in: Acumatica, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Company News
ERP reporting tools offer an outstanding array of data depictions ranging from simple bar and pie charts to graphical displays of information that make it easy to see the big-picture story. However, adding a true data visualization tool to an ERP system can make a big impact in your company’s ability to see and interpret data. Two new changes are impacting ERP reporting tools, offering an exciting look at the advancements in data analytics and reporting.
Acumatica R2 2022 now offers some new and exciting features that enhance ERP reporting tools to help you get the most from your data.
ERP Reporting Tools Can Now Include Data Visualizations
Have you ever looked at a list of numbers? It’s hard to find trends when you’re just looking at a big spreadsheet.
Instead, try data visualization, which brings numbers to life. Examples include sales data, which can be transformed into pie charts (to quickly show sales by category), line graphs (which show trends up or down), and so forth.
- Mobile device data display. Since so many people work on their mobile devices, it makes sense that Acumatica would enhance their display for mobile. The company updated its mobile app to ensure the app mirrors the user’s dashboard. Other ERPs are following the trend, making their data visualizations just as accessible on mobile devices as on computers.
- Drag, drop, and go. Drag and drop is now a feature of almost every software platform—why not ERP? Several data visualization programs, as well as ERP systems, now include drag-and-drop functionality.
- Change your dashboard to focus on the user’s role. One size does not fit all when it comes to ERP dashboards.Changing the dashboard display to feature data and shortcuts suitable to the user’s role makes sense and enhances productivity.
Predictive Analytics
There are many areas where predictive analytics are enhancing ERP platforms, too.
- Easier to use: Among the many ERP reporting trends, this one is important; predictive analytics are easier to use. Many years ago, you needed considerable training to run analytics programs and interpret them. Modern ERPs have made it much easier for the average user to access and understand predictive analytics.
- Beyond autocorrect—text predictive analytics: Have you ever typed a word and your phone or computer suggested the phrase to finish the sentence? That’s predictive analytics as it applies to text, and many ERP reporting tools now utilize some form of predictive text whether it is in search queries or form fields.
- Fast adoption of new predictive analytics tools. Among the many ERP reporting trends, the speed and ease with which predictive analytics updates have entered the world of ERP is astonishing. This will only increase in speed and ease of adoption as predictive tools become ubiquitous.
Data Visualizations and Predictive Analytics—Two to Try
If your current ERP system doesn’t include data visualization and predictive analytics, there are third-party software business intelligence applications that can be added to an ERP system to enhance these areas.
DataSelf specializes in powerful data visualizations. Over 5,000 reports are available “out of the box.” Any user can customize these reports to their needs or use one of the existing reports in their extensive library as a shortcut to running the data they need. The easy and intuitive interface makes the onboarding period shorter for DataSelf users, and users can achieve results quickly when using DataSelf with ERP systems such as Acumatica.
Velixo provides an intuitive, out-of-the-box platform with excellent predictive analytics. The program connects to Excel, bringing Acumatica into Excel and offering 50 functions to transform the data into valuable reports. It’s a great time saver for companies seeking a faster and more cost-effective way to harness data for better decision making.
The world of ERP systems continues to change, bringing advancements from other areas of the computing world into these platforms. Data visualizations and predictive analytics are just two ways in which ERP has improved and will continue to impact businesses in many ways.
Mindover Software
Mindover Software can help you find the right ERP for your business. We are your business technology partner. Contact us or call 512-990-3994.