Acumatica is an ERP system that was truly built for the future.
John Howell, one of the founders of Acumatica who previously wrote Solomon Software now Microsoft Dynamics SL, has a vision. His vision is that in the next 10 years there is going to be a big push globally for all software to have the ability to communicate with each other. So John made sure Acumatica was built on technology languages that will be universal. A universal language is similar to universal currencies like the U.S. dollar.
Acumatica is built in .Net and C# on an XRP platform. Although a finance person might think that the technology is not a deciding factor, there are actually several reasons why I believe this should be very important to anyone who is evaluating ERP software.
Acumatica allows you to:
- Easily Transfer Your Data
Acumatica is very flexible in its ability to communicate with all programs. This makes moving your data into and out of Acumatica very easy. With Acumatica, should something happen and you want to end your relationship with the software, you're ready to go right away because the data out of Acumatica is in a form that you can use. That is certainly not the case with a proprietary system like NetSuite.
- Reduce Support Costs
What a lot of people don't appreciate is every resource, every help item, everything that you could possibly ask about Acumatica is available in the help section. We encourage a model where the customer shares in the workload and has the ability to reduce their cost of implementation.
- Rely Less on Outside IT
Because of the language Acumatica is written in, and the help model, it is very easy to use. Anybody that has a technical background can easily teach themselves to make changes and configurations within the system. Many folks I’m hearing from really like that ability to do their own customization if they have skilled IT teams in house.
- Stop Fearing Upgrades
Another beauty of the Acumatica platform is that it is easy to do upgrades to new versions when they are released because it doesn't affect a lot of the add on products. For example, if Microsoft Dynamics were to have a big upgrade coming then all of the plug-ins and companies that have software that attached to Dynamics all need to be compliant with the new version. Acumatica can make upgrades to their platform and not affect everything else.
- Choose Your Deployment Method
Acumatica lets you choose the deployment method that makes the most sense for your business. For example, if a company does not have a lot of cash to outlay in the beginning, they can start off with a SaaS subscription offering. Then set the goal of buying the software in 5 years and bringing it in house. There is no penalty and you have the choice. You are not stuck to an on-premise deployment. You are not stuck with cloud. You're not stuck with a hybrid. You can bounce in and out and Acumatica encourages you to do that so you can have the right solution for your company.
- Trust the Best of Breed Model
Jack Welsh, the former CEO of GE said, “Focus on what you do best and outsource the rest”. Acumatica is a best of breed product. I think a lot of people take for granted what goes into developing a product and keeping it current. Having somebody else that is able to focus strictly on warehouse management, for example, is a big bonus for Acumatica. Then Acumatica can just focus on having the best platform for everything else to plug in. It has the flexibility plus the ability to switch in and out.
- Give Unlimited Access
Unlike just about every ERP product out there, Acumatica does not charge per user license. Just like a home, you’re not charged for electricity by the amount of people that live in it, just by how much electricity you use. That is the approach Acumatica’s software takes. The pricing is based on Resource Level (Small, Medium and Large) and you can have unlimited users at the resource level. Companies who have a high number of users will see a dramatic cost savings when comparing Acumatica with other similar ERP systems.
But in addition to the cost savings, this model really allows a company to rethink how ERP is used internally by the company. Now that you are not restricted by the cost, you can give secure access to everybody in the company, based on their role of course. This means everyone can have a better view of what’s going on globally in the entire organization.
- Be Ready to Grow
Right now Acumatica fits in the small to midsize business range of up to $200 million in revenue. But we have some success stories of companies that have started at $5 million and gone up to $140 million in revenue in a short period of time and gone public. And all they've had to do is have two Resource Level upgrades, from small to large. Everything else has grown with them.
Nobody thinks their own baby is ugly. Everybody is proud of what they have. I'm proud of Acumatica and proud to be the rep for that. I honestly do believe it's the superior product moving forward.
Acumatica truly is the ERP of the future. And present.
If you would like to evaluate Acumatica contact Clients First Business Solutions. sales@clientsfirst-tx.com
By Bob Turner, Clients First Business Solutions,
