What Is an ERP System? Understanding the Basics and Benefits

Now that you know what are ERP systems, it is time to explore how integrating an Enterprise Planning system into your business can be beneficial. The followings are a few advantages of integrating ERP with your existing business operations.

Centralized Data: One of the best features of ERP-integrated business processes remains centrally stored data storage. This means that all the data related to different departments of an enterprise remain stored in one place.
Therefore, data duplication, discrepancy, and losses do not take place frequently. In addition to that, all employees belonging to various departments can access this central data hub for their work and reference. Therefore, to answer the question of what is an ERP in business, its ability to keep the entire data pool in place should be the focus.

Data Security: Imagine a situation where you keep all your documents spread over a huge space. What are your chances of finding the document you need instantly? Surely, it would be very low. For businesses as well, a wide variety of files, information, and documents remain spread across their departments.
Therefore, the chances of losing them or the threat of mishandling remain quite high. This is where ERP systems appear as a savior. The centralized data storage of ERPs ensures that everything you consider critical for your business remains stacked in one place, encrypted and protected.
In fact, you can also limit and control access to certain folders and spreadsheets stored in your ERP system to ensure high-level data security. ERP systems offer a holistic insight into the entire business process which is critical for planning the future roadmap.
Therefore, the marketing plans based on ERP’s data-backed analytics turn out to be more effective and less risk-bearing than ever.

Enhanced Productivity: Businesses often recruit employees to perform repetitive works that under utilize the best abilities of the staff. This is where ERPs become more useful. ERPs automate several repetitive tasks and release the employees engaged in those tasks.
Therefore, the company can utilize these people for doing more innovative and productive work. This is only one way ERPs contribute to productivity levels. Another way in which this automated software can benefit overall productivity remains to allow access to the centralized data hub.

As already mentioned ERPs integrate all data units and create a centralized hub that all employees can access as long as they enjoy the liberty to do so. Suppose an HR executive needs to learn about the daily productivity and performance of a certain employee to finalize the annual increment.
With ERPs, the entire task becomes easier and more transparent. The HR executive will simply access the data hub and find out the necessary information without bothering the manager of the team to which the employee in concern belongs.
In short, ERP integration benefits productivity levels in more ways than one. So, if anyone, in the future, asks you what is enterprise resource planning or how it may help, you have plenty to say in its favor.


Visibility: In a business, several things remain at work beyond plain sight. Suppose the purchasing department has placed an order for a consignment which was due to arrive a few days ago. In this case, integrated data hubs render ERP solutions meaning and value.
The associated department heads will take a look at the in-transit status of the cargo and figure out its probable date of arrival. This accessibility to information will help the executives place future orders as well.
If the manufacturing units need the information to plan their production, they can also access this information. In simple words, multiple departments can access the same information and decide more definitively to run the operations without indulging in speculations.