Enterprise Resource Planning Systems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Enterprise Resource Planning Systems - Essay ExampleAlthough ERP has been the cornerst wholeness of the success stories of most companies from several(prenominal) years, there has not been a unified definition for the term ERP. The absence of a single definition is due to the intrinsic complexity of the motive slowly ERP instruction execution. According to the PC Magazine, ERP is a concept that aims at utilizing an integrated IT system, which serves all departments within an enterprise (PC Magazine, 2007). The definition implies that an ERP system is not a custom software, still a packaged software that a company tin configure to interface with its own IT systems and business enterprise processes (finance, logistics, HR, manufacturing etc). Some of todays leading ERP vendors are SAP, Oracle and Microsoft.Although its implementation has taken various forms, the essential concept of ERP has remained the same. Today ERP has become a worldwide industry standard term for the broad se t of activities supported by multi-module application software that helps a manufacturer or other business manage the important parts of its business, including product planning, parts purchasing, maintaining inventories, interacting with suppliers, providing customer service, and tracking orders. ERP can also include application modules for the finance and human resources aspects of a business (EC Council, 2002).ERP is a standaERP Customization The First Step to SuccessERP is a standard software package, and equal any other standard software package aimed at automating an anonymous industry it must be tailored to the specific requirements of the business domain in which it is being used. According to Gartner Group (1997), the scale of business sector Process Re-Engineering and customization account for the maximum reasons for ERP implementation failures. Therefore customization of the ERP software is a primary and a particular step in ERP implementation. Two types of tailoring m ethods can be applied to customize the ERP software to the specific business. Customize the ERP package to suit the business process.Business Process Re-Engineering Customizing the Business Process to suit the ERP package.In the first scenario, the company buys the off-shelf ERP package, and customizes the software found on the business rules and policies defined by the company. The second scenario is the one that is most comm scarcely applied. In this customization strategy, the company re-engineers its business processes to match the vendors ERP logic. It is not essential that all the business processes of the company be re-engineered. The company performs BPR on only those business processes that are currently not in tandem with the philosophy of the ERP package. ERP implementation and BPR activities should be closely connected. ERP implementation should involve the analysis of current business processes and the chance of reengineering, rather than designing an application syste m that makes only the best of bad processes (Scheer & Habermann, 2000).Current ERP TechnologyMost current ERP software packages are based on 3-Tier Client Server Architecture. The 3 tiers of this architecture areUser Interface Contains the GUI that receives user input.Business Logic These are servers