Why you need to implement an enterprise management system

Both growing and established multi-site enterprise businesses need systems they can trust with every aspect of their business. For these businesses, the best system is the system that was built with their unique needs and challenges in mind; an enterprise management system (or EMS). But why should you make the investment into enterprise management systems and what do you need to look for in a system? Let’s find out.

Why should I implement an enterprise system?

Helps to maintain operational consistency

One of the greatest challenges enterprises face is maintaining consistency across all of their locations and/or people. Enterprise management systems help you set standards over processes and make those standards well-known and easily accessible for your staff. For extra peace of mind, a great EMS will give you the ability to audit location consistency and view real-time reporting so you can identify potential problem areas before they cause chaos. 

Gives you better oversight over locations

The problem with being in head office is that all your locations are so far away! An EMS is going to give you more insights into location performance, compliance, finances, interactions, etc. in one convenient location. It also takes all the leg work out of viewing and reporting on each individual location's information and data. 

Ensures compliance

There are a number of external and internal regulations and standards each business must comply with. While non-compliance with external regulations often comes with the harshest punishments, non-compliance with internal standards can sink your business just as quickly. With an EMS you can be sure you’re maintaining compliance on all fronts. Auditing, training, policy management, etc. - when used effectively - all give you assurance that standards are always being met and that all of your locations/team members are championing compliance.

Improves communication and collaboration

Communication across a large team in multiple locations is never simple. Enterprise management systems can improve your communication company-wide. Most EMS’s will have news functions, discussion forums, social streams, etc. that allow your people to find out all the information they need and get in touch with other team members. Modules like news or discussion forums give your team members the opportunity to chat about what's happening, where it’s happening (rather than having to navigate off to another platform!)

Reduces and manages risks

Any good EMS is going to be built with risk management in mind. They come with many different tools to manage and reduce risks. Auditing tools with detailed reporting and smarter forms dispersed to your team ensure a safe and compliant workplace every single day. With these tools at your disposal you can be confident that risks are being better managed across your entire business.

Saves time and money

While the initial investment into enterprise management systems can seem like it’s going to take a lifetime to properly implement and a huge chunk of the budget, the long term far outweighs the short term pains. In the long term, you are actually going to be saving time and money with an EMS properly implemented. No that's not the salesman cliché, and here's why:

• With everything you need to operate your business and everything your team needs to do their job each day in one place, no one needs to hunt down any information they need across multiple systems or by constantly asking others the same questions.
• It saves you the money you would spend on multiple different systems (LMS’s, auditing systems, HR and people management systems, relationship managers, etc.).

While there’s no doubt that an EMS is a large investment initially, in the long-term it’s going to save you countless hours and dollars.

Improves productivity

The right system is going to automate all those tedious daily tasks (like data entry or generating and analysing reports) that not only take a lot of time to do, but also really drain you and/or your people. By unifying your systems (or systemising those typically manual tasks) all those lost productive hours can be a thing of the past. It gives you and your team the ability to focus on the bigger and more important stuff and spend far less time being drained by those boring daily tasks!

What to look for in an enterprise management system

There are a couple of essentials that you will need in an enterprise management system - and a couple of signals for truly A-grade systems. When shopping around for an EMS, you’ll want to see:

• Extensive integration capabilities: The best EMS’s are going to integrate well with the systems you already have in place, making that system your everyday go-to platform.
• Advanced data security measures: Most enterprise management systems will have the best security measures in place as they have been purpose-built for large businesses with lots of sensitive data. 
• Constant improvements are key: If the business isn’t constantly improving their product (the EMS), you might want to reevaluate your choice. If the product isn’t undergoing constant improvements, it won’t be the right product for you. You’ll outgrow the system very quickly.
• Don’t be fooled by the price tag: The best system won’t always cost the most, and inferior systems won’t always be the ones with the lowest price. Every EMS is an investment, but the size of the investment isn’t the best indication of how good the system is. Factor in price, but don’t make it your deciding factor!

If you’re looking to implement an enterprise management system, take a look at the system trusted by some of Australia’s best businesses. Schedule a live demo with Op Central today!