It’s a tough time for all sorts of businesses, but depending on your specific expertise, the stay-at-home orders may have had a profound impact on your firm.
Maybe they left you scrambling to make up lost revenue from canceled trade shows and conferences, maybe you capitalized on the increased need for virtual meeting capabilities, or maybe you are holding steady thanks to prior adoption of recurring service revenue. Any way you look at it, the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus has impacted you one way or another.
Understandably, money may be tight and it may feel like the worst possible time to make an investment in software, but there are good reasons to consider implementing an ERP upgrade at your AV firm right now.
It Probably Costs Less Than You’d Think
When companies think of an ERP upgrade—especially if they haven’t looked at their options in the past decade or so—the number one concern is the implementation cost. All of that infrastructure, all of those capital costs, all of the time spent working with clunky configurations and migration—and let’s not forget about those perpetual licenses.
Lower Upfront Cost—Free Yourself from the Legacy Mindset
It’s true, all of those costs are part of the equation—for legacy software.
Building the infrastructure is costly. Installing the software on computers is costly. The time spent trying to set up a product that fights change at every turn? Very costly. And let’s not forget about those perpetual licenses. Definitely an upfront cost that’s hard to justify at this time.
But what if you could replace or minimize those costs? What if you didn’t have to pay for new servers or take the time to hand-install software on a computer? What if you could cut thousands of dollars off the configuration process by selecting a solution that actually was built to evolve? What if you didn’t need to pay upfront for licenses?
How the Cloud Delivers Lower Costs
The cloud has changed the way that businesses access technology. Introducing a complete change to the way a user can interact with the software, cloud deployment has laid the groundwork for more agility, increasingly informed decision making, and better collaboration.
With the rise of the cloud, pricing changed. No longer was a perpetual license the only option—businesses could make the decision to pay monthly or annually. The vendor was responsible for maintenance, upgrades, and data protection while the customer paid a simple, transparent monthly fee. This model was acceptable and provided businesses with more flexibility and lower capital costs.
While upfront fees still exist, they are much lower than a traditional model, helping you to realize faster payback and higher return on investment. Want to compare the status quo to the cost to change? The results may surprise you.
You Have More Time—Time to Train
As we discussed in our AV series, firms often have little time to train their employees. Well? If the COVID-19 outbreak meant one thing, it was this: You have more time on your hands.
Naturally, companies are using this time to train your employees on new processes, practices and procedures. That said, as one of those hands-on industries, you may not have the same freedom to do this.
So why not take the time to get your employees up and running with a solution that will give them more time when they do get back to work?
The decision to implement modern ERP and field management software is one that reduces paperwork, manual processes, and inaccuracies—so even if you don’t have the time to train your staff on the hands-on processes required for many AV functions right now, they will have more time to do so when they’re not counting inventory, trying to fix an invoice, or on the phone with dispatch trying to make sense of an assignment.
Better yet, modern ERP goes further. Delivering a friendly User Interface (UI) and User Experience (UX), these products are easy to learn and easier to use. Pair this with a well-built e-learning platform and your users don’t have to spend dozens of hours in classrooms.
Socially Distanced Implementation
Protecting your workers should be a top priority for your company, and if it comes down to shutting down your offices for weeks or even months, understand that it is possible to do so in the modern business environment without losing sight of your business.
Remember how we mentioned that the modern cloud ERP frees you from infrastructure implementation and the process of installing on computers? Guess what? There’s more to it than that.
With modern cloud ERP for audio visual companies, implementations can be done with minimal or no in-person intervention. This helps keep you, us, and your employees safe.
Cloud 9 ERP Solutions: Here When You Need Us
At Cloud 9 ERP Solutions, we work exclusively with Acumatica to deliver truly mobile true cloud ERP that not only simplifies the lives of your employees, but does so when and where they need it.
Looking to learn more? We invite you to watch our free, on-demand webinar on the benefits and best practices in using Cloud ERP. Learn More: How to Leverage Business Software for AV Companies. Or, browse all Acumatica videos.
Additional AV Resources
Why Cloud ERP is a Necessity for the Transformed AV Firm
Meeting the Needs of Potential New AV Hires With Technology and Innovation