Forrest Burnson of Software Advice recently shared his insight into the enterprise resource planning buying trends. His interactions and analysis with ERP buyers shows how important business management software is and how the market has changed. 

First-time buyers
Two-thirds of buyers are using ERP software for the first time. In many cases, these are growing enterprises and they've reached a critical point where they need to organize their data in order to scale up. Many modern ERP programs are modular, so growing enterprises can implement different levels of service to suit their needs. 

SaaS contracts
Many buyers are finding perpetual licenses cost-prohibitive so they're going a different route. Burnson noted, "in the past few years, more ERP vendors have begun offering subscription-based 'Software-as-a-Service' (SaaS) contracts, in which users pay a monthly or annual fee for access to the software, as an alternative to perpetual licenses. The software is typically hosted on the vendor's servers and accessed by users via the Internet."

CRM improvement
Nearly half of all ERP buyers are doing so in order to improve their customer relationship management databases. As ERP centralizes data and connects information for sales, accounting, human resources, manufacturing and other departments, it makes perfect sense that this business management solution can enhance existing software, such as CRM. 

ERP software helps your enterprise use data more efficiently and develop optimized processes. At Accent Software, we can help your business implement an ERP system that improves efficiency and transparency. We're proud Microsoft partners, and we help SMBs use Microsoft Dynamics NAV for their business intelligence. Contact us to take the next steps toward a more efficient business.