Top 5 best enterprise resource planning (ERP) services

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Success in business comes down to many elements. You need to offer customers good products and service, have an effective business strategy and plan in place, conform to enterprise regulations, and conduct successful marketing campaigns.

The fact is, you need to do so much to push your business forward and stay ahead of the competition at all times. But managing all these important resources and areas is far from easy. Conducting business management and planning through typical means such as pen and paper can be very inefficient.

There just aren’t enough hours in the day, and you can easily become unfocused when running a business. This is where the latest technology enters the mix – there are plenty of solutions aimed at making enterprise resource planning (ERP) easier.

Often, these services will give you an integrated way of planning and controlling core business processes in real-time. Some of the best software will include product and marketing planning, manufacturing and service delivery, sales and finance tracking, along with elements such as inventory coordination. In this article, we’ve picked out five top-notch ERP offerings.

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There are many resource planning solutions out there that are targeted at specific areas and sectors. Welsh tech startup Veeqo is a great example – it has developed a planning and resource management platform for businesses in the retail industry.

Running an online store can be complicated, especially when it comes to managing orders and dispatching items. Veeqo automates this process. Available on both web and mobile, the service lets sellers track orders, inventories and finances. 

It also offers a variety of helpful integrations. For instance, if you’re an online retailer selling items on platforms such as Amazon and eBay, you can combine all data from these sources in Veeqo. That way, you avoid the tedious process of having to manage separate reports for each store.

• You can sign up for Veeqo here

Apprise is another popular ERP platform, designed for importers, distributors and manufacturers to manage consumer goods. Available on Mac, Windows and Linux machines, the platform gives users a real-time, visible way of tracking all aspects of a business in order to make more informed decisions.

It provides companies with on-demand access to business performance data, financials, sales and profitability analysis, all of which aim to help transform business intelligence processes. More specific for manufacturers and retailers, the system can log and track scheduling, labour, costing and sales.

The platform is fully cloud-based, so data is always backed up. Like Veeqo, users can access some aspects of Apprise via a mobile app. The firm has iOS and Android apps that provide easy access to product catalogues and sales data.

• You can sign up for Apprise here

When looking for effective ERP software, there’s quite a bewildering choice, and one danger for smaller firms is that they could end up purchasing something that’s more targeted at big enterprises. If you happen to be in the small to medium-sized business bracket, Abas ERP could be for you.

It offers businesses a handful of services and features that are accessible through a modern web browser. Using the software, you can easily manage orders, requests and shipment information, planning and scheduling, and keep an eye on production processes. There’s also an integrated finance system to help monitor transactions and other fiscal concerns.

The system has a handy editor that allows for the creation of customisable workflows which can be linked to the main ERP solution. There isn’t much information on pricing, sadly, but you can approach the company for a free demo.

• You can sign up for Abas ERP here

If you’re looking for a good, all-round ERP system, you should definitely consider SAP Business One. Highly scalable and powerful, it covers all aspects of a company and provides critical data to help managers make better business decisions. 

The platform can collect data on customers, partners and suppliers. It’s also capable of handling financial areas such as general ledger, account maintenance, budgets and foreign currencies. Plus it can organise product information, inventory levels and shipment data – and help create price quotes.

SAP Business One is also integrated with Microsoft Outlook, meaning you can exchange and share data quickly between the two. Finally, it offers very useful reports on all areas of your business.

• You can sign up for SAP Business One here

Like SAP Business One, ERP Mark 7 also covers a fair few different facets of your business. This highly customisable software provides up-to-date critical information to help companies plan and make more effective decisions at the same time.

The system has capabilities for streamlining supply chains, organising shipping and order information, along with managing assets, maintenance and manufacturing – plus it can be used to implement HR and finance processes. This solution is targeted mainly at businesses with complex processes and growth plans, operating in industries such as health, retail, services, manufacturing and distribution.

• You can sign up for ERP Mark 7 here