CFOs and CIOs of most organizations begin their ERP implementations with the expectations that their businesses will be transformed along the way. Using the power and flexibility of ERP systems such as SAP, Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics and Tier II ERP software, executives expect material cost improvements to their supply chains, more effective interactions with their customers, and better visibility to operational information. The majority of organizations fail to realize even half of their expected business benefits.

Based on this gap between expectations and delivered reality, it is clear that something gets lost in translation from the time the executive team signs off on the investment until the organization flips the switch on its new ERP software. Unfortunately, the things that seemed feasible at the outset of most enterprise software initiatives seem unattainable as those same initiatives progress.

So what’s going on? “Very rarely are there instances when the ERP system itself — the actual software — that fails,” says Jim Shepherd, senior vice president of research at Boston-based AMR Research. ERP implementations falter and fail, many people think the answer is more training. They’re wrong.

So, how do we go about improving ERP implementations using technology as the weapon and get a positive return on investment?

What if I say there is an answer to the above two important questions. I would not call it an answer, it is actually a solution. ANAKAGE!  Anakage provides ‘In-Application’ Navigation Assist at field and menu level, with user action validations and automations like data movements across multiple users; screens thus giving a jump start to productivity and reducing training and user support costs.

 Here are three common pitfalls that most organizations have trouble navigating and how Anakage comes into picture:

• TOO MANY PROCESS STEPS

 The key problem is that, a typical process in ERP like SAP will have many steps. Say 40 steps, or even 10+ steps which an employee finds difficult to remember and execute in the first few weeks of his on-boarding on SAP. This leads to errors which lowers business productivity.

By using Anakage solution, usage of ERPs become simple and easy with step by step guidance at every field and menu level.

• CHANGE MANAGEMENT AND SUPPORT ISSUES

As a business you evolve so does your processes and there will always be lag owing system change management cycles. Any new business rules or validations that get deployed in periodic releases can now be implemented with Anakage solutions at a fraction of the lag time and with no IT costs at all.

Let’s take this example:

As a business you have a new scenario where for PO creation, there has to be an approval process for certain Materials. Now instead of undergoing through an IT change, Anakage solution can be rapidly built to track if the SAP user is raising PO on a restricted Material and provide an Alert saying the PO will be rejected at a later stage causing delay and losses.

Anakage provides user action validation at field level thus making the usage simple and accurate.

• REDUCED TRANING AND ONBOARDING COST

Maintaining ERP system is an expensive proposition. Many large companies hire on-site engineers from the hardware vendor to ensure that downtime is minimized.  Double digit attritions have become a common norm in the low and mid level managements calling for constant employee on boarding causing an overhead over the ERP. The situation is a vicious cycle. Due to this many companies have missed their quarter end (earnings) targets.

 Anakage’s light weight desktop agent resides with the client to provide custom training and evaluation modules.  Anakage builds the transactions assists rapidly for the client giving them a jump in productivity.  Anakage can host its training modules on user desktops, virtual lab (Virtual Desktop) or at servers to train on your licensed desktop or cloud products.

Thus, it leads to 80% cost reduction in training programs on ERP systems and a drastic reduction in human errors.

• AUTOMATION:

Anakage solution automates the entire workflow spanning across multiple applications on user screen using screen reading technology. Even if users need to visit multiple applications to complete their workflow by moving around data manually, Anakage solution automates the manual tasks doing what a unified desktop solution does but at a much optimal cost point.

The organisation had originally expected the move to “provide greater flexibility and functionality” for their “growing and evolving business model” as well as becoming “less expensive to maintain ERPs over the long-term.”

So, what went wrong once seems to perfect now! Thanks to ANAKAGE!