Are You Paying These Costs for Using Your Legacy ERP: 7 Major Growth Hackers

World is changing at a rapid pace, and using obsolete or traditional legacy software is limiting your growth. They lack modern functionality and may be difficult to maintain, update or integrate with other software, as they might not support the latest technological advancements or standards. Furthermore, legacy software may also pose security risks if it is not updated regularly with the latest security updates and features.

While Legacy ERP Software may have been effective and efficient when it was first implemented, it runs the risk of becoming a burden on a business or company if it is not replaced or updated just in time. Using contemporary ERP software can help businesses enhance their operational efficiency.

7 Major Growth Hackers

Let us explore the 7 major growth hackers associated with legacy ERP Software in detail:

Unable to Supplement Contemporary Workflows

Legacy ERP softwares were designed for an era gone by, with traditional business practices and technology which is outdated as per current times. Consequently, they may not be optimised for modern workflows, which can lead to inefficiencies and delays in business processes.

Example: Legacy ERP systems, often, will not provide users with mobile access, collaboration, or automation, all of which are essential for people to manage a business smoothly in today's day and age.

How can Microsoft Dynamics 365 Help?

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Solutions have been designed keeping in mind the needs and requirements of a contemporary business house. It is loaded with features, tools, and add-ons that would help a business house streamline its processes.

Example: Microsoft Dynamics 365 solutions offers workflow automation, task management, and automation of approvals, etc. All of it can help put recurrent and redundant tasks at bay. This software also supports collaboration, integration, and mobile access with several other business applications, such as Microsoft Teams and SharePoint, making it easy for employees to work from any place of their choice.

Dearth of Real-Time Visibility

Legacy ERP systems may not be able to provide the user with real-time visibility into the company's or businesses' operations. This makes it difficult for the senior management (decision makers) to monitor and gain a clear picture of the business' operations to take the right decisions on time.

Example: Most legacy systems support batch processing, which means the data is updated only periodically, and not in real-time. This can lead to a delay in decision-making, along with missed business opportunities.

How can Microsoft Dynamics 365 Help?

Microsoft Dynamics 365 product suite solutions offers real-time analysis and reporting tools that provide the user with visibility into all aspects of the business, such as finance, sales, customer interaction and engagement etc. This would help the senior management within a company make informed decisions without having to wait for all the pieces of data to be updated. Microsoft Dynamics 365 also allows for easy and hassle-free collaboration and data sharing. This makes it easier for employees to work simultaneously.

Inability to Work in Tandem with Business Needs

A legacy ERP system may not be able to scale in tandem with a business' requirements. Such a situation might end up limiting a business's ability to embrace newer opportunities.

Example: A legacy ERP system would not be able to handle enormous amounts of data, or it may not also be able to support multiple users simultaneously. Such a situation might lead to system crashes and increased downtime.

How can Microsoft Dynamics 365 Help?

Fortunately, Microsoft Dynamics 365 solutions can upscale themselves to meet a business' growing needs and requirements. It comes with the flexibility to add new users, functionalities, and features as and when needed. This helps businesses stay competitive, agile, and relevant in a rapidly changing business environment. Additionally, it is a cloud-powered solution, which means it can be scaled up quite effortlessly, depending on the needs and requirements of the business. Also, there is no additional infrastructure required to setup and Implement Microsoft Dynamics 365. Well, that is a good enough reason for you to embrace Dynamics 365 right away.

Accessing Data Becomes Difficult

It is highly likely for a legacy ERP software to store large chunks of data in disparate systems. This siloed approach is bound to make it difficult for a business house to access and analyse data across different business verticals (or within the same business as well).

How can Microsoft Dynamics 365 Help?

Microsoft Dynamics 365 solutions offer users a single and unified platform that tends to bring together and integrate all your business data. This functionality helps you get a complete (comprehensive) view of your entire business in one place. Such practices help businesses make informed (and data-driven) decisions. Additionally, as stated earlier, Microsoft Dynamics 365 solutions allow multiple resources (across departments and disciplines) to work together on the same set of documents and reports simultaneously.

Maintenance Costs are High

A legacy ERP software might require million-dollar (expensive) upgrades to stay updated and relevant.

Example: A legacy system might need a specialised hardware or software that might no longer be available in the market anymore because it is not supported. Therefore, getting your legacy software updated might turn out to be an expensive exercise.

How can Microsoft Dynamics 365 Help?

Microsoft Dynamics 365 comprises Cloud-powered enterprise solutions that eliminate the need for on-premises infrastructure and reduce maintenance costs. Moreover, Microsoft provides regular updates and new (and interactive) features to the system, ensuring that your business always has the latest technology at its disposal to work with. This means that businesses can stay up to date with the latest technology without having to make king-sized investments in either hardware or software.

Vulnerable to Security Attacks

Legacy software is prone to Security Attacks as it was not designed to meet the latest security standards. Over time, security vulnerabilities in the software would come to light. However, if the software is no longer being actively developed, there will not be an update to fix the issue (or problem). This would leave the system open to attacks, a situation that can compromise sensitive data, disrupt business operations, and can even lead to monetary losses.

How can Microsoft Dynamics 365 Help?

Microsoft Dynamics 365 suite comprises cloud-powered business management solutions that offer a host of security features to the user. All the features available for access with Microsoft Dynamics 365 are designed to meet contemporary security standards. Also, Microsoft Dynamics 365 uses role-oriented security to ensure that a user only has access to the data and functionality that is required for them to do their job. Additionally, Microsoft Dynamics 365 is updated regularly with security patches and new security features to counter potential security threats.

Loss of Institutional Knowledge is a Common Problem

The loss of institutional knowledge is a pretty common problem whenever an organisation is dependent upon a legacy software. As employees leave the company by moving on to newer roles, the knowledge they possess about the system and how it can be customised over time may be lost, leading to difficulties in maintaining and updating the system.

How can Microsoft Dynamics 365 Help?

Microsoft Dynamics 365 can be immensely helpful in minimising this problem by providing a centralised platform for managing and organising Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) processes. Microsoft Dynamics can help consolidate information and streamline processes, reducing the need for employees to maintain institutional knowledge about multiple disparate systems.

Moreover, Microsoft Dynamics 365 can provide the user with extensive documentation and resources, such as training materials, tutorials, and user guides. This helps while roping in new employees and talent quickly. It would also make it possible for the organisation to provide these new employees with the knowledge they require to work effectively with the software.

Conclusion

To draw the curtains, legacy ERP software may have been efficient and effective in the past, but its limited capabilities and excessive costs of updates have made it nothing more than a burden today. The 7 major growth hackers associated with legacy ERP software explained above can add to missed opportunities and monetary losses. It can also lead to security attacks and loss of organisational data.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 is a modern ERP software that can help businesses enhance their operational efficiency by providing a unified platform that integrates all business’s data, real time analysis and reporting tools, flexibility to add new features and users, collaboration and automation, making it just about ideal for businesses and companies that wish to stay competitive, relevant and organised in the era of cut-throat competition.

Why Wait, Move to Microsoft Dynamics 365 now to grow with the changing times and stay future-ready to unleash your growth potential and stay competitive, relevant, and organised to stay ahead of the cut-throat competition to grow more.