The advancement of business technology has seen a rise of a whole new language of acronyms over the years. You’d be forgiven for not knowing what they all mean.
Here’s a quick reference guide to the most critical technology acronyms and how they can benefit your DSP.
CMS – Content Management System
A CMS is a content management system, manages the creation and modification of digital content. Most common applications of CMS is a web content management system, which is designed to support the management of content on your website pages. In simple terms, a CMS allows your staff to create, add to, modify or remove content from your website, even if they have limited website experience, without the need to contact your web developer. This can be an efficient way to control costs in your business, enabling your existing staff to update your website as required.
CRM – Customer Relationship Management
A CRM System is software which allows you to effectively record and manage your company’s interaction with current and potential customers or clients. CRM Software systems allow you to store contact details, record meeting notes, quotes sent, set reminders, analyse interactions across multiple mediums such as website, phone, email, social media etc. This is a powerful tool for businesses focused on business development, as it gives a central visibility of your business’ customer relationships, but it also ensures that these relationships are owned at company level – you don’t run the risk of losing them if your employees leave for whatever reason.
ERP – Enterprise Resource Planning
An ERP system is a type of business management software, that is used to collect, store, manage and interpret data across many different activities within a business. ERP systems are used to track business expenses, raw material requirements, production capacity, stock levels, along with the status of customer orders, supplier purchase orders, and often payroll processing.
An ERP system is great for larger organisations, however can be costly to implement and maintain, not to mention the ongoing specialist training required for employees to be able to use it. Assess whether your DSP needs this level of high-powered business software to run, as it may cause more headaches in implementation and maintenance than it’s worth.
WMS – Warehouse Management System
A WMS is a software application that is designed to support and optimise warehouse and distribution centre management. Warehouse Management Systems allow for easy recording of stock items, quantities, locations, movement etc, while also assisting in daily planning, staffing, directing and controlling of all of the moving parts within a warehouse or distribution centre.
As a service-based business, your DSP is unlikely to require a WMS, however it’s good to understand what it is, in case you come across this acronym with your software partners.
LMS – Learning Management System
An LMS is a software system that stores learning modules, making it accessible for people to read and download. If your DSP requires specialised training for new and existing employees, it may be worth investing in an LMS as part of your Employee Retention Programme, to ensure that your employees are supported with the regular training and upskilling they require to remain proficient and productive in their jobs.
This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to technology acronyms, but is a good place to start for any DSP looking to upgrade their technology in their business, streamline their processes, and improve their overall productivity and profitability.
