Should you integrate big data and ERP? What are the benefits of Integrating Big data and ERP?

We all agree that ERP systems are integral to the efficient functioning of a Business. But most of the existing ERP systems are not being utilized to their full potential and businesses are losing out on the valuable data that can help to improve the business outcomes. By integrating big data with ERP, businesses can handle huge amounts of data and use it to attain the organizational goals.

Let’s explore more about integrating big data and ERP and how it benefits a business.

Integrating big data and ERP

ERP systems handle a huge chunk of data and form an essential part of large organizations. However, managing the data collected by ERP systems is a complicated task due the challenges involved in data manipulation. Big data tools help to segregate the data sources and also manipulate the data as required.

When you integrate big data and ERP, you can enhance the value of the existing ERP system tremendously. The data is easily converted into user-friendly form and the ERP serves as a database for the big data.

The information age is bombarding organizations with data from myriad sources such as social media, software, machines, etc. Most of the time the heavy volume confuses the users and leaves them no clue about how to handle it. If managed effectively, big data can help in faster decision-making and offer value-added insights to the organizations. By integrating ERP and big data, organizations can simplify the process of handling the ever increasing volume of data and complex business processes.
Advantages of integrating big data with ERP
Big data and ERP can combine and transform a business in significant ways. Below are some of the major impacts of integrating the two for any business.

• Understand the customer preferences – Big data provides businesses with an in depth analytics about the preferences of the customers. Many social networking sites offer opportunities to know more about the likes and dislikes of the customers. Such information is useful for providing personalized recommendations and increasing customer engagement.
• Critical business insights – Business processes generate huge volume of data. Using big data, all such information can be collected and organized in a structured manner so that the business receives accurate insights about its operations and hence make precise decisions. Integration of ERP with big data is helpful for developing innovative strategies that fuel the business growth.
• Better supply chain management – Visibility into the supply chain process is essential for tracking the progress of products and inventories in the supply chain. Integration of big data and ERP can vastly improve the visibility of the supply chain management and allow real-time monitoring of data. Businesses can use this to optimize the routes and supervise all stages of the supply chain process.
• Forecast sales – Integration of big data and ERP can improve the sales forecasting of the business by allowing deeper insights into the sales patterns. Accurate predictions avoid situations such as overstocking or understocking of products and raw materials.

What does the future hold?

We can expect the integration of ERP and big data to increase in all industries. The rapid generation of data and the need to utilize it for deriving critical insights lay emphasis on combining the power of big data and ERP. The future of ERP is definitely with the inclusion of big data. However, organizations need to take the necessary measures to ensure that the risks related to big data are minimized through the optimum utilization of the various technologies. More research is required in this area to establish the possibilities of integrating big data and ERP successfully.