4 Critical ERP Issues That Could Harm Your Office Tech Business

A smooth-running managed print service operation is your foundation for office equipment dealers. Reliable data collection, efficient fulfillment, and responsiveness drive great SLA scores. Your systems must be reliable but adapt to growth as the technology you rely on evolves and advances. That’s why it’s important to question what can happen if your ERP system provider isn’t aligned with your business and the direction of your industry. Your ERP impacts every part of your business. If your ERP provider doesn’t understand your business and your customers, it will become evident in their support and product investment over time. But at what cost to your business?

If you are evaluating an ERP provider for specialized purposes like managed print services and office equipment contracts, be sure to question the future of the system and your provider's commitment to your market niche. How invested is the provider in your industry? Is it a key business initiative, or are their primary interests focused on other industries or solutions?

Here are some subjects to consider when evaluating a new solution provider to help manage business-critical systems in your dealership:

1. Lack of innovation

When evaluating your ERP provider, one question is: does your ERP provider view the ERP as a long-term strategic solution or a short-term investment? Could your ERP end up changing hands in the future? You can gauge this by considering their industry involvement and technology investment. Ensure your vendor is taking strategic actions demonstrating a commitment to support your business as it grows. Other questions to ponder:

• What does your vendor’s product roadmap look like?
• Is your ERP provider investing in product development to support your business?
• Does your cloud system receive regular software updates?
• Have they acquired businesses or adopted technology relevant to your industry? Are strategic integrations expanding their offering to support your changing needs?

Stagnant product updates and a lack of a visible market strategy are indicators that your vendor is not investing in the product for long-term customer support

2. No market expansion

Is your vendor expanding into geographic markets that will increase the footprint of their customer base? This is a great indicator that your ERP vendor is highly focused on adding value for their users and building SAAS revenue within your industry. Strategic product planning that considers the needs of different geographic regions drives product innovation that benefits all users.

3. Trust factor

An ERP system holds a wealth of business data—information about device usage, customer information, device meters, and billings. If you’re concerned about the potential for your customer data to exchange hands or be used for data mining by other vendors or OEMs, pay attention to your ERP provider's product innovation and be on the lookout for indications that your ERP vendor could expand their product ROI outside of software subscriptions. Seek ERP providers who are actively invested in your industry, have customer advisory boards and user groups, host customer training events, conduct regular product releases, offer webinars on product updates, and participate in industry conferences.

4. Industry Inexperience

The office equipment industry has a long and rich history. Its evolution has seen the rise and fall of many types of technology, trends, relationships, and personalities. It hasn’t been uncommon for enthusiastic industry players to introduce new platforms offering partial solutions to onboard your business. However, when these ventures don’t live up to their expectations, it is very disruptive to users who are left to seek new solutions and face the challenges of another implementation. Cloud-hosted ERP for office technology businesses isn’t simple, so it must be entrusted to a SaaS provider with the resources, expertise, and industry experience necessary to support product longevity. The adage holds, “If it were easy, everyone would do it.”

ECI is fortunate to be among the industry leaders who, through foresight and innovation, continue to meet the needs of our office equipment professionals while leveraging our extensive experience, strategic alliances, and strong customer relationships.

We have a regular release cadence with our Office Technology products, with new updates being released monthly to e-automate and Printanista cloud environments. In the past year, we’ve seen updates such as:

• New feature delivery to satisfy requests from our valuable user group members
• Deeper integration between Printanista and e-automate for advanced MPS workflow automation
• New strategic alliances and integrations, including FormedAI, Diversified Computer Supplies (DCS), and Pros Elite Group

This November, hundreds of ECI software users will descend upon Dallas, Texas, to attend our much-anticipated, bi-annual customer event, ECI Connect. We look forward to seeing all our office equipment industry peers who will join us for hands-on training, roundtable discussions, and networking. We look forward to this collaboration with our users to help validate our product direction so we can continue driving innovative solutions to help grow your business.

Choosing the right ERP provider and a purpose-built ERP is essential for stability and growth in a specialized industry. Be sure to analyze critical factors—product innovation, market expansion, trustworthiness, and industry expertise—to identify whether your ERP provider aligns with your business needs. Commitment to these areas will protect your business from disruptions and support long-term growth. When evaluating ERPs, prioritize a provider deeply invested in office technology businesses, so you can be confident your business will be supported as it adapts to industry evolution.