Whether it’s your first time or your 15th, shopping for a new ERP system can quickly become a daunting task. With so many options to choose from and so many variables to consider, it’s easy to feel lost.
To make things tougher, every vendor website you visit gives you a lot of information about their own products, but not necessarily about how they stack up against a stack up against the competitors. Finding objective information on the pros and cons of any ERP product can be a nearly impossible task.
It usually means hours combing various online sources, reading through countless Acumatica reviews, and collecting a list of Acumatica pros and cons. But not anymore.
In today’s blog post, I will handle that leg work for you. I scoured the Internet for actual user reviews of one of the most popular ERP products on the market today, Acumatica. Using that information, I compiled a list of Acumatica pros and cons I hope will save you time and effort in your ERP search. Finally, giving you the objective viewpoint you’ve been looking for.
Acumatica Pros and Cons
Acumatica Pros
Since I’m a glass half-full kind of girl, let’s start by looking at some of the cool features that spurred the great success Acumatica has enjoyed over the last decade.
Flexible Deployment Options
Unlike its well-known legacy competitors and many of the newer cloud only ERP options, Acumatica offers users complete control over how they would like to deploy the software. You can buy it as a SaaS subscription, with cloud-based access so that all you need is a computer or smartphone, no bulky, expensive servers required. If you’re in a highly regulated industry, or a SaaS subscription just isn’t your speed, you can also choose to set the system up on your own servers. Or you can find a hosting partner to run the system on their servers, allowing you to access it on the go, just like with a SaaS subscription.
Easy to Use Interface
Built for the web, Acumatica’s windows always look the same, no matter what device you are using (computer, tablet, or smartphone). So, you can get work done wherever business takes you, without a steep learning curve. Also, intuitive GUI menus make the system much easier to navigate then a legacy system of yesteryear.
Ready to Grow with Your Business
Many Acumatica customers, especially the smaller ones, start by simply using the financial module to run their business accounting. But let’s say 2 to 3 years down the road your business finds great success and is growing faster than you ever imagined possible. With Acumatica, you can easily add additional functionality such as distribution, customer relationship management, project management and human resource management, at any time. The best part is, as you add more modules, they’re all interconnected, meaning that you always have a single source of the truth. You never have to wonder if the data you’re looking at is incomplete or out of date.
Industry-Standard Customization Tools
If you’ve researched other ERP products, I’m sure you’ve seen at least a few that offer great customization possibilities, but there’s a catch. They use proprietary development tools. So, you need a developer who is familiar with that system to be able to customize it to meet your needs. Acumatica is different. It uses the common development tools C# and .NET. So, there’s no proprietary knowledge needed to customize the software.
Flexible Upgrade Schedule
Acumatica is committed to consistently adding new features to help its customers gain more value from the system. However, they understand that each business has its own unique needs and priorities. Therefore, Acumatica does not require its customers to upgrade on a set schedule. So, if you’re not ready to train your employees in the great new features added in the latest release of Acumatica, no worries. Delay your upgrade until you’re ready.
Pay Only for What You Use
The cost of Acumatica is different for each customer. Your exact price is based on several factors, including which modules (i.e. financial management, inventory management or CRM), you are using and how many transactions your company does in a day. That way, you’re only paying for the resources you use. Again, should your needs change down the road, it is easy to add additional features and computing power.
Acumatica Cons
Choosing the right ERP system for your business is a personal decision with a lot of factors. Of course, the same system is not going to be right for every business, or every situation. So, let’s look at the flip side of the coin.
Relatively Short History
Depending on who you are and your perspective, this one could either be a positive or negative. Acumatica is indeed one of the newcomers to the crowded ERP industry. First introduced about a decade ago, which is a fairly short time when you consider that some of its competitors have been around three times that long or more.
Sure, a shorter history means Acumatica doesn’t have the same long track record of working with well-known businesses as some other ERP products. However, being new also means in comes with a fresh perspective. In many ways, Acumatica has torn up the rule book on what an ERP system must be. This is especially true with their unique non-user-based pricing.
Pricing Can Seem Confusing
As I mentioned earlier, Acumatica has a pricing structure all its own. So, if you have used other ERP products in the past, you may find the pricing scheme a little difficult to follow at first. However, you don’t have to figure it out alone. The value-added reseller or partner you choose to help you implement the system will be able to walk you through how the pricing works and help you understand what the system would cost your business.
Lots of Features and Customization Options Make Implementation Seem Daunting
Like with most ERP systems, set up and implementation are not DIY projects. Trying to go alone is a bit like finding a place you’ve never visited before without a map. To get the most possible bang for your buck with the least amount of frustration, you’ll want to work with a partner who knows Acumatica and will take the time to understand your needs. Only then can they make solid recommendations on how you should use the software to drive your business forward.
Learn what to look for in your partner (Though originally written about Microsoft Dynamics GP, this article has great advice that still applies to finding the right Acumatica partner).
We hope you found this Acumatica ERP review useful. Ready to dig deeper into this popular ERP system to decide if it’s the right fit for you? Check out the demo below or schedule a consultation with one of our experts.
