Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) – The Basics

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is a business management software that uses a system of integrated applications to run & manage the various businesses of an organization effectively & efficiently. Its a suite of integrated modules built for various functionalities of the organization like Manufacturing, CRM, Supply Chain/Procurement, Finance/Accounting, Human Capital Management, Services etc. All these business functions runs smoothly using the various modules provided by the ERP solution.

Some of the major advantages of using an ERP solution are:

• Achieve end-to-end view across all business lines
• Improve performance with upto date information on financial & operational activities
• Extend global business process using Application integration architecture
• Reduce back office costs
• Efficient material management planning
• Aligning sales channels with corporate objectives
• Build customer focused applications strategy
• Manage global processes in localized way
• BI reports & analytics for better decision making

There are various providers of ERP solution in market with each of them having their pros & cons. An organization should evaluate very carefully the features of every ERP solution against their business needs and technical capabilities. One can start by implementing couple of most important modules like CRM, Manufacturing etc and then go full fledged into it.

You can chose from the below listed major ERP applications which are available in market today:

• SAP Business All-in-one
• Oracle EBS
• Microsoft Dynamics AX
• Infor10 ERP Enterprise
• Epicor ERP
• Sage ERP X3
• Lawson M3 ERP Enterprise
• Oracle JDEdwards Enterprise One