Do ERP and EDI upgrades go hand in hand?

Should EDI be a key consideration when upgrading ERP systems?

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems act as a central database – they are a platform for companies to operate and leverage their entire business operations.

By their very definition ERP systems are important. They’re a springboard to help businesses collect, store, manage, and interpret data, therefore, when the time comes to upgrade or change ERP’s it can act as a catalyst to review other business processes that can align themselves within this new new infrastructure.

As EDI solutions are often integrated with ERP systems to streamline transactions by sending and processing orders and invoices directly from your core system, in our experience, ERP upgrades are the opportune time to review your electronic trading processes and associated systems.

One such company that took the opportunity to combine an ERP and EDI upgrade was Fortnum & Mason. Tony Longhurst, Director of IT at Fortnum & Mason, said “Our decision to move from Microsoft AX2009 to Dynamics 365 demanded a change of architecture, creating an opportunity to improve the performance, reliability and traceability of the integration into our third party logistics provider.

The TrueCommerce EDI solution was the perfect fit for Fortnum & Mason, its flexible connectivity options equipped us with the ideal infrastructure to develop our internal processes at the most appropriate cost.”

F&M’s move from an on premise to a cloud based ERP solution prompted them to look at their other electronic trading tools and with the success of an EDI solution often depending on its ability to integrate with ERP, its often prudent to consider improving them simultaneously.

One of the trends we have seen is a growing number of companies opting to migrate both their ERP and EDI infrastructure to the cloud. F&M are a prime example of this and took the opportunity to investigate efficiencies across their entire network when they moved to cloud based Dynamics 365 system.

In todays increasingly interconnected landscape it’s becoming essential that businesses try to integrate their disparate solutions within the same network and the benefits of a unified cloud based EDI solution include increased security, reduced risk of obsolescence and improved efficiencies.

Find out how you could benefit from upgrading and integrating your EDI solution, with the TrueCommerce Integrated EDI solution.  You may also be interested in our blog post which talks about moving beyond simple EDI compliance with EDI ERP Integration.