ERP CHALLENGES

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ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) as business management software allows an organization to use a system of integrated applications to manage the business and automate business functions. ERP software typically consists of multiple enterprise software modules that handle specific facets of a business operation, including product planning, product development, supply chain, manufacturing, sales and marketing, financial management etc. Each ERP module is focused on one functional area of business processes, such as sales and marketing. An organization implements specific ERP software modules based on what best meets the specific needs and technical capabilities of the organization.

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An organization's functional areas can have a hierarchical structure based on the organization's own nomenclature. Typical ERP modules include accounting modules for financial management, procurement, inventory control, distribution, sales modules for supply chain management, and production control, master planning for manufacturing execution management. More frequently, CRM modules and Business Intelligence are included in an ERP implementation as a single unified package as ERP methodology becomes standard for the business technology solution service industry.

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Enterprise management software has seen its adoption inertia in the market place due to the fact that the enterprise solution is costly and the organization impact is enormous. ERP field has been slow to change comparing to other technology advances. ​

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EMERGING TRENDS

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There are however, some noticeable trends that are shaping up the ERP industry. These trends can be summarized as follows:​

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• Mobile

• Cloud

• Social

• Two-Tier

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The anytime anywhere paradigm seems to drive the ERP Mobile trend. Increasingly, executives and employees demand real-time access to corporate information. Businesses are more willing than before to embrace the Mobile ERP for reports and dashboards. As the benefits of going cloud become clear, this trend is gaining the momentum. The social ERP trend has yet to prove that it will incur revolutionary shift to the field even though more and more ISVs are including the much hyped capabilities to their ERP suites. The two-tier ERP seems to get more and more acceptance by the market place as it has proven time after time that an all-encompassing ERP system has an extremely high failure rate. One size just does seem not to fit it all. Variation of business practices does warrant occasionally the best breed of solutions.

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ERP PLATFORM OPTIONS

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ERP software industry can be categorized into 3 different tiers based on the solutions tailored to the needs of the individual organizations.​

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• Tier 1: Large Enterprise ERP - The big 3: SAP, Oracle and Microsoft

• Tier 2: Mid-Market ERP - Infor, QAD, Lawson, Epicor, Sage and IFS

• Tier 3: Small Business ERP - Exact Globe, Syspro, NetSuite, Visibility, Consona, CDC Software and Activant Solutions​​

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COMMON MISTAKES IN ERP SYSTEM SELECTION

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Given the complexity introduced by the above three factors (Complicated Functionality, Confusing Options and Continuously Changing Capability), it's common for an organization to choose a system that is not the best fit for the business and this normally leads to an expensive implementation.​​ Some of the common mistakes include the following:​

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• Incomplete Requirements

• Reliance on Vendor Demos

• Over-emphasis on System Cost

• Selection Bias

• Failure to Use Objective Professional Services

• Inability to Understand Offering by ERP Vendor