Use case: Enterprise resource planning (ERP) to help break down data silos and boost efficiencies

CHALLENGE

Across industries, many companies face the same systematic issue: silos of data and heterogeneous operating processes. The forms and causes vary; a company that experienced rapid growth either through an acquisition or through expansion may find itself operating with a mix of acquired systems and third-party add-on solutions, or a company with limited technology focus may simply be hesitant to transition away from familiar yet dated databases or spreadsheet-based operations. But in any event, the outcomes are the same: inefficient operations and disparate processes.

SOLUTION

Moving processes and data from many silos to a single company-wide enterprise resource planning (ERP) platform can enable companies to leverage industry best practices and develop shared service operations.

Businesses should start these digital transformations with an assessment of their current constraints, so that they can build a robust plan, including processes, that will help remediate those issues across operations. It’s critical that these plans not only select and plan for implementation of modern, industry-specific tools, but also align technology operating principles and core business operations with company goals and objectives, from cost efficiency to scalability and more. 

For companies looking to migrate legacy systems and data to a unified, cloud-based infrastructure, CohnReznick has collaborated with strategic alliance solution provider IFS to complement our ERP consulting services. IFS offers strength in project/job cost management, and can provide holistic and integrated cross-functional capabilities across the project lifecycle. From CRM to Sales, Fabrication and Supply Chain to Dispatch and Installation Control, IFS’s solutions can function as an end-to-end system for businesses by layering comprehensive application architecture with industry-specific functionality to help users address current trends.

The new insights gained through pre-transformation assessments, paired with IFS’s powerful platforms, can position complex enterprises with data spread across several business units or disparate technology solutions to consolidate their company-wide information on a single platform, a single embedded solution across all departments, business units, and locations. With this consolidation, companies can leverage a shared service model to consolidate certain back-office functions, such as procurement and group buying, finance operations, IT, and HR administration, to reduce duplication across the business, and gain access to real-time data. These improvements better position companies to predict customer demand and proactively plan to address customer needs, which can help optimize efficiencies and increase cost savings across the enterprise.  

TARGET BUSINESS BREAKTHROUGHS 

• A single embedded solution across all departments, business units, and locations
• Streamlined operations and access to data in real time
• Ability to proactively address customer needs to optimize efficiencies and increase cost savings 
• Ability to create a shared service model for back office functions