We often talk about one of the main benefits of IPM being its ability to integrate with your ERP accounting system. But what exactly is ERP integration and how can it help you achieve what you need from your project management software?
I like to think of it this way. What would happen in your organisation if the project manager made changes to a part of a project that impacted on the budget, but didn’t inform the accounting department? Chaos. The accounting department would be working off original budgets that don’t match with the new projections, as they have no visibility of the project manager’s changes.
Well it’s the same with software. If you have two different systems for accounting and project management, there are multiple versions of information about the project and if these two programs don’t talk to each, this can cause problems in your organisation. Your employees’ productivity can also be lowered if they have to continually enter duplicate data into each system. The solution to this has often been to use accounting software that provides some project management functions. But with the developments in software these days, better options are becoming available and it now no longer seems a sensible option to have the one software program for both the accounting department and the project management side of things. Having one software program has proven to not provide enough scope for project managers to really do their job properly, and often project managers hate using project management software that ‘thinks’ like an accounting program.
This is where the importance of integration comes in. By having two different solutions specific to each department, but that synchronise with one another, you can fulfil the needs of both your accounting and project management departments and each can use software appropriate for their working environments. You then also avoid the above scenario of a breakdown in communication and duplicating, with the two separate software solutions actually talking to each other and sharing all the necessary information about the project. That way, you will always get one version of the truth.
IPM supports integration with a number of ERP systems such as Microsoft Dynamics NAV, Microsoft Dynamics AX, Sage Timberline Office and SAP B1, with others in the pipeline. This also means that if you currently use one of these ERP accounting systems, you won’t have to change it to invest in our project management specific solution. We’ll just slot right in to your existing system. Integration can also ensure user buy in is higher as each user can operate in an environment appropriate to their job.
You can find out more about the benefits of ERP integration in our free whitepaper.