Omnna

“All-in-one value that pays off”

Pros

After looking into a lot of ERP options the biggest advantage I see with it is that it works as an all-in-one solution. In the ERP space I kept running into two common approaches either everything is built into one native system or you get a base platform and then have to keep adding separate bolt-ons. I put an asterisk next to this tool being fully all-in-one because it does rely on QuickBooks for Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable and the General Ledger. That said, it connects to QuickBooks and auto-populates the information so it still removes a lot of manual work. Since our accountant's biggest frustration was having to enter data into QuickBooks by hand, this setup actually worked well for us especially because she already knows QuickBooks very well. The reason I prefer Omnna's model is the pricing structure. Once you sign on with Omnna, you get access to the full system for the agreed price. With other ERP vendors, I saw the yearly cost of all those bolt-ons climb very quickly. For example, warehouse management is included with Omnna, while other vendors told us our needs would require a third-party warehouse system integrated into theirs for an extra $6,000 per year. Shipping was another example. Omnna includes shipping and if they do not already support a regional shipper, they can usually add it for a small one-time development fee. With the bolt-on systems, if you use a non-national shipper, suddenly you are being told to add something like Shiphawk for another $4,000 annually. That adds up fast and Omnna's approach made a lot more sense to us.

Cons

There are still a few higher-level features I would like to see Omnna add eventually especially ones I noticed in some competing ERP systems. These are not urgent needs for our business though and they definitely fall into the tertiary category. It is also worth noting that the systems offering these extras were charging hundreds or even thousands more per user each year. One feature I would really like is incoming email capture. I saw this in a competitor's CRM module. Omnna already lets users send emails through the system and keeps a record of outgoing communication which is very helpful. What I would love is the ability to capture incoming Outlook emails with a single click, like an "add to Omnna" button that automatically attaches the message to the matching customer record. It is not a dealbreaker but because part of our business involves federally regulated procedures, having a simpler way to track specific email threads would be a nice improvement. Another area is Field Service Management. I have heard they are already working on building this into the platform which is encouraging. Right now, we use a separate FSM system that does not allow third-party integrations, including with Omnna. Omnna actually made a real effort to connect with them because we wanted completed service jobs to automatically generate service orders for billing. That would have made the billing process easier and reduced errors but the outside FSM provider would not allow it. If Omnna releases its own FSM module, there is a good chance we would cancel our current FSM subscription.