Enterprise Resource Planning provides automation of office procedures and enables easy working. ERP can be used for many commercial activities such as managing inventory, handling customer orders, creating purchase orders, handling employee data, recruitments, managing sales and delivery of products to the customers. With the new advancement the software can even be used to provide customer service which provides complete customer satisfaction.
Evolution of ERPs: Basically the concept of ERP was developed in 80s when organizations required a system for quick calculation of everyday transactions. The first type of ERPs was basically calculating devices which were used to manage financial transactions. The software was used by US Army to perform the missile trajectory computations.
With the evolution of Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP) - the advancement in the field started and many large organizations which were facing the problem of handling huge data and everyday manual activities required a system to improve efficiency of the system.
Some of the early computers were used as information systems which were designed by different vendors and the non compatible technologies were used to integrate various processes of different systems.
Development of ERP into an integrated solution: Huge development started in 90s when the ERP was developed into an integrated system which provided solution module wise and the various procedures were integrated through centrally located data. The two tiers and N-tier architecture was developed to provide different layers of client, server and business processes. The changed business processes was defined to meet varying requirement of different organizations.
ERP provided transparent and accurate deals and it was easy to transfer data from one department to other. With the introduction of integrated system it was easy to implement the software and the need for technical specialties reduced.
Web based wireless ERP Service: In the last ten years ERP developed into a web based system which was integrated at one location and it can be accessed from any part of the world through internet. The system provided an easy method for the sales force to update information to the main server. The web based systems also enabled transfer of data across borders and companies having branches at many places in the world can see the updated data at one place without much effort and without spending on transportation of data.
The new system supports wireless and multi currency features, and the transactions are carried out as per the regional regulations. The business rules helps the system to handle customer's order in one system and eases flow of information between departments such as sales, purchase and warehouse.
Software-as-a-solution: In 90s the system called Software as a Solution was also developed. The new system provided by software companies called Saas - Software as a Solution can be used to update information from the server of the vendor, and the data is implemented and managed from one place. The buyer does not have to spend heavily on buying software implementation and hardware maintenance. With the advancement in technology the software available in market can be selected and implemented directly without spending heavily on integrations of applications to various departments.
Compare SAP, Oracle and Microsoft Dynamics ERP Software
