SYSPRO, provider of ERP software for manufacturers and distributors, recently held its virtual analyst tour and announced that it will launch SYSPRO Cloud ERP in Q1 2021. This is not a new product, nor an update to their existing ERP software. To understand what it is and why it matters, it's essential to know the challenges it aims to address.

How ERP should adapt to its users

Since listening to customers is the best way to understand their pain points, SYSPRO conducted an internal study of 144 managers and executives from manufacturing and distribution companies.

These statistics highlight the two major trends impacting global supply chains:

1. First, the disruption caused by technology, changing customer behavior, the exponential growth of data, and, more recently, the COVID-19 pandemic.
2. Second, some things won't change much, despite the challenges mentioned above. Reshoring has been discussed recently as a potential solution to avoid supply chain disruptions, but not many companies are adopting it.

These may seem mutually exclusive, but they aren't. Contrary to common belief, digital transformation doesn't always completely transform a company. Manufacturers and distributors cannot afford to "move fast and break things" because breaking complex systems makes them very difficult to mend. These companies are more likely to take a festina lente (make haste slowly) approach, and vendors should support them.

ERP vendors need to provide robust but flexible technology that allows manufacturers and distributors to continue focusing on what works and innovate to stay relevant.

The promise of the upcoming SYSPRO ERP Cloud

Here is a look at how SYSPRO aims to help its customers with its upcoming product.

Firstly, it intends to provide an integrated solution that is also modular, allowing companies to scale up and down without significant disruptions. Other than traditional ERP features for back office, front office, and operations, the ideal solution should include functionalities for quality management, manufacturing execution, and asset management. All these are usually delivered as separate products or components of a monolithic system that is difficult to use and maintain.

Also, the vendor's infrastructure is critical to buyers as companies use multiple systems and technologies. Other than supporting all the functionalities mentioned above, SYSPRO's platform is compatible with the latest technologies, such as the internet of things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), and robotic processing automation (RPA). The new offering aims to improve elasticity and flexibility and facilitate disaster recovery.

Finally, SYSPRO's new services and extensions can expand the abilities of an ERP solution abilities without requiring significant investments. Buyers will be able to choose only the options that they need and only use them when they are required.

A high-level overview of the new offering is given below.

Source: SYSPRO

Further follow ups with the vendor in 2021 will shine more light on the new SYSPRO ERP Cloud.