How many workarounds do your employees use to get their job done? The term workaround is used to describe business processes that are handled outside your ERP, CRM and Line of Business (LOB) applications. Employees depend on workarounds when the current system is too hard to use or too slow.

Workarounds take many forms

Workarounds usually take the form of Excel spreadsheets, notebooks, clipboards, or even sticky notes posted on the wall. While they may seem innocuous, workarounds hold information valuable to your company that is not shared through the central ERP of LOB system.

Examples of workarounds include:

• The Excel spreadsheet the sales manager keeps with the current sales opportunities and pipeline,
• The notebook in the warehouse listing the special shipping instructions for each of your customers,
• The schedule spreadsheet listing all the service assignments for next week ,
• The budget that gets emailed to each department head for updates at the beginning of the month.

You get the idea. Critical information that keeps your company running smoothly kept outside of the central business management system.

Customer service, company knowledge at risk

While workarounds can seem harmless and easier to deal with than fixing the underlying problem, they endanger the business. The intellectual property of the business is held in spreadsheets, notebooks and documents that are not protected. Most every company has a nightmare story of an employee who walked away with valuable information.

While you can’t protect yourself from every disgruntled employee, you can make sure that you retain and safeguard your information. Give your employees an ERP system that is easier to use than to work around.  Microsoft Dynamics ERP solves the problem of user adoption because it integrates with all the Microsoft Office solutions, including Outlook, to keep employees in the system.

If your people are spending time working outside the system, you are risking valuable information. Let’s talk about the solution.  Contact Gary at [email protected]

Not sure what it takes to implement a new ERP solution? Check out the ERP Implementation infographic for a practical overview.

July 31, 2012 by Gary Francart, KTL Solutions

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Tags: ERP Implementation best practices, ERP implementation tips, infographic, Washington DC Microsoft Dynamics GP
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