What is the Most Important Benefit of an Enterprise Application?
January 14, 2021
Digital transformation is essential for modern businesses. Enterprise applications are becoming a natural step of this process. Find out why enterprise application software should be the next thing in the evolution of your company.
Smartphones and other mobile devices have become a part of our everyday lives. For a lot of us, using applications is an action similar to brushing teeth in terms of mundanity. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that companies start to pay attention to the benefits of mobile applications. That’s how enterprise applications came to life.
What is the most important benefit of an enterprise application?
The major benefit of enterprise application integration is that it is an essential tool for any enterprise that strives to become fully digitalized. A well-designed enterprise application can process large amounts of data, improve management, and minimize bureaucracy and paper waste – a very important factor in the age of global warming.
The above benefits are just the beginning. In this article, you’ll find what are the most important benefits of an enterprise application, what are the types of enterprise application software, and what kind of impact they have on businesses.
Let’s dive in!
What is Enterprise Application Software
Before we discuss the benefits of an enterprise system, we need to define what an enterprise application is. Think about why people download applications in the first place? Most of the time it’s because they want to solve some kind of a problem, be it communication, time management, personal finances, or just boredom. Regular apps solve problems of everyday people – enterprise apps solve problems of companies.
Enterprise applications are meant to integrate systems in the company for a smoother workflow. They create a connection between different departments. Employees should see them as helpful tools that run on mobile devices. They improve the efficiency of work because they can be adapted to the company’s specific needs. Enterprise applications are based on enterprise systems: software stacks that are meant to control all of the complex operations that take place in the company.
Enterprise application integration can combine a few software into one, which simplifies the everyday processes of companies. Usually, they’re web applications. However, if the option seems necessary for the business, they can function as a mobile application as well.
Read also: How to integrate with Polish banks – 7 helpful tips for Third-Party Providers
Types of enterprise application software
Companies can benefit from enterprise applications only if they’re suited to their business models. In order to get the maximum benefit, companies should define their business goals before deciding on what types of enterprise applications they are going to integrate.
Some of the most popular enterprise applications are the following:
- Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
Timing is crucial for sales. CRM can compile customer information in a handy system that shows how the process is going: whether the client has been approached or not, the date of the last contact, small details gained from the conversation, etc. Sales teams, no matter how big they are, create a valuable database that can be later used to create case studies. CRM also provides features such as email integration.
- Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
A part of the growth of every company is going from a small team that does pretty much everything to a divided structure where every team has a strict list of responsibilities. This is an inevitable step. However, it often creates problems with communication between departments. That is where ERP comes to play a role of a network. Using an ERP ensures that each department is working on the same up-to-date information. It’s especially important from a financial perspective. ERP system can make the way larger organizations operate simpler and more efficient by providing transparent data about the money flow and the work flow. That results in better planning for the future.
- Human Capital Management (HCM)
Effective Human Resources department is at the heart of the company’s success. HCM system is a tool for HR specialists to maintain the workforce of the organization. This includes talent search and management, contract management, employee benefits, holidays, and many more.
- E-commerce Optimization
If the company is making a profit from selling physical goods, an e-commerce optimization system is essential not only to the way the company operates but also to customer satisfaction level. The system integrates every step of the sales process so everyone in the team can have a quick look on what’s the status of the parcel. Later on, the system tracks if the customer has left a review or if they demand a refund. Thanks to this, a sales rep can react immediately to any problem, delivering great customer service even in the face of issues with the product that has been sold.
- Project Management
In the time when remote work has become the everyday reality, good communication flow in the team is more important than ever. An enterprise app for project management helps teams collaborate more effectively. It’s one of the most basic types of enterprise software. A project management system tracks the progress of a project, checks timing, milestones, and lists tasks. It’s also a good way of storing information about previous projects.
- Supply Chain Management
Businesses that rely on suppliers need to have a transparent way of tracking the production and shipment processes. Enterprise applications that deal with supply chain management give out a linear
Benefits of Enterprise Systems
Based on the previous paragraph, it becomes clear that enterprise application integration brings a lot of benefits. What is the most important benefit of an enterprise application? You can decide for yourself by looking at the list below:
- Improved Flow of Information
Enterprise application integration creates a single entry point to data for all departments of the company. This way everyone receives only relevant, up to date without wasting time searching for the latest update. It’s important for the information flow inside and outside the IT infrastructure. Collecting and storing data about the company becomes easier and more accessible.
- Standardized Process
The benefit of easily accessible information is that every employee knows exactly what’s the project management process. It minimizes redundancies and the potential for chaos in the paperwork, whether it’s fully digitalized or not.
- Simple IT Infrastructure
By combining the most important information and functionalities into one piece, enterprise application integration makes the work easier for the IT team and employees that use the system to do their jobs.
- Automation of the Work Flow
Since enterprise application integration collects data about the processes in the organization, it helps pinpoint which one can be automated. For example, sales and marketing can send newsletters to customers and quickly inform them about a sale.
- Accessible Data Archives
Having data stored in a way that can be easily analyzed comes in handy especially in customer service. If the sales rep can quickly retrieve information about the customer’s order history, the bigger the chance of fixing a problem and, in return, increased customer loyalty.
Enterprise application software brings benefits to organizations in a variety of ways. They can inadvertently support business goals and even make the company more competitive on the market. For example, potential employees pay attention to the digital maturity of their potential place of work. By providing the best solutions that make work easier, you can win the best talent available.
Trends in Enterprise Application Integration
Like every software, enterprise applications are subjected to trends. Trends are known for their minimal longevity. However, the ones below are sure to stay for a long time:
- 5G – a faster, more reliable technology than 4G makes creating complex enterprise applications less time consuming
- Progressive Web Applications (PWA) – sometimes referred to as hybrid applications, PWAs combine web and mobile applications that can be used across different platforms like iOS and Android
- AI – elements of machine learning and deep learning create interesting tools for enterprise applications, such as chatbots
- Smart assistants – managing data included in the enterprise applications can become even easier with a build-in assistant
What is Good for Enterprise?
At first, it may seem that the benefits of enterprise systems outweigh the negatives. However, that doesn’t mean there are none of the latter. Enterprise application integration examples sometimes show that the new system doesn’t make the workflow easier. On contrary: the decision-making process can be suddenly decentralized, which causes chaos. Not to mention that creating an enterprise system and a dedicated application comes with a hefty fee. It has to be approached with realistic expectations. Otherwise, creating software may be a waste of time and money.
Summary
Enterprise applications should be viewed not as an option, but as an essential part of digital transformation. Of course, not every type of enterprise application integration has to be adapted by every company. It has to solve a specific problem the business has. One of the major benefits of enterprise applications is that it improves the overall efficiency of the company. It’s thanks to a better information workflow, simpler IT infrastructure, process automation, data storage, and standardization. Other benefits include higher productivity of employees, transparency, and competitive advantage. Enterprise applications can integrate tasks from different departments, such as sales, HR, supply chain management, and many more. Since it’s a technology that’s tightly connected to the current trends, it’s important to introduce enterprise applications as quickly as possible to the company.
January 14, 2021
