OpenEduCat

Friday, 6 November 2015

Features of a Modern School ERP Discussed

Choosing an ERP for school is a tough job. We look at a few criterias that can help any school to choose the right ERP system.

Schools and colleges are becoming complex day by day. The increase in complexity is rightly dealt with ERP for School solutions. But, the core problem still lies.

In a report released by NASCAT's 2012, "Challenge of Change", the main problem is ERP implementation. Not all organizations are happy from their implementation and are still struggling to take advantage of the ERP system.

To avoid all the hassles and come up with a clear and efficient implementation, today, we will go forward and list the important features a School ERP should carry.

ERP implementation means investing a lot of time and money. With so much at stake, it is always a good idea to understand the school ERP feature set and only look for following features. The features form the basis of any good ERP solution for school.

Important Features of a School ERP System

A Complete Package : ERP system is put in place for the sole purpose of creating a centralized environment. It also means that all the processes should be put into place using ERP solution. If there is a compromise in any of the functions/processes, the school should look for an alternative ERP solution that can completely understand the requirement of the school and implement all functions using the ERP system.

Highly Scalable : Institute demands change with time. The demand should be equally meet by the ERP system, i.e., it should be scalable to any change and should adapt to the change as soon as possible.

Support System : Any ERP is only as good as its support system. ERP are living beings and they require constant support and upgradation over their lifetime. If the support is poor, the ERP system falls off the charts quickly and is soon becomes unusable. Also, there is a constant need for customization. A good support makes sure that upgrades are made on a regular basis.

Easy to Use and Adapt : People resist change. They are more keen to work in a system that worked well for the past few years. ERP, on the other hand, offers a different way to working. Not many people are keen for the change, but if proper change management is placed, the transition becomes simpler. The change also depends on how easy to adopt the new ERP system is. The dashboard plays an important role in the adoption process. It should never be intimidating and should always work for the user and not against him/her.

ROI benefits and Cost Effective : ERP implementation, maintenance and overall cost associated with the life cycle of an ERP system is substantial. The institute should choose an ERP vendor/system so that it is cost effective and also have proper ROI benefits. With proper planning and right implementation, school ERP can provide a good cost effective solution and also best ROI.

Finding an all Rounder : Open source is a big deal nowadays. It provides all the necessary bells and whistles for scalability, customization, and market opportunity. Using a popular, readily available school ERP makes it easy for schools to have a successful implementation of the ERP.

With the six features listed, we hope that you will make the right decision in choosing the next ERP solution for your school. You can take a look at OpenEduCat, an open source ERP solution for your school. For more information, you can contact them at info@openeducat.org

OpenEduCat loves writing about education. With a rise of school ERP, he is exploring and advising schools on proper implementation and choice of school ERP solutions.