Strengthen your business with ERP/CRM integration!
Many companies today use both an ERP system and a CRM system to manage their core processes and customer relationships. Some comprehensive ERP solutions also offer integrated CRM functionality, but this is not always the case. Providing a stable, standardized foundation for data sharing between these systems is key to effectively managing your most important business and sales processes.
For many companies, the ERP and CRM systems are the most important components of their application infrastructure. In order to obtain "best-of-breed", these systems are often purchased separately and from different suppliers. Sooner or later, people in the organization begin to see the limitations and flexibility problems that arise when the ERP and CRM system cannot communicate and share data.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
A CRM system is a system that manages the company's relationships and interactions with current and potential customers. The system stores and processes data from various communication channels (for example, the company's website, telephone, e-mail, live chat, marketing materials and social media).
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
An ERP system is a type of comprehensive business management software that a company or organization uses to collect, store and manage business data, such as: accounting information, inventory, production capacity, orders and invoices, shipping data, financial data, supply chain management details, finance, HR, distribution, etc.
The benefits of ERP/CRM integration
Given the large amounts of data stored and generated in your ERP and CRM systems, integration can have many benefits. Here are some examples:
- Since your ERP and CRM systems store data in different databases, you have to put a lot of work into keeping them in sync. With an integration solution, you can minimize "data redundancy", avoid data silos and manual duplication of information.
- Sales and marketing staff can get a more complete picture of an existing customer and more easily see opportunities for upselling based on the customer's need for product upgrades, service, etc.
A CRM and ERP integration solution gives employees access to important information in real time and they can work more efficiently. With a little extra work, you can create dashboards and interfaces that are tailored to specific user groups, reducing the need for people to master both systems.
ERP/CRM integration done right
To get the most out of your ERP/CRM integration solution, consider the following:
- Before you begin, gather the key people and compile a detailed list of business needs. Review the list regularly during the project to make sure you are "on track" and meeting your goals.
- Avoid "point-to-point" integration that is expensive and difficult to maintain in the long term. With an abundance of APIs, it's easier than ever to create a "digital spaghetti," resulting in poor data quality, incorrect matches, and strong personal dependencies.
- Use a standardized integration platform and ensure that new connections can be set up quickly and easily. Choose a supplier that can provide connectors / accelerators to the systems you work with and has experience working on integration projects in your industry.
- Consider running your integration solution in the cloud - cloud services are cheaper, more flexible and offer pricing that can lead to lower total cost of ownership.
Take the chance to create a more dynamic IT infrastructure
With our integration platform, you will get a more dynamic IT infrastructure, where it will be easier to add and remove applications, and you will have better control over your business processes and your data.