Some of the more common types of enterprise applications include the following:

automated billing systems

payment processing
email marketing systems
content management
call center and customer support
Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
usiness !ntelligence
usiness Continuity Planning (CP)
"R Management
Enterprise #pplication !ntegration (E#!)
enterprise search
messaging and collaboration systems$
%ther common names for enterprise application include enterprise app& enterprise software and
enterprise application software (E#S)$
Enterprise Resource Planning
'$(he ERP system definition& then& would be a set of software applications that organi)e& define
and standardi)e the business processes necessary to effecti*ely plan and control an organi)ation$
Essentially& ERP applications are a computer model of your business& embodying the products
and processes& information flow& procedures& and relationships between functions and acti*ities$
# set of planning applications can pro*ide recommendations for what must be accomplished in
order to meet the forecasted demand and keep the business functioning smoothly$
definition
+ ERP is a set of integrated business applications& or modules which carry out common
business functions such as general ledger& accounting& or order management
Support business through optimi)ing& maintaining& and tracking business
functions
roken down into business processes
o "RM
o ,istribution
o -inancials
o Manufacturing
ERP& stands for enterprise resource planning& is a software system that aims to ser*e as a
backbone for your whole business$ !t integrates key business and management processes to
pro*ide a sky.le*el *iew of much of what/s going on in your organi)ation$ ERP tracks company
financials& human resources data and all the manufacturing information such as where you put
your in*entory and when it needs to be taken from the parts warehouse to the shop floor$
-or Process dri*en companies it would ha*e /recipe/ and /batch/ controls and for pro0ect
companies like construction& it would be /pro0ect/ control rather than /shop floor/ control$ !t can be
monolithic or modular& client1ser*er or web based$
(he leader in ERP market share& and the one that in*ented the market to an e2tent& is the
3erman company S#P #3 with its R14 software$ %ther big players include PeopleSoft !nc$&
%racle Corp$& aan Co$ 56 and 7$,$ Edwards 8 Co$
ERP systems attempt to integrate se*eral data sources and processes of an organi)ation
into a unified system$ # typical ERP system will use multiple components of computer software
and hardware to achie*e the integration$ # key ingredient of most ERP systems is the use of a
unified database to store data for the *arious system modules$ (he two key components of an
ERP system are a common database and a modular software design$ # common database is the
system that allows e*ery department of a company to store and retrie*e information in real.time$
9sing a common database allows information to be more reliable& accessible& and easily shared$
-urthermore& a modular software design is a *ariety of programs that can be added on an
indi*idual basis to impro*e the efficiency of the business$ (his impro*es the business by adding
functionality& mi2ing and matching programs from different *endors& and allowing the company
to choose which modules to implement$ (hese modular software designs link into the common
database& so that all of the information between the departments is accessible in real time$
Top ERP Trends
(he ERP field can be slow to change& but the last couple of years ha*e unleashed forces which
are fundamentally shifting the entire area$ #ccording to Enterprise #pps (oday& the following
new and continuing trends affect enterprise ERP software:
1. Mobile ERP
Mobility continues to be a big trend$ E2ecuti*es and employees want real.time access to
information& regardless of where they are$ !t is e2pected that businesses will :uickly embrace
mobile ERP& not 0ust for reports and dashboards& but for conducting key business processes$
2. Cloud ERP
(he cloud has been ad*ancing steadily into the enterprise for some time& but many ERP users
ha*e been reluctant to place data cloud$ (hose reser*ations ha*e gradually been e*aporating&
howe*er& as the ad*antages of the cloud become apparent$
3. Social ERP
(here has been much hype around social media and how important ; or not .. it is to add to ERP
systems$ Certainly& *endors ha*e been :uick to sei)e the initiati*e& adding social media packages
to their ERP systems with much fanfare$ ut some wonder if there is really much gain to be had
by integrating social media with ERP$
4. Twotier ERP
Enterprises once attempted to build an all.encompassing ERP system to take care of e*ery aspect
of organi)ational systems$ ut some e2pensi*e failures ha*e gradually brought about a change in
strategy ; adopting two tiers of ERP$
ERP 6endors
,epending on your organi)ation/s si)e and needs there are a number of enterprise resource
planning software *endors to choose from in the large enterprise& mid.market and the small
business ERP market$
!ar"e Enterprise ERP #ERP Tier $%
(he ERP market for large enterprises is dominated by three companies: S#P& %racle and
Microsoft$ (Source: Enterprise#pps(oday< Enterprise ERP uyer/s 3uide: S#P& %racle and
Microsoft< ,rew Robb)
Mid Mar&et ERP #ERP Tier $$%
-or the midmarket *endors include !nfor& =#,& >awson& Epicor& Sage and !-S$ (Source:
Enterprise#pps(oday< Midmarket ERP uyer/s 3uide< ,rew Robb)
Small 'usiness ERP #ERP Tier $$$%
E2act 3lobe& Syspro& 5etSuite& 6isibility& Consona& C,C Software and #cti*ant Solutions round
out the ERP *endors for small businesses$ (Source: Enterprise#pps(oday< ERP uyer/s 3uide
for Small usinesses< ,rew Robb)
(he #d*antages and ,isad*antages of ERP
(he ad*antages and disad*antages of ERP is an interesting Study$ (he foremost ad*antage of an
ERP system is bringing down the costs and sa*ing the *aluable time which would ha*e been
wasted in procedural maneu*ers and unwanted delays$
(here are a number of powerful ad*antages to Enterprise Resource Planning$ !t has been used to
sol*e a number of problems that ha*e plagued large organi)ations in the past$ #t the same time& it
is not without a number of disad*antages$ eing able to weigh the two will allow a company to
decide if this solution will properly meet their needs$
#d*antages of ERP
!ntegration
!ntegration can be highest benefit of them all . practically& the only really good pro0ect aim for
implementing ERP is reducing data redundancy and redundant data entry$ !f this is set as a goal&
to automate in*entory posting to 31> etc$ then it might be a successful pro0ect$ (hose companies
where integration is not so important or e*en dangerous tend to ha*e a hard time with ERP: ERP
does not impro*e the indi*idual efficiency of users& so if they e2pect it& it will be a big
disappointment . ERP only impro*es the cooperation of users$
Efficiency
3enerally& ERP software focuses on integration and tends to not care about the daily needs of
people$ ! think indi*idual efficiency can suffer by implementing an ERP . so the big :uestion is
that whether the benefit of integration and cooperation can make up for the loss in personal
efficiency or not$
Cost reduction
!t reduces cost only if the company took accounting and reporting seriously e*en before the ERP
and had put a lot of manual effort in it$ !f they didn/t care about it& if they 0ust did some simple
accounting to fill mandatory statements and if internal reporting did not e2ists of has not been
financially.oriented& then no cost is reduced$ !f you can get a good estimate on ne2t years sales
by asking ?"ey 7oe& how it/s going@? then don/t e*er think on implementing an ERP$
-ewer personnel
Same as abo*e$ >ess reporting or accounting personnel& but more sales assistants etc$
#ccuracy
People are accurate& not software$ Ahat ERP does is makes the li*es of inaccurate people or
organi)ation a complete hell and maybe forces them to be accurate (which means hiring more
people or distributing work better)& or it falls$
,isad*antages of ERP
Problems with ERP systems are mainly due to inade:uate in*estment in ongoing training for
in*ol*ed personnel& including those implementing and testing changes& as well as a lack of
corporate policy protecting the integrity of the data in the ERP systems and how it is used$
'$ Customi)ation of the ERP software is limited$
B$ Re.engineering of business processes to fit the ?industry standard? prescribed by the ERP
system may lead to a loss of competiti*e ad*antage$
4$ ERP systems can be *ery e2pensi*e leading to a new category of ?ERP light? solutions
C$ERPs are often seen as too rigid and too difficult to adapt to the specific workflow and business
process of some companiesDthis is cited as one of the main causes of their failure$
E$ Many of the integrated links need high accuracy in other applications to work effecti*ely$ #
company can achie*e minimum standards& and then o*er time ?dirty data? will reduce the
reliability of some applications$
F$ %nce a system is established& switching costs are *ery high for any one of the partners
(reducing fle2ibility and strategic control at the corporate le*el)$
G$ (he blurring of company boundaries can cause problems in accountability& lines of
responsibility& and employee morale$
H$ Resistance in sharing sensiti*e internal information between departments can reduce the
effecti*eness of the software$
I$ Some large organi)ations may ha*e multiple departments with separate& independent
resources& missions& chains.of.command& etc& and consolidation into a single enterprise may
yield limited benefits$
'J$ (he system may be too comple2 measured against the actual needs of the customer$
Conclusion
ERP is recommended in an organi)ation not only because the ad*antages outnumber the
disad*antages but also by keeping in mind the ways to o*ercome the disad*antages$ #n
organi)ation has to correctly weigh the ad*antages and disad*antages of ERP before going for
them$
(d)anta"es * +isad)anta"es of ERP

#d*antages of ERP Systems
o Pro*ides integration of the supply.chain& production& and administration
o Creates commonality of databases
o Can incorporate impro*ed best processes
o !ncreases communication and collaboration between business units and sites
o "as an off.the.shelf software database
o May pro*ide a strategic ad*antage

,isad*antages of ERP Systems
o !s *ery e2pensi*e to purchase and e*en more so to customi)e
o !mplementation may re:uire ma0or changes in the company and its processes
o !s so comple2 that many companies cannot ad0ust to it
o !n*ol*es an ongoing& possibly ne*er ending& process for implementation
E2pertise is limited with ongoing staffing problems
Enterprise Resource Planning
Support business through optimi)ing& maintaining& and tracking business
functions
roken down into business processes
o "RM
o ,istribution
o -inancials
o Manufacturing