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Connecting ERP Software with Business Intelligence For Enterprise Success

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With the evolution of business intelligence software and rapid changes occurring in the ERP software marketplace, the two singular systems have begun to form a natural symbiotic connection, attacking the common problems of enterprises in tandem with data gathering and smart analytics tools. The pairing of ERP software with business intelligence solutions can bring end-users the information they truly need and present it in an intuitive, understandable and actionable format.

One of the most difficult challenges facing modern product manufacturers is the massive amount of data their smart objects and systems can now produce on a second-by-second basis. The amount of shop-floor information available  is simply too large for a person (or even a team of people) to process into anything actionable. And what’s the point of investing in connectivity and data tracking if nothing actionable arises from it?.

Your ERP software is built to be able to help you run your business. If configured properly and thoroughly integrated into the organization, it should support every part of your business and make the processes that your employees perform easier, faster, and more efficient. However, how do you know if it actually is making your team’s lives easier, and if it’s not, how would you know? Therein lies the problem. Without hard data (aside from verbal feedback), it’s impossible to take action or understand what is really working inside the mechanisms of your business. By connecting your ERP software with Business Intelligence analytics, you can strengthen the power of both entities.

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Two Innovative Systems Help Each Other

An organization that connects ERP software with business intelligence solutions will be equipped with the ability to begin evaluating all of this data and turning it into simple, readable, and direct able reports that you can then build successful action on. This means executives can use it to make real decisions that lead to real changes. Business Intelligence can efficiently digest data on processes, operations, shipping, logistics, and more—making simple what was previously too large and complex to really get your teeth into.

BI tools have reached a new level of ease-of-use and functionality which can elevate executive decisions from the numbers and data captured by your ERP software to bring them to a strategic level. Microsoft’s new Power BI actually allows users to search and draw reports based on common word searches (like a Google search), and will populate reports based on the query. This is a far cry from previous systems that existed just a decade ago, and worlds apart from tasking employees with combing through spreadsheets to find the valuable nuggets of data.

How To Get Started

If you currently have BI tools already embedded within your ERP solution, ensure that those in need of sorting through the clutter are enabled and functional—you could have a wealth of untapped intelligence lying dormant in your software. Some older BI tools are very cumbersome and difficult for non-technical users to really get a grasp on. If your current solution is does not have business intelligence tools readily integrated, consider some of the modern tools available like Power BI or Tableau that can be easily integrated into your ERP instance with a platform like Datix Connect.

The main way to leverage your BI solution should be means to extract enhanced value from data within ERP. Turn all that data you’re getting from your IoT-enabled devices into something meaningful. All of that information run-times, productivity and quality levels isn’t going to help you improve your business unless you use a business intelligence tool to distill it into real action. Let BI tell you about your current ERP processes, your operations practices, or your business model. Then get your team together to strategize on that information for your next move.

Just as the internet along with social media has added a new form of transparency and access to data to the world we live in, so will ERP software with business intelligence provide a new level of transparency and access to mission-critical data for the product manufacturers of the world. If you’re not already taking advantage of the harmony between these two software tools, it’s a critical step to keeping competitive in the fast paced world of the modern enterprise.

For more information about how to integrate these two products, or questions about either ERP or Business Intelligence software contact our consulting experts today.