Finance Teams: Now The Mobility Limelight Is On You

Don’t shoot the messenger, but Finance Directors are sometimes seen as cautious people, who might fall into the laggard category when it comes to adopting mobile ERP in the cloud.

Of course, this is a sweeping generalisation that does not accurately reflect the different types of people responsible for finance, or the types of requirements they may have.

Indeed, there are plenty of case studies around cloud-based deployments, particularly with start-ups, that see the cloud as essential to their IT strategy.  Where servers are just, well, uncool, man.

Like most business applications we provide at TSG, ERP solutions must adapt to the changes in work behaviours we’re going through.

If you have the sales team out on the road, flashing their CRM system about on their iPad, and documents being signed remotely using e-signature tools, not being able to complete the backend processes also via mobile, feels like the customer-centric circle can’t adequately be completed.

Thank goodness, then, for Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2015, launched this month, where said functionality is available.

Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2013 brought us NAV in the cloud for the first time (I’m excluding Infrastructure as a Service here), alongside integration with Microsoft Office 365.

But with Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2015, we see a further development in that mobile story as there are now native apps for iPad, Android and, of course, Windows 8.

So what?

Today, it’s an anomaly for the finance department to be left out of the mobile working revolution. Now, all NAV users with the right access can get meaningful work done wherever they are.

It allows for the flexibility that today’s workforce are looking for, yet still retaining that all important control. There are plenty of studies out there showing that the provision of the right tools increases productivity in the workplace. Finance is heavily transactional – why shouldn’t that team benefit?

We have seen from the likes of CRM mobility how capturing information closer to source reduces lost, or even illegible, paper documents.

I know, I know. Finance people are incredibly accurate and would never make the same mistakes, but if your information is solid, if your stock levels are always up to date, the time to replenish stock is reduced, as is the overall time to fulfilment.

Imagine a world where the right level of information, based on role, is available to sit side by side with your customer. Imagine how you might use this to complete a deal. Imagine how much faster that transaction might take place. In an increasingly competitive world, imagine how you could differentiate yourself.

It’s certainly worth taking a look at the ERP mobility options available to you, whether that’s Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2015, or others.

If you do, great, we’ll be running a webinar on Thursday 30th October where you can see NAV 2015 in action, and the other features of the new version. Register at tsg.com/events.