Local businesses told to automate processes

CEBU, Philippines - Amid the stiff competition among domestic and global companies, local businesses are urged to automate their processes to stay ahead of the game and keep up with the market demands particularly in terms of quality and speed of service.Alliance Software Inc., a Filipino-owned and pioneering software development specialist, officially launched last Friday a full business automation suite that provides businesses with accurate and real-time data for efficient, maximized and profit-driven decision-making.

EDGE Business Software is a complete suite of business solution software that helps local businesses with their automation needs from sales, human resource, finance, customer relationships, to various IT support services.

Alliance Software president and chief executive officer Robert Cheng said that the new product solutions the company has recently unveiled are designed to empower local businesses to compete with national and global players.

“The EDGE Business Software is our most complete, cost-effective and reliable business automation suite to date, specifically created for the fast-growing local businesses so they can be at the top of their game. It is highly localized and government-accredited that was developed from ground-up with the growing Filipino businesses in mind,” he said.

Cheng said that at present, large-scale companies merge with small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to expand their presence in the market. He added that a growing number of retailers are venturing into multiple chains as there is a pressure to expand along with other industry players.

He also said that the increasing trend of rapid growth of malls in key cities and provinces in the country urge tenants and retailers to expand with them, thus creating a whole new market altogether.

He further noted that SMEs nowadays have become more sophisticated in nature and ambitious to operate more stores and go with big malls that pose higher foot traffic in the market.

“This is mutually beneficial for them. These local enterprises could get new insights on how to get big just like these malls and how to operate their businesses efficiently,” Cheng continued.

This new trend among SMEs, he said, is evident in big markets in the country where there is a robust growth of mall expansions. These include Metro Manila, Cebu, Bacolod, Iloilo and Cagayan de Oro.

Although companies like Alliance introduce reliable products that enable companies to grow their businesses, Cheng said that the SME sector is afraid of automation due to lack of preparation and fear of investment that may seem costly for them.

“What they have to realize is to plan ahead and to allot a budget for these product solutions in advance to prevent bigger problems in the future. What’s happening now is they only start calling us only if something bad has already taken place,” he said.

He then cited that the automated business process allows small-scale companies to attend to the customers’ needs, effectively communicate with clients and come up with enhanced delivery of products and services through innovative solutions.

EDGE is a suite of business solution software that is feasible in terms of deployment and pricing models. It is available on the cloud that gives “anywhere, anytime access” and on-premises to those who want to have their own servers. It also offers transaction-based payment schemes that keep businesses from upfront cost and unnecessary investments.

Cheng revealed that they plan to introduce more automated solutions that could address the needs of local businesses particularly in terms of business intelligence, analytics, document management through cloud and a reservation application that could be done through smartphones. /JMD (FREEMAN)