In the digital era, running business always focuses on digital transformation and data. The traditional way of managing a property management company involves manual processes that are complex and time-consuming, requiring a large amount of manpower. On the other hand, several business risks like ever-changing laws and regulations, tenant information security, software vulnerability, and cyberattacks have increased over the past decade, enterprises face an increase in cost of ensuring compliance and information security (InfoSec); these costs involve the salaries of compliance team, expenditures on compliance tracking and reporting, and money spent on implementing software solutions.
Such costs are high yet indispensable for businesses, however, cost reduction can be achieved in a long-term approach if companies choose the right enterprise resource planning (ERP) software. A good ERP software enables you to automate your property management process, while ensuring compliance and information security. Today, we are going to spell out the business risks facing companies in the digital era, and the important steps for choosing the right ERP software that helps you achieve risk minimization so you can stay focused on growing your business.
1. Business Risks In The Digital Era
It is an unfortunate reality that businesses need to face threats and risks to their stability and bottom line. Companies face these potential uncertainties that can result in financial losses and reputational damage inherent in almost every aspect of their business, including:
- Cyberattacks and data leakage
PwC’s 2024 Global Digital Trust Insights survey found that the proportion of businesses that have experienced a data breach of more than US$1M has increased significantly from year over year – from 27% to 36%. Cyber security threats like data breaches and cyberattacks can lead to significant financial losses and damage to reputation. Other cybersecurity threats such as phishing and malware can also disrupt business operations.
- Operational disruptions
Digital supply chains and operations can be much more susceptible to operational disruptions. Deep-seated dependence on digital systems could significantly disrupt operations when there are outages, such as halted production lines and delayed logistics. An example that is worth mentioning is the “2024 CrowdStrike Incident”—the cybersecurity company CrowdStrike pushed a security update to its products and caused a widespread IT outage that significantly affected a variety of industries on a global scale, indicating the vulnerabilities of modern society’s heavy reliance on technology.
- Ever-changing laws and regulations
Keeping up with ever-changing laws and regulations like labor laws can be challenging, and it may lead to compliance issues. Failing to adhere to these rules can lead to significant penalties and legal repercussions.
- Intellectual property theft
Digital environments make it easier for intellectual property to be stolen or copied. Protecting your company’s proprietary information and business secrets is crucial in the digital age.
- Talent acquisition and retention
There is a significant increase in the demand for skilled talent, making it challenging to attract and retain the right talent. Skill gaps can hinder the implementation and execution of digital strategies, causing companies to fall behind or to be exposed to cyber threats in today’s fast-paced digital world.
2. Risk Management
When it comes to compliance and risk management, they are all about being well prepared for the uncertainties and building stronger business resilience. It refers to the measures and initiatives that a company takes to identify, address, analyze, manage, and mitigate potential risks associated with the business. The risk management process involves using data-driven analysis to identify and evaluate potential risks, implementing a risk management framework, developing contingency plans to help companies react and recover quickly should there be risks, and closely monitoring and controlling the business process.
3. Importance of Choosing the Right ERP Software
A proven enterprise resource planning (ERP) system can automate the complex, repetitive, and time-consuming business process, helping you save money and time managing your business. On top of the must-have features like document management, data tracking, workflow automation, reporting and analytics, and collaboration and communication, data security and privacy must be an integral part of the system, as it can safeguard your sensitive information against unauthorized access and use such as cyberattacks. Such digital security controls can prevent data breaches; it helps build customer confidence and loyalty, and needless to say, a positive company reputation.
4. Three Critical Steps for Choosing The Right ERP Software
Step 1: Define Your Business Needs
Initially, consider the size and scale of your business, industry requirements, and any compliance issues. Then, outline the workflows and activities that your company needs the software to address. You may also need to involve key stakeholders and employees to gather a comprehensive list of requirements.
Step 2: Evaluate and compare software solutions in the market
After addressing your business needs, start searching ERP software solutions that align with your identified needs in the market. Evaluate ERP systems through reading reviews, asking for recommendations, comparing features, and considering the reputation of the software providers. Afterwards, compare pricing, scalability, and customer support services. Last but not least, ensure the software vendors provide security protocols, access controls, data protection measures, audit trails and compliance with relevant laws and regulations.
Step 3: Request demos or free trials
Contact the software providers for free trials. Test the software with real-life scenarios to see how well it performs. Evaluate the user interface, ease of use, and how well it integrates with your existing systems.
Both Your Business Growth and Data Security are Our Priority.
Over the past 30 years, FlexSystem has been dedicated to providing high-quality enterprise resource planning software including Human Resources Management Software, Financial and Accounting Management Software, and Property Management Software with our customers, helping them maximize their return on investment (ROI) and operational efficiency, while ensuring compliance with industry standards. We are also committed to safeguarding the data and information of our customers with a well-developed Information Security Management System (ISMS), giving them peace of mind with data security.
Contact our sales representative for more product information: https://www.flex.hk/
