Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software is increasingly becoming a rite of passage in a company’s growth as small businesses and mid-market players alike look for ways to improve the integration of data between different business processes. Many Magento customers use some form of enterprise resource planning (ERP) software to help power their businesses. For the uninitiated, ERP is business management software that comes in the form of integrated apps to help you manage all aspects of your business, including product planning and development, manufacturing, sales, and marketing. Magento’s application programming interface (API) is very flexible and integrates with a wide variety of ERP packages—including custom solutions.

How to Choose an ERP Solution

Some factors to consider when selecting ERP software:

The size of your company

Your fulfillment operations

The accounting system you’re using now and your reasons for switching

The features of the ERP solution you plan to use and how you want to integrate them with Magento

Whether you have brick-and-mortar retail locations, electronic data interchange (EDI) sales or other wholesale operations, or manufacture anything

We asked a few of our partners about their experience integrating ERP packages with Magento, and wanted to share the results so you can be more strategic about choosing the best solution for your business. Here are three of the top ERP packages:

1. Microsoft Dynamics AX

Microsoft Dynamics AX is a solution for multi-site, international organizations that provides a comprehensive solution for financial, human resources, and operations management.

Magento Gold Solution Partner Perficient has connected a client’s front-end store to Microsoft Dynamics AX to automate the process of creating customer accounts and orders. Microsoft Dynamics AX integrates with the clients’ other order fulfillment system utilizing XML file-based integration with the following touch points:

Catalog import into Magento

“Customer create” function being exported from Magento to Microsoft Dynamics AX

“Customer update” function being imported into Magento

Order export from Magento to AX

Order status update and edit import into Magento from AX

Shorty’s Liquor CBD, Sydney's premier supplier of corporate beverages and fine wine experiences, uses Microsoft Dynamics AX to achieve near-time integration with its stock database. The solution enables a quick re-ordering process, multiple breakpoints, streamlined delivery fulfillment, and integration with the company’s cloud-based financials and approval system. The result is a faster website, an easier ordering process, and an increase in online sales.

Magento also supports Microsoft Dynamics AX with an extensive set of enterprise features. From marketing and SEO capabilities to shipping and payments, multi-language, multi-currency, and multi-store solutions, the Magento platform offers unparalleled flexibility and integrations.

2. SAP

SAP’s ERP packages were designed to support large companies in addition to small- and medium-sized businesses across more than twenty industries. There are a number of partners and merchants reaping the benefits of successful SAP-Magento integrations.

Perficient integrates SAP with Magento for a number of customers and has built a connector that is SAP-certified. It integrates SAP with Magento via IDOC, custom SOAP-based services, and batch processing. The integration touch points include:

Customer import into Magento

Order export from Magento to SAP

Promotion pricing import into Magento

Best cart pricing import into Magento

Catalog import into Magento

Inventory import into Magento

Magento Gold Solution Partner Gorilla Group also integrates SAP’s ERP package into large organizations and discrete manufacturers to meet their B2B commerce needs. Real-time inventory and pricing calls—as well as invoice information—is provided in the front-end user experience with Magento.

Nobel Biocare uses the platform with amazing results, including a 20 percent growth in average order value (AOV), a 24 percent increase in online sales, a 20 percent boost in traffic, the ability to launch a new country site in less than one week, and a seamless integration with back-end systems.

3. NetSuite

As a cloud-based ERP solution for the mid-market, NetSuite provides clients with real-time data and reporting to enable more insightful, faster decision-making, and helps expedite the order-to-cash process. Businesses that use NetSuite along with the scalability and flexibility of Magento as their eCommerce platform are well positioned to dominate their market.

Magento solution partner Rocket Web uses its open source NetSuite Connector for Magento to allow clients to link Magento and NetSuite without the need for additional middleware. Rocket Web’s solution resides on a company’s web servers as an extension to its Magento storefronts. Highlights of the NetSuite extension:

Product data is managed in NetSuite to update in Magento

Customer and order data flows from Magento to NetSuite

Shipments in NetSuite are passed back to Magento

A Magento side queuing system ensures customers never have to wait for data to be accepted in NetSuite

Open source code gives in-house developers complete control over customizing the connector as the business evolves

Online merchants across a broad range of industries (Red’s Gear, Lovesac, and Good360, to name a few) are reaping the benefits of integrating NetSuite with Magento to grow their business.

Additional ERP Packages

Magento is extremely versatile and easily integrates with dozens of enterprise resource planning software solutions including:

IBM AS400

JD Edwards

Personify

Eclipse

Infor

Full Circle

We can demo any number of them so you can make the best decision for your business. Find the right ERP solution for your eCommerce company by talking to a specialist.

The following Magento partners contributed to this article: John Budz of Gorilla Group, Chris Guerra of Blue Acorn, Kaushal Shaw of Perficient, and Matt MacDougall of Rocket Web.