grows, its processes naturally become more complicated.
To keep information secure, actionable, and organized, they turn to SAP solutions.
Not only are more smaller businesses harnessing digitization to increase revenue, but they can also have operational requirements that are just as complex as some larger businesses. ERP systems help make sense of all the chaos with analytics, management, and other programs in an all-in-one SAP solution.
The migration of many business operations to the cloud has made communication and integration more manageable than before. SAP solutions can transform SMB’s asset intelligence by connecting them to a network of 5.5 million organizations and solving everyday issues like assessing risk, balancing cost, and performance monitoring.
The Five Key Benefits of SAP for SMBs
It’s hard to deny that digital operations are the future of business. If smaller companies want to keep up, they will have to adapt quickly to an evolving business environment. There are a couple of SAP options to choose from that are created to build SMBs specifically.
BusinessByDesign is an SAP solution with human resources, financial planning, management, and CRM software features. This is great for businesses from small to medium that have migrated to the cloud or would like to.
Another option for SMBs is SAP Business One, a smaller scale ERP system operated in the cloud or on-premises. It includes some of the same features as BusinessByDesign and can integrate with other enhancements as well.
Here are five ways that SMBs can benefit from implementing SAP:
1. Increased Accuracy
Multiple data sources that provide increasing volumes of data that vary in complexity can be a challenge for any business. SAP solutions allow organizations to gain valuable and actionable insights across all sources of information and in all areas of business. In fact, you will most likely improve the accuracy of sales forecasts by up to 50% when you implement SAP solutions. The advanced machine learning and artificial intelligence of SAP systems can turn the noise into profitable activities.
2. Financial Visibility and Compliance
Financial organization is crucial to understanding where your company is succeeding and where improvements can be made. When this information is located in multiple spreadsheets and other locations, it can be nearly impossible to get an accurate perspective of your financial situation. Finances touch every aspect of business, so an ERP system that can integrate your finances with your other business processes such as inventory, purchasing, and sales will be invaluable. Keeping up with vendors and staying within compliance is much easier when you have more control over SAP.
3. Streamlined Customer Experience
When you think of SAP and ERPs, you may not consider the customer experience since it primarily deals with behind-the-scenes business operations. However, integrating customer relationship management (CRM) software with insights that you’ve collected across departments can help you drastically improve customer engagement. You can track sales from beginning to end and then use SAPs insights to help you create personalized campaigns and keep track of the things that really matter to your customers.
4. Automation of Daily Processes
No matter how large or small a business is, achieving best practices and customizing automated workflows specific to your online business is one of many perks of growing with SAP. If you aren’t sure exactly what you need, SAP has standardized business processes that are optimized and ready to implement on many different platforms and with several integrations. Automate tasks in areas such as finance, accounting, receiving, customer service, supply chain management, compliance, order processing, and human resources. This helps create time for other operations that could lead to more growth opportunities.
5. Data-Driven Decision-Making
Making decisions as a small business owner can be difficult without the correct information. Avoid making expensive mistakes by doing a little research beforehand. Customizable reports that are available with SAP solutions can help gain insights in all business areas, including real-time changes and long-term trends. Not only will you have accurate, up-to-the-minute information to learn from, but SAP can also perform functions like forecasting, generating recommendations, determining influencers, and data profiling.
Final Thoughts
There are many ways that small and medium-sized organizations can benefit from SAP solutions, just like larger enterprises. As big data takes over, smaller companies are taking advantage of implementations that can help them make sense of the information, glean actionable insights, and achieve real results. SAP solutions provide a simple way for businesses to address common issues in communication, problem-solving, and organization that can allow them to compete at a higher level.
Not only that, but as wholesalers, suppliers, and vendors also make a move to the cloud and integrated ERP systems, SAP is becoming a practical approach to staying competitive and seeing consistent growth. Accuracy, visibility, accessibility, automation, and data-driven insights are only a few of the reasons why SMBs should implement SAP. The main reason smaller organizations should implement SAP is that it creates an environment that leaves room for innovation. To learn more about SAP, visit our SAP insights page, where you can access our SAP whitepapers, webinars, data sheets, and much more.