In the fast-paced world of business, technology is often seen as a one-time solution: Select a new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, implement it, and then move on. But what if your business goals change? What if new challenges or opportunities emerge? Your ERP system—once a perfect fit—can quickly become a bottleneck if it isn’t evolving with you.

Aligning your ERP with your business goals isn’t a one-time setup; it’s an ongoing, active process. A well-aligned ERP acts as a central nervous system for your organization, enabling efficiency, providing critical insights, and supporting strategic growth. Conversely, a misaligned system can lead to inefficient processes, inaccurate data, and missed opportunities.

So, how do you know if your ERP is still working for you? And what steps can you take to ensure it remains a strategic asset?

How to Determine If Your ERP Is in Alignment

The first step is a frank assessment of your current situation. Ask yourself and your team these critical questions:

• Are your processes efficient? Do employees have to use manual workarounds or external spreadsheets to complete tasks that should be automated by the ERP?
• Is the data reliable and accessible? Can you easily generate reports and dashboards that provide accurate, real-time insights into key performance indicators (KPIs)? Or are you spending hours manually consolidating data?
• Is it supporting new goals? When you pivot to a new market or launch a new product, does your ERP seamlessly support the necessary workflows, or does it require complex, costly customizations?
• Are users happy? Are your employees frustrated with the system? High rates of user frustration or low adoption are clear signs of misalignment.

If the answer to any of these questions is a resounding “no,” it’s time to take action.

A Step-by-Step Guide to Realigning Your ERP

Realigning your ERP with your business objectives requires a structured approach. It’s not about scrapping the system; it’s about optimizing what you have or, if necessary, planning for a more strategic change.

Step 1: Re-evaluate Your Business Goals
Before you can align your technology, you must be crystal clear on your business objectives. What are your strategic priorities for the next one to two years? Are you focused on cutting costs, improving customer service, expanding into new regions, or launching new products? Document these goals clearly and communicate them to all stakeholders.

Step 2: Conduct a Comprehensive ERP Assessment
With your goals defined, it’s time to audit your ERP’s current state. This involves:

• Process mapping: Document your current workflows within the ERP. Where are the friction points? Where are manual steps still required?
• KPI review: Identify the KPIs that are critical to achieving your new goals. Can your ERP easily track and report on these metrics?
• User feedback: Talk to the people who use the system every day. Their insights are invaluable for identifying practical inefficiencies and frustrations.

Step 3: Identify the Gaps
Compare your findings from the ERP assessment with your re-evaluated business goals. Where are the misalignments? For example, if your goal is to improve customer service but your sales and support teams can’t easily access a unified customer history in the ERP, that’s a significant gap. Document these gaps and prioritize them based on their impact on your strategic goals.

Step 4: Develop an Action Plan
For each identified gap, determine a solution. This could be:

• Configuration changes: Adjusting settings or workflows within the existing system.
• Upgrades or new modules: Implementing new features or modules from your ERP vendor that you haven’t used before.
• Third-party integrations: Connecting your ERP to other essential software (like a CRM or a marketing automation platform) to create a more unified data ecosystem.
• Retraining: Offering additional training to employees to ensure they are using the system to its full potential.

Step 5: Implement and Review
Once you have your action plan, it’s time to implement the changes. Remember that this isn’t a one-time project. To ensure your ERP remains a strategic asset, conduct a comprehensive review every quarter, or at least every half. These regular check-ins allow you to catch misalignments early, address new challenges, and ensure your technology continues to support your evolving business.

By making ERP alignment a continuous process, you’re not just maintaining a piece of software; you’re ensuring that your most critical business systems are always working in perfect concert with your strategic vision. This approach turns your ERP from a static tool into a dynamic engine for growth and long-term success.

Improve Efficiency with ExtendInsights

There are additional tools you can use to support your ERP alignment. Consider integration apps like ExtendInsights that turn the traditional NetSuite ERP workflow on its head by allowing users to work where they prefer: Microsoft Excel. 

Low user adoption is a major barrier to ERP alignment. If your system is perceived as clunky or difficult, your team will create their own workarounds, creating unintentional data silos and even inaccuracies. With ExtendInsights, users can work in the familiar Excel environment, reducing the learning curve and making it easier to manage NetSuite data—both in reporting and uploading. 

Let ExtendInsights build the bridge to connect your NetSuite data management capabilities with the user-friendliness and analytical power of Excel to overcome your most common ERP challenges and ensure your system remains aligned with your business objectives. Give it a try now with no obligation.