A. An ERP, or Enterprise Resource Planning, is integrated business software used as an enterprise wide solution to monitor, manage, and where possible, automate an organization. ERP software evolved from the Material Resource Planning (MRP) offerings in the 80’s with most of the interest coming from the manufacturing and distribution sector. In the 90’s, different vendors extended their MRP’s to include other modules like accounting and Human Resources. Today, most ERP’s, offer many different modules depending on the industry and customer. ERP's can to do planning, production, billing, shipping, inventory, accounting and finance, and more.

A. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems are used by organizations looking to manage their business functions within a centralized and integrated system. An ERP is commonly used by companies working within the supply chain to help keep track of all the moving parts of manufacturing and distribution. However, ERP can be utilized by a number of different industries including those in healthcare, nonprofit groups, construction and hospitality and education. Organizations needing to manage their staff, customers and inventory can all rely on ERP benefits.

While ERP’s do provide your company a way to manage finances & accounting, it also provides support for governing additional factors of your business like your supply chain, manufacturing, services, and other core processes.

ERP software can be used to automate and simplify individual activities across your business or organization, such as accounting and procurement, project management, customer relationship management, risk management, compliance, and supply chain operations.

ERP’s connect every aspect of an enterprise. An ERP system allows for better performance and project management that helps plan, budget, predict and accurately report on an organization’s financial health, processes and overall life-status.

A complete 360 degree view of your customer One of the biggest advantages of having an integrated ERP and CRM, like Symbient Opta, is it gives you a complete view of your customer. From prospect, to sales and support, to finance and accounting, you have complete visibility into your customers’ needs, buying habits, order history, preferences, account standing, etc. Not only does this knowledge give you better insight into your customer base, it can help you build lasting relationships with customers and determine where there is potential for future growth. It can even help you anticipate your customer’s needs before your customer does.

Better access to real time critical information: Because Symbient Opta is fully integrated, it gives your employees the ability to access important information in real-time. Without it, your employees are less efficient and your customers will pay the price. For example, when a customer calls with a simple question about the status of an order, your representative should not have to go into different systems to access information or inquire with other employees. A fully integrated solution empowers your employees with access to the information they need exactly when they need it. With the touch of a button, they can retrieve inventory levels, shipments, customer financials, order history, returns, payments, pricing, etc.

Streamline business processes: In the past, without an integrated solution, many business processes were manual and time-consuming. However, a key benefit to software like Symbient Opta is enhanced productivity through streamlining processes and automating workflow. Additionally, an integrated solution cuts down on the amount of duplication of data entry tasks.

It can save you money: An ERP, like Symbient Opta, unifies many of the systems that may currently be fragmented in your organization. From product development to accounts payable, your staff will be able to access all the necessary tools for their job from one centralized system. Improved Collaboration: With Symbient Opta’s centralized database your company has a single source of truth to work from. This reduces any errors brought on by working with the incorrect data, further reducing costs.

Better Analytics: Centralized data also aids in improving your analytics and reporting. Since Symbient Opta records and stores all the data users input, it makes for an excellent business intelligence tool making it easier and faster for your team to generate various reports. Reports that could take days of research and compilation without an ERP takes just minutes.

While the CRM manages the customer, an ERP manages the business. ERPs are used to improve the efficiency of your business processes. ERPs allow for the rapid sharing of standardized information throughout all departments of your company. Employees all enter information into the ERP system, creating a real-time, enterprise-wide snapshot. Problems in any area can automatically create alerts in other affected areas. This allows departments to begin planning for issues before they become a problem in that department. In short, by allowing the business to focus on the data, instead of the operations, ERP provides a method for streamlining business processes across the board.

The main users of CRM systems are in the sales and support organizations – they are ultimately customer-facing and they don’t do the actual work of producing and fulfilling orders. In contrast, the ERP users are focused on the process and logistics of producing the widgets: factory managers, production schedulers, buyers, supply chain types and finance types. ERP users are internal and supplier-facing, rarely calling a customer except to reply to a complaint of some kind.

       Option 1 - Prepay monthly at a cost of $40 per license per month. for a total of $480 per year per license 

       Option 2 - Prepay annually at a cost of $30 per license per month for a total of $360 per year per license for a cost saving of $120 per year per license.

To get more licenses, go to Admin > My Company and click on the Payments tab. Here you can purchase as many additional licenses as needed. If you have any additional questions regarding how to get more licenses, please contact Symbient Opta Support. 

A. Because Symbient Opta is a cloud based all-in-one solution there is nothing for you to install. Just use one of the supported browsers like Google Chrome to sign up and start using Symbient Opta today.