Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) encounter disruptions at an alarming frequency. In 2022, 90% of small business owners in the United States reported supply chain disruptions affected them. These disruptions can take many forms, from labor shortages, shipping delays, to economic recessions and more.
Any small business that hopes to persevere through these unpredictable times needs to take advantage of the best business continuity solutions it can find. A cloud-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, such as Acumatica, is the perfect tool to provide your small business with the resilience it needs to navigate disruptions of all kinds successfully.
Understanding the Need for Business Continuity Planning
There is a broad range of potential disruptions that regularly threaten small and medium-sized businesses, including but not limited to:
- Natural disasters like hurricanes, earthquakes, or wildfires can wreak havoc on physical infrastructures.
- Cyber-attacks, which can damage critical digital assets and bring operations grinding to a halt.
- International conflicts like the current conflict in Ukraine, which can cause materials shortages and shipping delays.
- Economic downturns like the recession in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, which can send inflation soaring and destabilize labor markets.
Businesses without continuity plans could face dire ramifications when disruptions like these occur, including product shortages, revenue loss, reputational damage, and more. Disruptions like these often force small businesses out of business altogether.
The Resilience of Acumatica Cloud ERP
Acumatica’s cloud-based architecture offers small businesses an easy way to improve their resilience in the face of disruptions. Traditional ERP systems are typically tied to on-premises infrastructure, which makes them susceptible to physical damage during natural disasters. Acumatica’s cloud-based ERP system is hosted digitally so that your business’s data remains accessible regardless of physical conditions.
Disaster Recovery and Data Backups
Business continuity and disaster recovery planning go together. Your ERP disaster recovery plan should outline the steps your organization will take in the event of a disruption to ensure the swiftest possible recovery of critical processes and data.
Acumatica’s data backup and recovery features keep your business’s critical information safe and minimize downtime. The system automatically performs regular backups to ensure that you can quickly restore your data in the event of a system failure, cyber-attack, or similar disruption.
Accessibility Anywhere, Anytime
One of the primary advantages of a cloud-based ERP system is the level of accessibility it provides. Acumatica users can access their data anytime they need it, no matter where they are. During major disruptions, this level of accessibility is more than just convenient — it’s a lifeline for small businesses.
Scalability to Manage Changing Demands
A cloud ERP tool like Acumatica also vastly improves scalability. As your small business grows, you will need a resource planning solution that can adapt to your growing supply chain demands, regardless of external factors. By switching to a cloud-based ERP system, you can make it much easier for your small business to adapt quickly to changing circumstances and continue delivering unparalleled service without interruptions, even in times of hardship.
Disruptions themselves often bring about unexpected changes in demand. Traditional ERP systems often struggle to adapt to these sudden fluctuations. Acumatica, however, is easy to scale up or down in line with your business’s needs.
Case Studies: SMBs Thriving Amidst Disruptions with Acumatica
Let’s look at a few real-life examples of SMBs that are using Acumatica to streamline their operations:
Clive Coffee
Clive Coffee, headquartered in Portland, Oregon, uses Acumatica to eliminate manual reconciliation processes and access more accurate financial reporting. This has allowed for better decision making and greater data transparency, ultimately leading to better customer experiences and faster product shipping.
Boca Terry
Boca Terry is a robe, towel, and linen provider for luxury hotels based in Deerfield Beach, Florida. Since replacing QuickBooks with Acumatica, Boca Terry has improved decision making regarding growth opportunities and saved a large amount of employee time by automating financial reporting — among many other benefits.
Kill Cliff
Clean energy drink company Kill Cliff uses Acumatica to merge all their systems into a single, comprehensive business management solution. This has allowed the business to improve real time visibility into their supply chain, leading to many advantages, such as better inventory decision making.
Rapid Recovery with Acumatica Cloud ERP
Disruptions are inevitable in business — that much you can’t control. However, what you can control is your business’s response to disruptions. Acumatica helps small and medium-sized businesses recover from disruptions so they can get their operations back to normal quickly and seamlessly.
By streamlining processes and providing comprehensive support, Acumatica significantly shortens the road to recovery. It simplifies data restoration and minimizes downtime, ensuring your customers’ trust in your business remains intact.
Collaborative Workflows During Disruptions
During disruptions, real-time communication is crucial for making critical decisions promptly, allocating resources efficiently, and continuing to meet customer expectations. Acumatica’s collaborative features facilitate seamless communication among team members, regardless of their physical locations.
Business Insights for Decision-Making
Reliable data is always a must for small businesses, but when you’re navigating a business disruption, informed decision-making becomes more important than ever. Acumatica’s reporting and analytics tools provide valuable insights to help your business make smart decisions based on sound data.
Preparing for the Unexpected: Disaster Recovery Planning Tips
Here are a few practical tips to consider before, during, and after a business disruption:
Before a Disruption
- Conduct a thorough risk assessment to identify potential disruptions.
- Develop a clear disaster recovery strategy.
- Train employees on disaster recovery procedures.
- Regularly back up critical data and systems.
During a Disruption
- Activate your disaster recovery plan promptly.
- Maintain clear communication with employees and stakeholders.
- Monitor the situation closely and adjust your recovery plan as needed.
After a Disruption
- Review the effectiveness of your recovery efforts.
- Update your disaster recovery plan based on any lessons you learned.
Business Continuity with Acumatica
In a world where disruptions are the norm for small and medium-sized businesses, continuity planning is non-negotiable. Using a cloud ERP solution like Acumatica is the most reliable way to ensure your business is prepared for disasters and disruptions. A cloud-based ERP architecture can provide nearly unparalleled scalability, recoverability, and collaboration capability. So, your data and processes are safe from harm no matter what unexpected events come your business’s way.
