COVID-19 has pushed many retailers to consider putting up their own online webstore. Not only can weather more storms (such as a worldwide pandemic) than a brick and mortar store, but it also gives you the flexibility you need to grow your retail business, provided that it is integrated with your back office systems.

Maybe you’ve read my last blog, 5 Symptoms of a Siloed Ecommerce & Back End System, and concluded – “yes, this is me. I have siloed systems”. The next question is always going to be “So what should I do about it?”

It’s tough running a growing business. 

I’ve been there.  You start out with a dream, then a vision.  You see an opportunity to make your mark in the world by helping people achieve ‘X’ in their lives.  You did the work to develop your product or service, and you know it is world class.  You analyzed the market potential and the sky is the limit.  So you look at all your investments, the 401(k) and get a 2^nd mortgage on the house for a working capital line of credit. 

 In November 2016, Microsoft announced Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations.

In April 2018, they announced Dynamics 365 Business Central.

So what does that mean for you? What’s next?

You’re currently running a legacy version of Microsoft Dynamics, and Microsoft is still supporting it – for now.

Moving to a new ERP system is a big investment of time, money and resources. There’s no question about that. It’s only natural that decision makers want to take some time to ensure that they are getting the right solution for their business so that they can get the most ROI out of their investment. 

As a wholesaler of cell phone units, parts, or accessories, you’ve got a lot of different kinds of inventory in multiple locations to keep track of.

You’re thrown into the world of business management software and data management systems and you are hit with acronyms upon acronyms. So what do they all mean? Here is a small cheat sheet to help you get through some of the highly referenced acronyms.

One of the most contentious issues in the world of ERP and IT is how much attention to give to current state and future state ERP business processes.  Opinions on the issue run the whole spectrum on how this should be addressed; some people feel that companies should let their ERP systems dictate what new processes will be, while others feel that current state and future state processes should be documented and analyzed in detail. Many people, including myself, feel that the approach should fall somewhere in between.