With FDs’ budgets continually under pressure, fewer and fewer organisations are replacing their existing accounting software systems. Instead, they are wringing as much as possible out of their existing accounting systems by implementing add-on modules which have minimal impact on their existing accounting systems but have a fast ROI. So which modules are in demand?
While e-commerce, e-procurement and CRM systems have been in great demand over the last couple of years, FDs current favourite is electronic document management or
the paperless office, says Tony Bray, director of Version One, the leading document imaging software authors. Because of the high cost, these systems were the preserve of medium and large organisations until a few years ago. But as prices of scanning and storage hardware have fallen substantially over the last couple of years, it has brought these solutions within the budget of even the smallest private organisation. Coupled with the very swift ROI, this has significantly increased demand for document image processing systems.
"It's long been accepted that paperless office systems are essential for the corporate and public sectors but, with reducing cost of ownership, these systems are fast becoming a "must-have" for SMEs too.