The big question that comes up during the discussion on companywide business management solution (BMS) implementation is how, and when, can the return on investment (ROI) be realised? And the challenge most BMS vendors have is then selling the business case to senior management.

So it is essential when developing a case for a BMS implementation, that the return on investment does not just imply financial gain. Of course there are financial gains in the long run, but, there are other ways of realising a significant return on investment:

• Streamlined processes – existing processes are streamlined appropriately due to proper flow in data across departments.
   
• Data consistency – streamlined processes, and the use of a single database to host and manage information, results in consistency of data across the organisation. There is no need for every department to store data separately.
   
• Improvements in productivity – data consistency removes the burden of work from both staff and managers. This helps them concentrate on their core duties and results in improved productivity.
   
• Reduction in redundancy – a centralised database ensures that customer orders don’t need to be stored in separate departments redundantly. A unique identifier generated per customer, or per order, can help various departments access the same data.
   
• Increased transparency – a unique identifier for every order helps departments know the status of the order well in advance. This results in transparency across the organisation and helps individual process managers plan in advance.

All of these points help to smooth processes across the organisation, which improves productivity, and in turn results in timely and consistent delivery.

Consistency in operations and delivery will also improve the credibility of the organisation in the market and help it become more profitable in the long run.

With a BMS you will be able to see daily sales, stock levels, accounts receivable, work in progress and a host of other key performance indicators at a glance.

You will be able to make more informed decisions quicker, prepare key reports automatically and track transactions as they occur.

Calculating a return on investment, then, is about putting a value to what this new found capacity and efficiency will bring to your business.