Business software provider, Sage ERP Africa, has integrated its Sage CRM and Sage ERP X3 solutions.
The company says the integration provides mid-market enterprises with a single, customer-centric view across the organisation, offering greater business insights and more opportunities for growth.
Jeremy Waterman, MD of Sage ERP Africa and Middle East, says traditionally the decision-making around enterprise resource planning (ERP) and customer relationship management (CRM) have tended to be driven by two different areas of the business: sales and marketing driving the CRM decision; and finance and operations driving the ERP purchasing decision.
"This disjointed approach has typically led to the creation of islands of information. Unfortunately, because these systems are often acquired from different software vendors, they have been hard to integrate," says Waterman.
He notes connecting Sage ERP X3 and Sage CRM will help remove data silos from organisations and optimise operations across their businesses.
"It gives them a more complete view of the customer, spanning sales, support, finance and accounting. This provides a more detailed view of his or her needs, order history, product shipments and account standing. This is actionable information they can use to better anticipate and meet clients' needs."
He adds the integration also improves efficiency, resulting in improved customer service. "When a customer phones to check whether an item is in stock or the status of an order, a call centre agent should not need to log into a different system - the CRM platform - to find out or, worse still, phone someone in another department to ask," he explains.
Another important benefit is that information can flow between the systems without the need for clumsy, expensive interfaces or the need to recapture data, Waterman says.
"The integration streamlines processes and eliminates the need for duplicate entry with synchronised data. Sales teams can create accurate quotes quickly, better forecast customer demand and place new orders with speed and confidence, while marketing automation, social media monitoring, and campaign measurement and analysis ensure a strong flow of leads to the sales team."
He also reveals the company will continue to sell licences for its ERP and CRM modules at the same price as it has traditionally done. "The big benefit will lie in lower implementation costs for companies that want the integrated functionality."
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