The ERP Effect

Kiara Walker • August 24, 2022

ERP Effect on Small Businesses...

Often, we believe that ERPs (Enterprise Resource Planning) are meant only for large-scale businesses. Enterprise is right there in the name; however, ERPs can also help small businesses.

In this edition of Fisher Findings, we focus on ERPs impact on small business and what that could mean for your organization. So, what is the point of an ERP?  Why is it critical to have this as part of your business?


ERP, or Enterprise Resource Planning refers to software designed to gather and organize daily business data through one system. They help manage a multitude of business aspects from planning (resources and financials), accounting, distribution, and everything in between.

Not So Small Challenges

For a small business, an ERP can be used as a management tool to handle internal inventory practices, and maintain employee productivity. ERPs can help organize core processes of a business into one system. Changes in business strategy grant small businesses access to resources in order to keep up with big enterprises. Without an ERP, small businesses can face many challenges.


What makes a business with no accounting software switch to a full-fledged ERP system? Typically, operations are spread across multiple programs instead of one central location, leading to a disconnect between front and back-end systems. Lack of communication between employees, inconsistency of information shared, and losing time focused on manual entry also contribute to a decline in company productivity without an ERP.

But what's the alternative to an ERP for small businesses? Some companies currently use singular accounting products like QuickBooks to manage sales, conduct payroll, or get ready for tax season. ERP systems allow you to manage all your company’s assets beyond finances.


Organizations might also consider manually revamping existing business processes and mitigating pain points in accounting, finance, and other departments before making the switch to an ERP. If your business is continually slowed down by broken or outdated processes that are causing inefficiencies and keeping your business from progressing, then it’s time to think about investing in an ERP system.


Timing is Everything



Because each business has their own set of processes and difficulties, it can vary on the right time to move toward an ERP. Typically, when you notice that challenges begin to accumulate into an inability to meet, or even streamline processes like eliminate purchasing errors and lowering operational costs.

Have you considered preemptively determining when your business should switch to an ERP before challenges begin to overwhelm daily processes or employee workflow? For example, if you find it hard to meet customer demands, ERPs can help  the manufacturing process by collecting data from accounting, order management, and sharing information amongst other departments.


Businesses that lack an ERP typically suffer from inefficient, outdated and costly operations. If a small business resonates with any of these challenges for a prolonged period of time- it’s time to start planning the next steps.


Here’s a few scenarios to consider when deciding when to get an ERP system:
• Your data isn’t organized and is spread between various systems that don’t talk to one another
• Your data is on excel spreadsheets and not backed up anywhere securely!
• Your business lacks flexibility or scalability to grow
• Struggling to manage inventory
• Limited customer base you can work with
• Spending more time fixing issues than being proactive about future business goals


Is an ERP best for all business types? 

Now that your business has decided that it's the right time to get an ERP, a small business should also assess if the ERP fits into their particular vertical.


Do you ever wonder where ERPs thrive the most? Manufacturing, healthcare, construction, real estate, and a few other sectors have the most traction when it comes to using ERP software in their respective industries. Because ERPs make business operations easier to maintain, modernizing business models and resources also become more manageable. It’s important to note that any organization that needs a management system would benefit from ERP software, including small businesses.


No business is too small for an ERP.


“Are you looking for an ERP integration solution to reduce the time and costs of bespoke development? Or are you looking to reduce employee administration and operational costs to drive company performance and revenue by extending the capabilities of your existing ERP software through application extensions?” - Penny Process

Remember, with an ERP you can add integration functionality even if your are a small businesses.


It's important to take into consideration specific business goals when deciding to move to an ERP. If you think your business is too small for an ERP, you might want to reconsider!


FACT:  About 75% of small businesses actually use ERPs for their business operations! ⑴


The Fisher Difference 

For small businesses, there’s many benefits to switching to an ERP. Fisher Technology can help connect you to partners that specialize in ERP's who can share the benefits, and what it would look like for  your day-to-day business operations. In addition once your ERP is in place (or even during the planning phases) we can work with you to define any automation and integration that will ultimately deliver the best solutions for your challenges.


An ERP integration solution allows you to reduce the time and cost of bespoke development. With BPA (Business Process Automation) Platform you can aim to reduce employee administration and operational costs to drive company performance and revenue. How? Simply extend the capabilities of your existing ERP software through application extensions such as WMS (Warehouse Management Systems), CRM (Customer Relations Management) or ECommerce.


That is where BPA Platform comes in. More than just offering a piece of software, Fisher Technology and our Partners provide unparalleled service, and consulting that not only gets your automation started, but optimizes and enhances your existing processes.


Our next blog in the Fisher Findings series will focus on managing your supply chain, stay tuned for updates!


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⑴ https://www.geniuserp.com/blog/why-small-businesses-need-an-erp-system

Empowering Everyone through BPA Platform's Automation Tools

By Nicole Laurier • June 2, 2025
Automation has become essential for organizations seeking efficiency and competitive advantage. BPA (Business Process Automation) Platform provides powerful tools that streamline operations across departments, empowering employees at all levels to accomplish more with less manual effort. Warehouse Management Transformation Warehouse operations rely on precision, speed, and real-time visibility—BPA Platform delivers all three by seamlessly integrating with your existing warehouse management systems. By automating inventory tracking, order fulfillment, shipping notifications, and stock reconciliation, the platform eliminates tedious manual processes and reduces the risk of errors. Additionally, it can trigger automatic reordering when stock reaches critical thresholds, synchronize picking, packing, and shipping to cut down fulfillment time, and generate actionable performance analytics to identify bottlenecks before they disrupt operations. With BPA Platform, your warehouse team can focus on value-added tasks and exception handling, driving both efficiency and customer satisfaction. Support Ticket Resolution Acceleration BPA Platform empowers customer service teams by automating key aspects of support ticket management. Through intelligent routing based on predefined rules and content analysis, tickets are automatically assigned to the appropriate specialists, reducing response times and ensuring consistent, high-quality support. Issues are prioritized according to customizable business logic, while automated status updates keep customers informed every step of the way. The platform also integrates with knowledge bases to suggest solutions for common problems, enhancing both agent efficiency and customer satisfaction. With comprehensive performance reporting and pattern analysis, BPA Platform not only improves resolution times but also delivers the insights needed to continually refine support operations. CRM Enhancement for Deeper Relationships When integrated with CRM systems, BPA Platform empowers sales and marketing teams to build deeper, more personalized customer relationships. Automated data enrichment pulls insights from multiple touchpoints, creating comprehensive customer profiles and enabling precise segmentation. Timely alerts for follow-ups and renewals ensure sales teams never miss an opportunity, while intelligent lead scoring streamlines qualification efforts. Marketing campaigns benefit from behavior-triggered communication flows and synchronized data across departments, resulting in a unified customer view. The outcome: improved conversion rates, stronger forecasting, and more effective, personalized engagement at every stage of the customer journey. ERP Integration for Operational Excellence BPA Platform transforms fragmented ERP systems into a unified, agile ecosystem by seamlessly connecting data across departments like finance, HR, procurement, and production. By eliminating duplicate data entry and automating key workflows such as financial reconciliation, reporting, and approval routing, the platform reduces errors, improves compliance, and accelerates processes like financial close. With real-time data flowing between modules, leadership gains comprehensive visibility and actionable insights to drive smarter, faster decision-making. Transform Your Business Today with BPA Platform Don't let manual processes hold your business back any longer. Fisher Technology can help bring the full power of BPA Platform to your organization, customized to your unique processes and integration needs.  Contact us today for a personalized consultation and discover how our automation solutions can drive efficiency, reduce costs, and position your business for sustainable growth in an increasingly competitive marketplace.

The Power of iPaaS: Streamlining Business Integration

By Nicole Laurier • March 22, 2025
When your business uses different tools and softwares that don't communicate, critical information can get lost and workflows can break down. This blog explores how Integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS) solves this problem by connecting your essential business applications. We'll cover why iPaaS is the best choice to help businesses overcome common challenges, the key benefits of implementing an integration platform, and a look at BPA Platform's specific iPaaS capabilities. Keep on reading to discover how the right integration strategy can transform scattered data into a powerful, unified business resource. Why iPaaS? Data visibility across an organization is crucial for improving efficiency, seizing new opportunities, and identifying potential threats. In the past, businesses operated within a single system, but today, the vast array of available software has led different departments to adopt applications tailored to their specific needs. While these tools enhance departmental efficiency, they also contribute to data silos, where critical information is stored in separate locations. This fragmentation can disrupt sales and accounting processes, hinder collaboration, create inefficiencies, and increase the risk of data errors. Integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS) provides a cloud-based solution that seamlessly connects, automates, and manages applications, systems, and data across business environments. By replacing traditional middleware with a standardized approach, iPaaS delivers cost-effective integration capabilities. How does iPaaS work? iPaaS is a cloud integration platform that creates a centralized ecosystem for managing data workflows. The platform offers pre-built connectors and automation tools that seamlessly link applications, services, and databases. With iPaaS, businesses gain a unified view of their integration landscape, allowing them to control and modify data flows across their infrastructure. As organisations grow, iPaaS scales effortlessly; new systems and services can be connected without significant cost, and custom functionality can be implemented to meet evolving business needs. The Advantages of iPaaS Reduced costs: Saves costs by automating integrations, reducing manual processes, and improving operational efficiency, which minimizes IT expenses and resource allocation. Reduced resources: Reduce the amount of time and number of personnel concentrating on system integration and data migration. Improved scalability: Easily add new applications and tweak business processes as the business grows. Centralised management: Once central ecosystem to manage data, integrations, processes, and workflows. Improved decision making: With access to real-time data across an organisation, employees and management can make better decisions to help improve efficiencies. ROI: iPaaS can help businesses drive company revenue and go to market quicker. BPA Platform’s iPaaS Solution BPA Platform’s iPaaS tool capabilities include: Drag and drop integration between cloud-based and on-premises systems and applications so that system integration steps are visually represented within a wider automated process. Innovative transformation functions that can be dragged onto the mapping area to change the data between inputs and outputs. RESTful web service integration by removing the need for bespoke development. SOAP web services integration Support OData and SData services Transform Your Business Integration Strategy with iPaaS As businesses continue to navigate the complexities of digital transformation, iPaaS solutions stand out as essential tools for maintaining competitive advantage. By breaking down data silos and creating seamless connections between applications, iPaaS empowers organizations to harness the full potential of their data. The result is not just improved operational efficiency, but also enhanced agility to respond to market changes, better customer experiences through integrated data flows, and ultimately, accelerated business growth.  Ready to eliminate data silos in your business? Contact Fisher Technology today to learn more about how BPA Platform's powerful iPaaS capabilities can transform your integration challenges into competitive advantages. Don't let disconnected data hold your business back!

Data Synchronization with BPA Platform for Enhanced Business Efficiency

By Nicole Laurier • March 6, 2025
Imagine this: your sales team closes a deal, but the customer data doesn't reach your CRM in time. Or worse, your inventory system fails to update immediately after an online purchase, leading to overselling. These scenarios can spell disaster for businesses striving to deliver seamless operations and exceptional customer experiences. This is where data synchronization becomes a game-changer. This blog explores the importance of data synchronization, how BPA platform facilitates it, and the benefits it unlocks for businesses looking to operate more efficiently and grow. If improving your processes and staying competitive are your top goals, this is for you! The Importance of Data Synchronization Businesses today run on data—customer information, inventory details, financial transactions, and more. But having data isn’t enough; it must move across systems to empower decision-making and ensure operations flow smoothly. Without data synchronization, businesses face challenges like: Delayed decision-making due to outdated or incomplete data Inefficient processes , with systems unable to “talk to each other” Customer frustration caused by errors like incorrect stock availability or billing Take this as an example: A retail business might have separate systems for online orders, in-store sales, and warehouse inventory. If these systems don’t sync, customers might order an item online, only to be told it’s out of stock later—a poor customer experience that can negatively impact your business. But how can you achieve this synchronization without overhauling your entire tech stack? That’s where BPA platform comes in. Understanding the Role of BPA Platform BPA platform is a robust solution designed to streamline and automate repetitive tasks, including data synchronization between disparate systems. It serves as the glue that connects your software applications and ensures they exchange information seamlessly. Here’s how a BPA platform enhances data synchronization: Unified Integration : BPA platform connects various software systems—CRMs, inventory tools, ERPs, and more—so they exchange updated information without manual intervention. Event-driven Processes : BPA platform has event-triggered synchronization, meaning data updates whenever an action occurs (e.g., a customer places an order). Scalability : BPA platform can handle synchronization needs no matter how large your data volumes grow, making it ideal for scaling businesses. Benefits of Data Synchronization with BPA Platform Now that you understand the importance of data synchronization using BPA platform, let's explore the significant benefits it can provide. 1. Improved Operational Efficiency Data synchronization saves countless hours of manual work by automating the process of transferring data between systems. This reduces redundancies and allows employees to focus on high-impact tasks rather than administrative ones. With everything moving in sync, the outcomes are faster processes and smoother operations. 2. Better Decision-making Business leaders make critical decisions daily, and outdated or incomplete data can compromise these judgments. Synchronization ensures stakeholders have access to up-to-date data at all times. When everyone operates with the same, accurate data in hand, decision-making becomes faster and more precise. 3. Enhanced Customer Satisfaction Customers today expect flawless experiences across all touchpoints. Real-time synchronization ensures they aren’t disappointed by errors such as stock issues or pricing inconsistencies. A positive customer experience builds trust, loyalty, and brand advocacy. 4. Reduced Errors and Costs Manual data entry and delayed updates come with the risk of errors—mistyped numbers, mismatched records, and conflicting updates, to name a few. These errors can lead to costly setbacks. By automating synchronization with BPA platform, businesses significantly reduce these risks while saving money. A Pathway to Business Efficiency Data synchronization facilitated by tools like BPA platform, is no longer a nice-to-have—it’s a necessity. Businesses that implement this technology experience enhanced operational efficiency, improved decision-making, and happier customers, all while setting the stage for future growth.  If achieving these results is your goal, there’s never been a better time to start optimizing the processes behind your business. Don’t leave your success up to chance—explore how BPA platform can transform your data management processes for good. Contact us today to discover how we can help drive your business forward!