Market Perspectives

Many small to midsize manufacturing and product-centric organizations have struggled with the limitations imposed by on-premises platforms designed for an unrelated industry or subvertical. Others try to cobble together processes and data from multiple systems and spreadsheets. While these organizations have many of the same requirements as larger enterprises, resources are not comparable, especially for technology support. Purpose-built software can meet specific industry requirements while streamlining processes. A cloud deployment is particularly attractive for rapidly growing organizations because resources can remain focused on operations rather than managing technology, minimizing administrative overhead.

Rootstock Cloud ERP was designed for manufacturing, distribution and supply chain organizations. Fit for a multitude of different businesses, Rootstock Cloud ERP offers the flexibility necessary for manufacturing and service industries, including:

• Sales CRM, designed for end-to-end customer experience and real-time accounts receivable.
• Order processing, to build complicated orders and add to existing orders for goods and parts.
• Engineering, to track bulk materials and identify manufactured and purchased sourcing and processing.
• Supply chain planning, which automatically generates orders and tracks existing orders, capturing extensive details.
• Production, to view capacity and focus on potential production blockages and carryout thorough audits.
• Inventory management, which classifies inventory types, tracks common or project inventories by item and follows cost details of each item.
• Financials, providing fixed asset flexibility to acquire, construct and select from stocks.
• Analytics and collaboration, for developing customized ERP key performance indicator dashboards and viewing detailed ERP reports that delve into root causes.
• Customer service, to develop return material authorizations for sales and automatically process replacements.

Rootstock was created to run on the Salesforce platform to take advantage of the native connectivity between an enterprise planning resource system and a full customer relationship management system. Along with all of the capabilities provided by Salesforce – including a complete view of customers – Rootstock enables more effective sales and operations planning as well as collaboration across business silos, customers and suppliers.

It integrates with Slack to enable users to discuss sales opportunities and quickly convert sales orders. To support organizations that also offer services, Rootstock accommodates services, goods, warranty items and reoccurring revenue. Rootstock is taking advantage of the popularity of artificial intelligence with its Einstein AI application, which makes predictions and offers insights to users. In fact, Ventana Research asserts that by 2026, almost all vendors of ERP software will have incorporated AI to reduce workloads, speed processes and reduce errors. The dashboard is convenient for workers without a technical or programming background. Users can easily make changes by moving icons on a page, rather than writing code. Rootstock Cloud ERP inventory includes work fulfillment, raw material receipts and cycle counting. The system is natively mobile, adding flexibility for workers outside of traditional offices.

Rootstock Cloud ERP is a “consumerized” ERP system, with its fresh look and features, similar to a smartphone or mobile app. The layout of the dashboard is designed for mobile devices, acknowledging that a lot of users do not interact with business applications through the more traditional means of laptops and desktops. In addition, making changes to the application does not require a background in programming. Instead, the product is designed to be used by a variety of non-technical workers.

The platform is designed for two types of customers: cloud-native organizations and conventional manufacturing and product-centric businesses with on-premises ERP systems. Cloud-native organizations that already use and are familiar with Salesforce would be likely customers for Rootstock Cloud. For on-premises ERP-based organizations that recognize the advantages of cloud-based systems, Rootstock may be an option when replacing outdated ERP technology.

Rootstock Cloud ERP attempts to bridge the gap that many manufacturing and product-centric organizations have faced when trying to adopt cloud-based ERP systems that didn’t support business-specific requirements. The biggest objection to transitioning from on-premises ERP systems to cloud-based systems is the typical lack of customization of multitenant cloud offerings for individual customers, short of changing the actual code. Rootstock Cloud ERP is designed to address the specific needs of each customer, accommodating multiple business types and using low-code technology to enable changes to the application.

Use of cloud-based ERP systems is likely to continue to grow as organizations recognize their advantages. On-premises ERP systems offer less flexibility, while cloud-based services enable organizations to access data at different rates. In addition, cloud-based systems can be continually upgraded and improved to deal with emerging security challenges, while on-premises systems likely require a vigilant technical team to stay up to date with the latest hacking vulnerabilities. Plus, cloud-based systems take on the costs of updates and security support on behalf of customers. In short, cloud-based ERP systems offer lower costs, better overall experiences and increased flexibility.

Rootstock provides an option for organizations considering a cloud ERP system based on the Salesforce platform. For many small and midsize manufacturing and product-centric organizations, on-premises ERP systems can be a limiting factor for growth. In addition to providing an overview of customer services, sales and operations, Rootstock is built for mobile devices. It offers low-code customization, supporting the needs of non-IT workers. Organizations interested in switching from an on-premises ERP system or already using a cloud-based ERP system might consider Rootstock Cloud ERP.