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Written by GVRavindranath
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"Necessity is the Mother of Invention"
Striving for excellence to make things easier has always been a struggle only we humans can experience. True to the saying, we experience the comforts which are results of the struggle put in by some great minds.
ERP. A term coined as a synonym to Enterprise Resource Planning software that is used by many people with a belief that it helps to run their business smoothly. Once a hope, then a reality, now an obligation, ERP brings in new levels of ease and achieves the correlation between different branches of a business organization like Accounting,Finance,Human Resources,I.T etc referring to it as a single entity. Irrespective of the size of the company, every firm uses one form of ERP system or another.
The functioning of a Human body is an ideal example with its different organs doing their respective functions without affecting each other all for a greater cause called "Life". Of course this is not any where close to harmony because when the body falls sick we are no where near to our normal self. If this is the case of our own body imagine the work of a system developed by us.
Initially most ERP systems did fail due to various reasons like :
1)Promising so much and delivering too little.
2)People's reluctance to change their old working habits and get accustomed to the new system.
3)Since everything is dependent on the ERP system a minor software glitch might bring proceedings to a virtual standstill etc.
Even then they survived and evolved into much better systems, thanks to some great ERP users with their critical reviews of the system developed by putting forward their actual requirements and ERP developers who listened to them. Of course this is a continuous process that does a world of good to the ERP itself.
Since ERP itself is a software system and just like any other software having version numbers indicating whether it is a much better version or bugged version similarly can we say the latest ERP systems that are being evolved and developed from certain revolutionary technological aspects as ERP 2.0
You decide after reading the following technological aspects :
Previously, to most extent even now softwares are installed at on-site where they are required and ERP systems are no different. This involved increased time load for installation and updation of the software, certain integration issues(not everyone needs all modules of ERP), and not to forget the consultation fee of the administrator who installs it.
With SaaS(Software as a Service) architecture also known as On-demand(contrast to On-site installation and usage of software) technology ERP development and deployment has been changed. Access to such ERP applications is primarily through an internet connection.
The Key advantages of an On-demand ERP application are:
1)Significant reduction in the down time in case of system related issues.
2)Faster response almost simillar to an On-site installation.
3)Easier to install and to access.
4)Cost effective with pay per used duration or per user policies of the vendor.
Still in its early stages and information security concerns looming slightly this is certainly another revolutionary innovation which determines how a business functions.
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