ERP in your pocket
Kiwi ingenuity makes its way into your pocket with the imminent launch of the SmartProApp, for which Auckland-based MYOB enterprise partner GlobalBizpro is the key distributor.
The cross-platform app effectively extends MYOB's popular CRM - Sales features to Apple, Android and Windows mobile phones and tablets.
According to Grant Harwood, GlobalBizpro sales director, while plenty of apps are available to take work on the road, the real question which has remained is how well those integrate with back-end ERP systems.
"With SmartProApp, we believe we have the right formula to get key functions of your ERP system on to any device you want.
"It fits perfectly with the 'BYOD' trend, in that the user isn't forced to use a particular device, while it delivers all the functionality and information of the customer and sales centric functions of the ERP system right to the handset.
If Harwood sounds a little breathless, it's because he is; demonstrating the app to customers, he says, is a treat, because it is easy to install and use.
"Right now, we're doing demos where our clients come in and within minutes, we have their personal handset accessing information on a live back end system, performing common tasks such as placing orders or checking inventory.
Initially targeted overwhelmingly at MYOB users, since this accounting solution is in use by around a million businesses across Australasia and New Zealand, Harwood says is also available for other select midmarket ERP solutions and will expand to further platforms in due course.
"The app scales even to quite high levels of corporations, but we believe the sweet spot is mid-tier to smaller businesses.
Even microenterprises can afford and use it, he continues. "From someone who mows lawns, and can do invoices and email them from his iPhone, to organisations with teams of reps on the road, SmartProApp has a use case.
"It takes advantage of typical smartphone hardware, including GPS and the camera, to deliver features such as barcode scanning or providing geographically specific information.
There is, says Harwood, no need for 'fancy specific stuff' to get the app up and running. "An API is installed on the ERP or accounting system and an app on the handset. From there, it's a question of logging in with user credentials and off you go.
The big question? What does it cost.
"On the enterprise end of things, there is an establishment fee of $990.00 and from there it's $19.95 per device per month.
"For microenterprises, the establishment fee is $390.00 and a single device is $29.95 per month; if more than one device is connected, it's $19.95 per device per month," Harwood concludes.
To see SmartProApp in action, click here
