ENTERPRISE RESOURCE PLANNING

UNIT-1
Introduction to ERP
ERP- DEFINITION
An Enterprise resource planning system is a fully integrated business
management system covering functional areas of an enterprise like Logistics,
Production, Finance, Accounting and Human Resources. It organizes and
integrates operation processes and information flows to make optimum use of
resources such as men, material, money and machine. Enterprise resource
planning promises
◦ one database,
◦ one application,
◦ one user interface
for the entire enterprise, where once disparate systems ruled manufacturing,
distribution, finance and sales.
Evolution of ERP:
Enterprise resource planning (ERP) is an integral component of today’s
complex global marketplace. ERP software helps companies streamline
business processes, including:
• Product planning, cost and development
• Manufacturing or service delivery
• Marketing and sales
• Inventory management
• Shipping and payment
–––
The Evolution of Enterprise Resource Planning
The 1960s – Growth of Enterprise Information Systems (EIS)
Early systems were based on automation for individual functions, like financial
accounting or inventory management.
–––
The 1970s – Shift to Material Requirements Planning (MRP)
MRP systems tapped into the master production schedule, allowing businesses
to plan the parts and product requirements.
–––
The 1980s – Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP II) Introduced
MRP II software emphasized an optimized manufacturing process that
coordinated materials and production requirements, extending services to:
• The shop floor
• Finance
• Human resources
• Engineering
• Project management
• Distribution management
–––
The 1990s – Birth of Enterprise Resource Planning
By the early ‘90s, MRP-II had been extended to include enterprise-wide
functions and integration.
Extended MRP II systems were renamed enterprise resource planning systems.
ERP uses a single database containing all the data that keeps the processes
running smoothly, ensuring visibility, accessibility, and consistency.
–––
2000s and Beyond – Extended Enterprise Resource Planning
Extended ERP systems include:
• Customer relationship management
• Supply chain management
• Advanced planning and scheduling
Continuing ERP trends include capabilities for:
• Cloud
• Mobile
• Analytics

Evalution:
In the ever-growing business environment, the following demands are placed
on the industry:
▪Aggressive cost control initiatives
 ▪Need to analyse costs/revenues on a product or customer basis
▪Flexibility to respond to changing business requirements
▪More informed management decision making
▪Changes in ways of doing business.
One or more applications and planning systems have been introduced into the
business world for crossing Some of hurdles and achieving growth. They are:
▪ Management Information Systems (MIS)
▪Integrated Information Systems (IIS)
▪Executive Information Systems (EIS)
▪Corporate Information Systems (CIS)
▪Enterprise Wide Systems (EWS)
▪Material Resource Planning (MRP)
▪Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP II)
▪Money Resource Planning (MRP III)
ERP has evolved from the system known as MRPII (Manufacturing Requirement
planning) system with the integration of information between Vendor,
Customer and Manufacturer using networks such as LAN, WAN and INTERNET
etc.
MRPII system again evolved from MRP (Material Requirement Planning) system.
MRP is a technique that explodes the end product demands obtained from
Master Production Schedule (MPS) for the given product structure which is
taken from Bill of Material (BOM) into a schedule of planned orders considering
the inventory in hand.
MRPII has a number of drawbacks.
▪The main problem is that it has not been able to effectively integrate the
different functional areas to share the resources effectively.
▪The traditional application systems, which the organizations generally
employ, treat each transaction separately
 ▪They are built around the strong boundaries of specific functions that a
specific application is meant to cater.
For an ERP, it stops treating these transactions separately as stand-alone
activities and considers them to be the part of the inter-linked processes that
make up the business.
Enabling Technologies :
▪It is not possible to think of an ERP system without sophisticated
information technology infrastructure.
▪It is said that, the earlier ERP systems were built only to work with huge
mainframe computers.
▪The new era of PC, advent of client server technology and scalable
Relational Database Management Systems (RDBMS)
▪ Most of the ERP systems exploit the power of Three Tier Client Server
Architecture.
▪The other important enabling technologies for ERP systems are Workflow,
Work group, Group Ware, Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), Internet,
Intranet, Data warehousing, etc.

Why Companies Undertake ERP

1. Integrate financial information : As the CEO tries to understand the
company’s overall performance, he may find many different versions of
the truth. ERP creates a single version of the truth that cannot be
questioned because everyone is using the same system.
2. Integrate customer order information : ERP systems can become the
place where the customer order lives from the time a customer service
representative receives it until the loading dock ships the merchandise
and finance sends an invoice. By having this information in one software
system companies can keep track of orders more easily, and coordinate
manufacturing, inventory and shipping among many different locations
simultaneously.
 3. Standardise and speed up manufacturing processes : Manufacturing
companies -especially those with an appetite for mergers and
acquisitions—often find that multiple business units across the company
make the same transaction / recording / report using different methods
and computer systems. ERP systems come with standard methods for
automating some of the steps of a manufacturing process.
4. Reduce inventory : ERP helps the manufacturing process flow more
smoothly, and it improves visibility of the order fulfilment process inside
the company. That can lead to reduced inventories of the materials used
to make products (work-in-progress inventory), and it can help users
better plan deliveries to customers, reducing the finished good inventory
at the warehouses and shipping docks.
5. Standardise HR information : Especially in companies with multiple
business units, HR may not have a unified, simple method for tracking
employees’ time and communicating with them about benefits and
services. ERP can fix that.

Benefits of ERP :
Following are some of the benefits they achieved by implementing the ERP
packages :
▪ Gives Accounts Payable personnel increased control of invoicing and
payment processing and thereby boosting their productivity and
eliminating their reliance on computer personnel for these operations.
▪ Reduce paper documents by providing on-line formats for quickly
entering and retrieving information.
▪ Improves timeliness of information by permitting posting daily instead of
monthly.
▪ Greater accuracy of information with detailed content, better
presentation, satisfactory for the auditors.
▪ Improved cost control.
▪ Faster response and follow-.up on customers.
 ▪ More efficient cash collection, say, material reduction in delay in
payments by customers.
▪ Better monitoring and quicker resolution of queries.
▪ Enables quick response to change in business operations and market
conditions.
▪ Helps to achieve competitive advantage by improving its business
process.
▪ Improves supply-demand linkage with remote locations and branches in
different countries.
▪ Provides a unified customer database usable by all applications.
▪ Improves International operations by supporting a variety of tax
structures, invoicing schemes, multiple currencies, multiple period
accounting and languages.
▪ Improves information access and management throughout the
enterprise.
▪ Provides solution for problems like Y2K and Single Monetary Unit (SMU)
or Euro Currency
The Driving Force behind ERP
There are two main driving forces behind Enterprise Resource Planning for a
business organization.
 In a business sense, Enterprise Resource Planning ensures customer
satisfaction, as it leads to business development that is development of
new areas, new products and new services.
Also, it allows businesses to face competition for implementing
Enterprise Resource Planning, and it ensures efficient processes that
push the company into top gear.
 In an IT sense: Most softwares does not meet business needs wholly
and the legacy systems today are hard to maintain. In addition, outdated
hardware and software is hard to maintain.
Hence, for the above reasons, Enterprise Resource Planning is necessary for
management in today's business world. ERP is single software, which tackles
problems such as material shortages, customer service, finances management,
quality issues and inventory problems. An ERP system can be the dashboard of
the modern era managers.
Implementing ERP System
Producing Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software is complex and also has
many significant implications for staff work practice. Implementing the
software is a difficult task too and one that 'in-house' IT specialists cannot
handle. Hence to implement ERP software, organizations hire third party
consulting companies or an ERP vendor.
This is the most cost effective way. The time taken to implement an ERP system
depends on the size of the business, the number of departments involved, the
degree of customization involved, the magnitude of the change and the
cooperation of customers to the project.
Advantages of ERP System
With Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software, accurate forecasting
can be done. When accurate forecasting inventory levels are kept at
maximum efficiency, this allows for the organization to be profitable.
Integration of the various departments ensures communication,
productivity and efficiency.
Adopting ERP software eradicates the problem of coordinating changes
between many systems.
ERP software provides a top-down view of an organization, so
information is available to make decisions at anytime, anywhere.
Disadvantages of ERP System
Adopting ERP systems can be expensive.
The lack of boundaries created by ERP software in a company can cause
problems of who takes the blame, lines of responsibility and employee
morale.
Conclusion
While employing an ERP system may be expensive, it offers organizations a
cost efficient system in the long run.
ERP software works by integrating all the different departments in on
organization into one computer system allowing for efficient communication
between these departments and hence enhances productivity.
The organizations should take extra precautions when it comes to choosing the
correct ERP system for them. There have been many cases that organizations
have lost a lot of money due to selecting the 'wrong' ERP solution and a service
provider for them.

Supply Chain Management (SCM)

What is Supply Chain Management (SCM)
Supply chain management is the management of the flow of goods and
services and includes all processes that transform raw materials into final
products. It involves the active streamlining of a business's supply-side
activities to maximize customer value and gain a competitive advantage in the
marketplace. SCM represents an effort by suppliers to develop and implement
supply chains that are as efficient and economical as possible. Supply chains
cover everything from production to product development to the information
systems needed to direct these undertakings.
BREAKING DOWN Supply Chain Management (SCM)
Typically, SCM attempts to centrally control or link the production, shipment,
and distribution of a product. By managing the supply chain, companies are
able to cut excess costs and deliver products to the consumer faster. This is
done by keeping tighter control of internal inventories, internal production,
distribution, sales, and the inventories of company vendors. SCM is based on
the idea that nearly every product that comes to market results from the
efforts of various organizations that make up a supply chain. Although supply
chains have existed for ages, most companies have only recently paid attention
to them as a value-add to their operations.
Supply Chain
A supply chain is the connected network of individuals, organizations,
resources, activities, and technologies involved in the manufacture and sale of
a product or service. A supply chain starts with the delivery of raw materials
from a supplier to a manufacturer and ends with the delivery of the finished
product or service to the end consumer. SCM oversees each touch point of a
company's product or service, from initial creation to the final sale. With so
many places along the supply chain that can add value through efficiencies or
lose value through increased expenses, proper SCM can increase revenues,
decrease costs, and impact a company's bottom line.
SCM
Supply chain management (SCM) is the broad range of activities required to
plan, control and execute a product's flow, from acquiring raw materials and
production through distribution to the final customer, in the most streamlined
and cost-effective way possible.
SCM encompasses the integrated planning and execution of processes
required to optimize the flow of materials, information and financial capital in
the areas that broadly include demand planning, sourcing,
production, inventory management and storage, transportation -- or logistics --
and return for excess or defective products. Both business strategy and
specialized software are used in these endeavors to create a competitive
advantage.
Supply chain management is an expansive, complex undertaking that relies on
each partner -- from suppliers to manufacturers and beyond -- to run well.
Because of this, effective supply chain management also requires change
management, collaboration and risk management to create alignment and
communication between all the entities.
In addition, supply chain sustainability -- which covers environmental, social
and legal issues, in addition to sustainable procurement -- and the closely
related concept of corporate social responsibility -- which evaluates a
company's effect on the environment and social well-being -- are areas of
major concern for today's companies.
Logistics vs. supply chain management
The terms supply chain management and logistics are often confused or used
synonymously. However, logistics is a component of supply chain management.
It focuses on moving a product or material in the most efficient way so it
arrives at the right place at the right time. It manages activities such as
packaging, transportation, distribution, warehousing and delivery.
In contrast, SCM involves a more expansive range of activities, such as strategic
sourcing of raw materials, procuring the best prices on goods and materials,
and coordinating supply chain visibility efforts across the supply chain network
of partners, to name just a few.
Benefits of supply chain management
Supply chain management creates efficiencies, raises profits, lowers costs,
boosts collaboration and more. SCM enables companies to better manage
demand, carry the right amount of inventory, deal with disruptions, keep costs
to a minimum and meet customer demand in the most effective way possible.
These SCM benefits are achieved through the appropriate strategies and
software to help manage the growing complexity of today's supply chains.
Supply chain complexity
The most basic version of a supply chain includes a company, its suppliers and
the customers of that company. The chain could look like this: raw material
producer, manufacturer, distributor, retailer and retail customer.
A more complex, or extended, supply chain will likely include a number of
suppliers and suppliers' suppliers, a number of customers and customers'
customers -- or final customers -- and all the organizations that offer the
services required to effectively get products to customers, including third-party
logistics providers, financial organizations, supply chain software vendors and
marketing research providers. These entities also use services from other
providers.
The totality of these organizations, which evokes the metaphor of an
interrelated web rather than a linear chain, gives insight into why supply chain
management is so complex. That complexity also hints at the types of issues
that can arise, from demand management issues, such as a release of a new
iPhone that chokes demand for old iPhone cases; to natural supply chain
disruptions, such as the halt of transportation in the U.S. in 2015 due to
extreme winter weather, or California's drought and its effect on crops; to
political upheaval, such as the strikes in India that throttled movement at its
largest container port.
The role of supply chain management software
Technology is critical in managing today's supply chains, and ERP vendors offer
modules that focus on relevant areas. There are also business software
vendors that focus specifically on SCM. A few important areas to note include:
 Supply chain planning software for activities such as demand management.
 Supply chain execution software for activities such as day-to-day
manufacturing operations.
 Supply chain visibility software for tasks such as spotting and anticipating
risks and proactively managing them.
 Inventory management software for tasks such as tracking and optimizing
inventory levels.
 Logistics management software and transportation management
systems for activities such as managing the transport of goods, especially
across global supply chains.
 Warehouse management systems for activities related to warehouse
operations.
Infor, JDA Software, Oracle and SAP are well-known vendors of supply chain
software.
The increasingly global nature of today's supply chains and the rise of e-
commerce, with its focus on nearly instant small deliveries straight to
consumers, are posing challenges, particularly in the area of logistics and
demand planning. A number of strategies -- such as lean -- and newer
approaches -- such as demand-driven material requirements planning -- may
prove helpful.
Technology -- especially big data, predictive analytics, internet of things
(IoT) technology, supply chain analytics, robotics and autonomous vehicles -- is
also being used to help solve modern challenges, including in the areas of
supply chain risk and disruption and supply chain sustainability.
As just two examples, IoT can help with transparency and traceability to help
boost food quality and safety by using sensors to monitor the temperature of
perishable food while it's in transit. And analytics can help determine where to
put smart lockers in densely populated areas to cut the number of single-item
deliveries and lower greenhouse gas emissions.
4 Ways Service Supply Chain Technology Can Improve Your Business
Today’s competitive marketplace means there’s less room for inefficiency, but
the good news is supply chain technology can simplify and optimize your
business processes. That’s why it’s imperative for companies to continually
innovate and streamline their supply chain, and software likely provides the
greatest bang for the buck.
The right service supply chain technology enables your company to create
greater visibility within your supply chain, gain more control over your
inventory, reduce operating costs, and, ultimately, outpace the competition.
Here’s how tech and platforms designed for the supply chain can provide your
company with a more stable and efficient supply chain that enhances customer
satisfaction and retention.
1. Real-time, Actionable Data
In order to service customers, you need real-time inventory data at your
fingertips that is accurate and actionable, no matter where the part is located
worldwide.
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chips, barcodes and scanners are vital
pieces of equipment that can provide innumerable benefits to your business.
For example, RFID chips or barcodes can be placed on every product, which
gives your company a way to easily track inventory.
With computerized product management, RFID chips and a barcode system
provide increased visibility that can substantially improve your supply chain
efficiency by detecting any order anomalies as they occur — enabling
employees to immediately correct mistakes and reduce errors. Such
technology also allows for easier, more consistent tracking throughout your
supply chain, giving you maximum control and visibility over parts, whether
those are motherboards or processors.
Knowing what you have and where it’s located leads to supply chain
efficiencies and lower operating costs.
2. Visibility Across Your Supply Chain
Paired with RFID technology, cloud-based computerized shipping and tracking
further simplifies the supply process and can dramatically reduce shipping
errors.
Software like FlashTrac and its mobile version FlashLite enables savvy business
owners to consolidate all aspects of their supply chain in one place. The apps
enable you to digitally organize inventory data, monitor and manage shipping
and tracking information, and create electronic invoices with ease.
Such supply chain management technologies make it easy to greatly reduce
the time spent shipping, receiving, tracking, and compiling order data. This can
save your company both time and money.
Last but not least, enhanced data availability makes it easier to produce
customized reports and auto-generated reports that help your customers and
you better understand where opportunities for improvement lie.
3. Simplify Your Supply Chain
It’s common sense that the more links there are in your supply chain, the more
convoluted and complex that chain becomes and the more prone to errors and
delays.
Investing in supply chain technology helps your company simplify its supply
chain, eliminate unnecessary links, improve efficiency and reduce
expenditures.
Optimizing the number of links in your supply chain will also enable you to
lower the risks associated with shipping and receiving. For instance, you may
find you can decrease the number of vendors for a particular part to two or
three companies rather than five or six, and still meet your company’s service
obligations and mitigate your risk around unpredictable events, such as natural
disasters or a potential trade war.
Customers turn away from businesses that routinely have shipping delays,
shipping errors, and products that are out of stock. Enhancing your supply
chain technology can minimize risk and improve your company’s reputation
within the industry.
4. Enhance Customer Communication
Creating predictability, consistency and visibility within your service supply
chain enables your business to communicate faster and more efficiently with
customers. Ideally, your supply chain technology will give you immediate
access to all the real-time, actionable information you need, such as:
 Parts order tracking

 FSL location map

 Location of specific parts availability globally

 Location of parts nearest the customer

 Tracking field tech support personnel

For an example of how this might work, let’s say a server is down and your
customer needs a processing chip to fix it. You can enter in the part number,
the location where the part is needed, and the system will tell you where to
ship it from.
If your company hasn’t already jumped on the social media bandwagon, this is
another communications tool to add to your supply chain arsenal. You can use
social media accounts to interact with customers, respond to questions, report
accidents or weather conditions that may impede delivery or service
schedules, and create automated updates about your inventory.
Social media can also increase the visibility of your company and improve
demand for your products and services.
To stay ahead of your competition, it’s essential you continually adapt to
emerging tools. Supply chain technology can greatly enhance your productivity
as a company by helping you cut costs and improve customer satisfaction.

CRM
This is a simple definition of CRM.

Customer relationship management (CRM) is a technology for managing all

your company’s relationships and interactions with customers and potential
customers. The goal is simple: Improve business relationships. A CRM system
helps companies stay connected to customers, streamline processes, and
improve profitability.

When people talk about CRM, they are usually referring to a CRM system, a
tool that helps with contact management, sales management, productivity,
and more.

A CRM solution helps you focus on your organization’s relationships with

individual people — including customers, service users, colleagues, or suppliers
— throughout your lifecycle with them, including finding new customers,
winning their business, and providing support and additional services
throughout the relationship.
Who is CRM for?

A CRM system gives everyone — from sales, customer service, business

development, recruiting, marketing, or any other line of business — a better
way to manage the external interactions and relationships that drive success. A
CRM tool lets you store customer and prospect contact information, identify
sales opportunities, record service issues, and manage marketing campaigns,
all in one central location — and make information about every customer
interaction available to anyone at your company who might need it.

With visibility and easy access to data, it's easier to collaborate and increase
productivity. Everyone in your company can see how customers have been
communicated with, what they’ve bought, when they last purchased, what
they paid, and so much more. CRM can help companies of all sizes drive
business growth, and it can be especially beneficial to a small business, where
teams often need to find ways to do more with less.
Here’s why CRM matters to your business.

Gartner predicts that by 2021, CRM will be the single largest revenue area of
spending in enterprise software. If your business is going to last, you know that
you need a strategy for the future. You have targets for sales, business
objectives, and profitability. But getting up-to-date, reliable information on
your progress can be tricky. How do you translate the many streams of data
coming in from sales, customer service, marketing, and social media
monitoring into useful business information?

A CRM system can give you a clear overview of your customers. You can see
everything in one place — a simple, customizable dashboard that can tell you a
customer’s previous history with you, the status of their orders, any
outstanding customer service issues, and more.

You can even choose to include information from their public social media
activity — their likes and dislikes, what they are saying and sharing about you
or your competitors. Marketers can use a CRM solution to better understand
the pipeline of sales or prospects coming in, making forecasting simpler and
more accurate. You’ll have clear visibility of every opportunity or lead, showing
you a clear path from inquiries to sales. Some of the biggest gains in
productivity can come from moving beyond CRM as a sales and marketing tool,
and embedding it in your business – from HR to customer services and supply-
chain management.

Though CRM systems have traditionally been used as sales and marketing
tools, customer service teams are seeing great benefits in using them. Today’s
customer might raise an issue in one channel — say, Twitter — and then switch
to email or telephone to resolve it in private. A CRM platform lets you manage
the inquiry across channels without losing track, and gives sales, service, and
marketing a single view of the customer.
Running a business without CRM can cost you real money.

More administration means less time for everything else. An active sales team
can generate a flood of data. Reps are out on the road talking to customers,
meeting prospects, and finding out valuable information – but all too often this
information gets stored in handwritten notes, laptops, or inside the heads of
your salespeople.
Details can get lost, meetings are not followed up on promptly, and prioritizing
customers can be a matter of guesswork rather than a rigorous exercise based
on fact. And it can all be compounded if a key salesperson moves on. But it's
not just sales that suffers without CRM.
Your customers may be contacting you on a range of different platforms
including phone, email, or social media — asking questions, following up on
orders, or contacting you about an issue. Without a common platform for
customer interactions, communications can be missed or lost in the flood of
information — leading to a slow or unsatisfactory response.

Even if you do successfully collect all this data, you’re faced with the challenge
of making sense of it. It can be difficult to extract intelligence. Reports can be
hard to create and they can waste valuable selling time. Managers can lose
sight of what their teams are up to, which means that they can’t offer the right
support at the right time – while a lack of oversight can also result in a lack of
accountability from the team.
What does a CRM system do?

A customer relationship management (CRM) solution helps you find new

customers, win their business, and keep them happy by organizing customer
and prospect information in a way that helps you build stronger relationships
with them and grow your business faster. CRM systems start by collecting a
customer's website, email, telephone, social media data, and more, across
multiple sources and channels. It may also automatically pull in other
information, such as recent news about the company's activity, and it can store
personal details, such as a client's personal preferences on communications.
The CRM tool organizes this information to give you a complete record of
individuals and companies overall, so you can better understand your
relationship over time.

A CRM platform can also connect to other business apps that help you to
develop customer relationships. CRM solutions today are more open and can
integrate with your favorite business tools, such as document signing,
accounting and billing, and surveys, so that information flows both ways to
give you a true 360-degree view of your customer.

And a new generation of CRM goes one step further: Built-in intelligence
automates administrative tasks, like data entry and lead or service case
routing, so you can free up time for more valuable activities. Automatically
generated insights help you understand your customers better, even predicting
how they will feel and act so that you can prepare the right outreach.
Here’s how a CRM system can help your business today.

1. MAKE IMPROVEMENTS TO YOUR BOTTOM LINE.

Introducing a CRM platform has been shown to produce real results – including
direct improvements to the bottom line. CRM applications have a proven track
record of increasing

2. IDENTIFY AND CATEGORIZE LEADS.

A CRM system can help you identify and add new leads easily and quickly, and
categorize them accurately. By focusing on the right leads, sales can prioritize
the opportunities that will close deals, and marketing can identify leads that
need more nurturing and prime them to become quality leads.

With complete, accurate, centrally held information about clients and

prospects, sales and marketing can focus their attention and energy on the
right clients.

3. INCREASE REFERRALS FROM EXISTING CUSTOMERS.

By understanding your customers better, cross-selling and upselling
opportunities become clear — giving you the chance to win new business from
existing customers.
With better visibility, you’ll also be able to keep your customers happy with
better service. Happy customers are likely to become repeat customers, and
repeat customers spend more — up to 33% more according to some studies.

4. OFFER BETTER CUSTOMER SUPPORT.

Today's customers expect fast, personalized support, at any time of day or

night. A CRM system can help you provide the high-quality service that
customers are looking for. Your agents can quickly see what products
customers have ordered, and they can get a record of every interaction so they
can give customers the answers they need, fast.

5. IMPROVE PRODUCTS AND SERVICES.

A good CRM system will gather information from a huge variety of sources
across your business and beyond. This gives you unprecedented insights into
how your customers feel and what they are saying about your organization —
so you can improve what you offer, spot problems early, and identify gaps.
Here’s what cloud-based CRM offers your business.

CRM and the cloud computing revolution have changed everything. Perhaps
the most significant recent development in CRM systems has been the move
into the cloud from on-premises CRM software. Freed from the need to install
software on hundreds or thousands of desktop computers and mobile devices,
organizations worldwide are discovering the benefits of moving data, software,
and services into a secure online environment.

WORK FROM ANYWHERE.

Cloud-based CRM systems such as Salesforce (Learn more: What is Salesforce?)

mean every user has the same information, all the time. Your sales teams out
on the road can check data, update it instantly after a meeting, or work from
anywhere. The same information is available to anyone who needs it, from the
sales team to the customer service representatives.

REDUCE COSTS.
CRM can be quick and easy to implement. A cloud-based system doesn’t need
special installation, and there’s no hardware to set up, keeping IT costs low and
removing the headache of version control and update schedules.

Generally, cloud-based CRM systems are priced on the number of users who
access the system and the kinds of features you need. This can be very cost-
effective in terms of capital outlay, and is also extremely flexible — enabling
you to scale up and add more people as your business grows. Salesforce is
flexible in terms of functionality, too — you’re not paying for any features that
are not useful to you.

A CLOUD-BASED CRM PLATFORM OFFERS YOU:

 Faster deployment
  Automatic software updates

 Cost-effectiveness and scalability

 The ability to work from anywhere, on any device

 Increased collaboration

Understanding What Is CRM Technology

While a software application can't completely replace the significance of
effective face to face customer service practices, the importance of customer
relationship management (CRM) technology is widely accepted in the modern
business world. CRM software is designed to allow companies to facilitate
effective marketing, sales and data management efforts.

The basic building block of a CRM technology application is a customer

database. CRM databases allow companies to store key information about
their customers and prospects. Some CRM applications are very basic, while
others are complex and sophisticated. A basic system might contain nothing
more than contact information for customers and prospects. While having this
type of information is certainly useful, it doesn't allow for sophisticated
marketing or customer loyalty programs.
Instead of keeping a database that is nothing more than a targeted mailing list,
many companies opt to utilize a sophisticated CRM database and report
writing system to store and access a great deal of information about customers
and prospects. CRM systems can be set up to track as much - or as little -
information about a company's client base and prospect lists as desired,
presuming the desired information is available.

Information typically stored by CRM applications includes:

Name

Title

Company

Email address

Telephone number
Fax number

Instant messenger (IM) address

Date of birth

Items purchased

Purchase date

Inquiry history

Contact history

Invoice history

Payment history

Returns

E-newsletter subscription preferences

Marketing messages sent

Events attended

Additional data as allowed by particular system

Benefits of CRM Software Systems

The power of a CRM software application does not lie with storing information.
Key information has to be in the database for the system to be useful, but it's
what you can pull from the system, and what you do with the information you
access, that really makes a difference. Having a CRM technology application
allows companies to manage even the largest customer and prospect
databases in an efficient and effective manner.

When you have a comprehensive customer database with key information, you
are able to leverage that information for marketing purposes. For example,
with a quality CRM system, you can pull a report that shows contact
information for every person who inquired about a particular product within a
certain time frame but did not purchase. This list can be used to make follow
up sales calls and to gather information about unfavorable purchase decisions.
A good CRM system will allow you to access a great deal of information about
your customers quickly and efficiently. Rather than digging through paper files
or seemingly endless spreadsheets to find out the last time a certain customer
made a purchase or to identify who inquired about a particular product last,
CRM technology allows you to access the information you need with just the
touch of a few keyboard buttons.

Additionally, CRM technology can help build positive customer relationships by

preventing customers from having to explain themselves to multiple company
employees if they have to call back several times for the same situation. If your
system has a way to enter details about customer conversations, employees
can get up to speed very quickly, making it easier to build positive relationships
with customers even when dealing with complaints and problems.

Choosing a CRM Technology Application

Now that you know what is CRM technology, it is easy to see how this type of
software application can be beneficial. However, choosing a CRM technology
system is a big decision that should not be made lightly. Shop around before
purchasing a system and make sure that you are aware of how the database is
structured and what kind of report writing capabilities are included.

There are a number of off-the-shelf CRM software applications on the market.

Be sure to choose an application that is appropriate for the size and type of
company that you are responsible for running. A few programs that you may
want to review to see if they are appropriate for your business include:

AIM crm

Commence

Microsoft Dynamics

On Contact Software

Prophet

Sage Act!

Salesforce.com

Soffront CRM

ERP Life Cycle

Initial investment in acquiring and implementing an ERP system is substantial
in terms of both human efforts and financial resources. After, successful
implementation, the system goes to maintenance mode and organizations
start getting value out of their investment. After a prolonged period, due to
changes in business and technological paradigm, it becomes more and more
difficult and expensive to maintain and extend the system. The process of
reimplementation and beginning of a new cycle starts.

ERP life cycle Phases

ERP life cycles, which encompass entire 10 to 20 years of effective operating

life, are often confused with ERP Implementation Life Cycle. Some of
the phases of ERP life cycle is shown in following diagram.

ERP Roll out: The initial roll out of an ERP system itself consists of various
phases commencing with Request for Proposal (RFP) and vendor selecton and
ending with go live and hand holding phase. Some important matter
concerning this phase,as given below, will have direct bearing on subsequent
phases of ERP lifecycle:

Degree of matching of vanila ERP product to current business

need and extent of customization done, particularly source code
customization.
Commitment of the vendor for future development and their
financial health
 Support issues including License fees and escalation thereof.
2.Optimization: After the system is live and rolled out, there will be a
period of turmoil. Due to lack of understanding, a lot pf confusion will
prevail amongst users. There will be teething problems and some
software bugs will invariably appear. With retraining, some tweaking of
the system and assistance from a responsive help desk, this phase should
be over within six months to one year and the system should start
stabilzing.
3.Maintenance: This is the longest period of life cycle, when the
organization start realizing value of their investment. Users will get
familiar and start owning the system. Some changes will be continuing
such as new reports, different workflows, some localisation on taxes etc.
Maintenance will be covered by service level agreement, entailing
payment of license fee to the vendor. For a complicated system, there
may be a third party vendor, helping maintenance at site. The license fee,
due to provision of escalation, gets escalated at regular intervals and
after some years, adversely effects Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).
4.Extending Values: This phase overlap with the phase of maintenance.
New or changed business processes necessiate minor or moderate
changes in the system. There may be extensive changes under scenario
such as i) implementing a new accounting system e.g. International
Finance Reporting standard (IFRS) ii) A new regulatory requirement like
Sarbanes=Oxley iii) Margers and acquisations/ restructuring.iv) Extending
the system with add on poducts suchy as Customer Relationship
Management and Business Intelligence (BI). Sometime the cost changes
may be prohibitive, particularly for systems where a lot of customization
has been done during implementation phase.
Parallel to business changes, technological changes also occur. New
release and versions appear for underlaying technologiocal platforms like
Operating System and Data Base. ERP vendors release patches and
versions of their producdts at regular intervals which needed to be
incorporated in the existing system. This usually involves minor or
modeate efforts. But, problem arises where many softwae objects were
customized during implementation. Retrofitting these objects for making
 them compatiable with later versions, may turn out to be a major
migration exercise involving exorbitant cost and effort.

5.Decaying Performance: For an enterprise, business need and

technological requirement, continue to evolve. Cost, Complexity and
difficulty to modify and update the existing system mount. Fixing existing
system is no more viable and provides diminishing return. Alternatives
are investigated and decision of reimplementation is taken.
6.Reimplementation: Similar to Roll Out phase as mentioned above.
However, the organizations are better organized now. Initial process will
be carried out more professionally. It is likely that they will adopt more of
a vanilla version with minimum need of customization, so that the next
cycle gives a better Return on Investment (ROI).

ERP Implementation Life Cycle

It involves many steps and stages right from the start, planning for project
implementation, analysis, design, implementation, transition and operations.
ERP implementation lifecycle highlights the different phases of implementing
an ERP system. It starts from the projection of the ideal ERP package that is
suitable for the company. The steps involved in the life cycle of the ERP
implementation are:
 Selection of packages: This is the first step of the life cycle where the
perfect ERP package has to be selected in agreement that fits your
business environment. In the selection process, ERP packages that are
not suitable they are eliminated. The package has to be carefully selected
and testified. The right choice will determine the success of the ERP
implementation. A proper study and research should be done before the
selection.
 Project Planning: Proper planning of the implementation process of the
project shall be made and designed. Resources should be allocated and
the team members have to be selected.
 Analysis GAP: GAP analysis is an important step in the life cycle of ERP
implementation step. GAP analysis is performed to analyze the current
situation of the organization and its future position as needed.
  Re-engineering is needed to make the implementation process involves
many changes and alterations. The job responsibilities of employees and
the number of employees can be altered as well. This step is done to
make the business process more efficient.
 Training: Training of employees starts with the implementation process
in the life cycle of the ERP implementation. Employees of getting used to
the new system in order to run the system smoothly later. Get the time
at this stage to learn the software and its features and become self-
sufficient in order to be able to operate later, when consultants and
suppliers to end and go.
 Testing: Testing is an important step and is carried out so that the errors
can be found and resolved before the actual application process.
 Application: This step is performed when data conversion is done and
the work of the database is over. After setup and testing is completed,
the actual implementation is done. Once the new system is
implemented, the old system is removed. The end user is trained on how
to use the new system.
 Maintenance: Maintenance is carried out in the post-implementation life
cycle of ERP implementation phase. The problems are identified and
employees learn how to deal with it. Maintenance is also an important
stage in the life cycle.
These are the stages of ERP project goes through a cycle of life of
the ERP implementation. It is important to complete these steps with attention
to detail in order to run the ERP project successfully. After the application is
done, maintenance is also important and the system must be regular updates
to keep up with changes in technology.

SDLC (Software Development Life Cycle)

What is SDLC?
The Software Development Lifecycle is a systematic process for building
software that ensures the quality and correctness of the software built. SDLC
process aims to produce high-quality software which meets customer
expectations. The software development should be complete in the pre-
defined time frame and cost.
SDLC consists of a detailed plan which explains how to plan, build, and
maintain specific software. Every phase of the SDLC lifecycle has its own
process and deliverables that feed into the next phase.
In this Software Development Lifecycle tutorial, you will learn
Why SDLC?
Here, are prime reasons why SDLC is important for developing a software
system.
It offers a basis for project planning, scheduling, and estimating
Provides a framework for a standard set of activities and deliverables
It is a mechanism for project tracking and control
Increases visibility of project planning to all involved stakeholders of the
development process
Increased and enhance development speed
Improved client relations
Helps you to decrease project risk and project management plan
overhead
SDLC Phases
The entire SDLC process divided into the following stages:

Phase 1: Requirement collection and analysis

Phase 2: Feasibility study:
Phase 3: Design:
Phase 4: Coding:
Phase 5: Testing:
Phase 6: Installation/Deployment:
Phase 7: Maintenance:
In this tutorial, I have explained all these phases
Phase 1: Requirement collection and analysis:
The requirement is the first stage in the SDLC process. It is conducted by the
senior team members with inputs from all the stakeholders and domain
experts in the industry. Planning for the quality assurance requirements and
recognization of the risks involved is also done at this stage.
This stage gives a clearer picture of the scope of the entire project and the
anticipated issues, opportunities, and directives which triggered the project.
Requirements Gathering stage need teams to get detailed and precise
requirements. This helps companies to finalize the necessary timeline to finish
the work of that system.
Phase 2: Feasibility study:
Once the requirement analysis phase is completed the next step is to define
and document software needs. This process conducted with the help of
'Software Requirement Specification' document also known as 'SRS' document.
It includes everything which should be designed and developed during the
project life cycle.
There are mainly five types of feasibilities checks:
Economic: Can we complete the project within the budget or not?
Legal: Can we handle this project as cyber law and other regulatory
framework/compliances.
Operation feasibility: Can we create operations which is expected by
the client?
Technical: Need to check whether the current computer system can
support the software
Schedule: Decide that the project can be completed within the given
schedule or not.
Phase 3: Design:
In this third phase, the system and software design documents are prepared as
per the requirement specification document. This helps define overall system
architecture.
This design phase serves as input for the next phase of the model.
There are two kinds of design documents developed in this phase:
High-Level Design (HLD)
Brief description and name of each module
An outline about the functionality of every module
Interface relationship and dependencies between modules
Database tables identified along with their key elements
Complete architecture diagrams along with technology details
Low-Level Design(LLD)
Functional logic of the modules
Database tables, which include type and size
Complete detail of the interface
Addresses all types of dependency issues
Listing of error messages
Complete input and outputs for every module
Phase 4: Coding:
Once the system design phase is over, the next phase is coding. In this phase,
developers start build the entire system by writing code using the chosen
programming language. In the coding phase, tasks are divided into units or
modules and assigned to the various developers. It is the longest phase of the
Software Development Life Cycle process.
In this phase, Developer needs to follow certain predefined coding guidelines.
They also need to use programming tools like compiler, interpreters, debugger
to generate and implement the code.
Phase 5: Testing:
Once the software is complete, and it is deployed in the testing environment.
The testing team starts testing the functionality of the entire system. This is
done to verify that the entire application works according to the customer
requirement.
During this phase, QA and testing team may find some bugs/defects which
they communicate to developers. The development team fixes the bug and
send back to QA for a re-test. This process continues until the software is bug-
free, stable, and working according to the business needs of that system.
Phase 6: Installation/Deployment:
Once the software testing phase is over and no bugs or errors left in the
system then the final deployment process starts. Based on the feedback given
by the project manager, the final software is released and checked for
deployment issues if any.
Phase 7: Maintenance:
Once the system is deployed, and customers start using the developed system,
following 3 activities occur
Bug fixing - bugs are reported because of some scenarios which are not
tested at all
Upgrade - Upgrading the application to the newer versions of the
Software
Enhancement - Adding some new features into the existing software
The main focus of this SDLC phase is to ensure that needs continue to be met
and that the system continues to perform as per the specification mentioned
in the first phase.
Popular SDLC models
Here, are some most important phases of SDLC life cycle:
Waterfall model
The waterfall is a widely accepted SDLC model. In this approach, the whole
process of the software development is divided into various phases. In this
SDLC model, the outcome of one phase acts as the input for the next phase.
This SDLC model is documentation-intensive, with earlier phases documenting
what need be performed in the subsequent phases.
Incremental Approach
The incremental model is not a separate model. It is essentially a series of
waterfall cycles. The requirements are divided into groups at the start of the
project. For each group, the SDLC model is followed to develop software. The
SDLC process is repeated, with each release adding more functionality until all
requirements are met. In this method, every cycle act as the maintenance
phase for the previous software release. Modification to the incremental
model allows development cycles to overlap. After that subsequent cycle may
begin before the previous cycle is complete.
V-Model
In this type of SDLC model testing and the development, the phase is planned
in parallel. So, there are verification phases on the side and the validation
phase on the other side. V-Model joins by Coding phase.
Agile Model
Agile methodology is a practice which promotes continue interaction of
development and testing during the SDLC process of any project. In the Agile
method, the entire project is divided into small incremental builds. All of these
builds are provided in iterations, and each iteration lasts from one to three
weeks.
Spiral Model
The spiral model is a risk-driven process model. This SDLC model helps the
team to adopt elements of one or more process models like a waterfall,
incremental, waterfall, etc.
This model adopts the best features of the prototyping model and the
waterfall model. The spiral methodology is a combination of rapid prototyping
and concurrency in design and development activities.
Big bang model
Big bang model is focusing on all types of resources in software development
and coding, with no or very little planning. The requirements are understood
and implemented when they come.
This model works best for small projects with smaller size development team
which are working together. It is also useful for academic software
development projects. It is an ideal model where requirements is either
unknown or final release date is not given.
Conclusion
The SDLC is a systematic process for building software that ensures the
quality and correctness of the software built
 SDLC process provides a framework for a standard set of activities and
deliverables
Seven different SDLC stages are 1) Requirement collection and analysis
2) Feasibility study: 3) Design 4) Coding 5) Testing: 6)
Installation/Deployment and 7) Maintenance
The senior team members conduct the requirement analysis phase
Feasibility Study stage includes everything which should be designed
and developed during the project life cycle
In the Design phase, the system and software design documents are
prepared as per the requirement specification document
In the coding phase, developers start build the entire system by writing
code using the chosen programming language
Testing is the next phase which is conducted to verify that the entire
application works according to the customer requirement.
Installation and deployment face begins when the software testing
phase is over, and no bugs or errors left in the system
Bug fixing, upgrade, and engagement actions covered in the
maintenance face
Waterfall, Incremental, Agile, V model, Spiral, Big Bang are some of the
popular SDLC models
SDLC consists of a detailed plan which explains how to plan, build, and
maintain specific software
UNIT-2
ERP Implementation
TOP 5 CAUSES OF ERP IMPLEMENTATION FAILURE
Transitioning to a new ERP system can cost your company millions of dollars in
investment. Still, many companies do not approach implementation like they
do other core business activities.
Across most organizations, important steps such as risk assessment, cash flows,
performance objectives and benefit analysis are typically ignored during ERP
implementation. In their place, companies concentrate on reducing
implementation expenditures, hoping that the new system will magically
transform the operations and efficiency of the business. In turn, expected
benefits are not realized after implementation and management concludes
that the wrong system was implemented.
In other situations, the management realizes lack of planning lead to failure of
the implementation. In turn, they have to hire an experienced ERP
consultant to carry out the implementation again, leading to double
expenditure.
In our experience, ERP implementation does not fail because of the system.
Rather, failure stems from a number of factors that should have been taken
care of beforehand. Below are some factors that usually lead to ERP
implementation failure.
1. Lack of Adequate Resources
Most organizations downplay the resources required for ERP implementation.
It is critical for organizations to have a solid understanding of the internal and
external resources required for the project.
For internal resources, the organization should have a solid timeline on the
commitment required from critical employees that will be using the ERP,
usually those in the Finance, Accounting or Human Resources. Many times,
temporary resources will have to be called in to keep processes moving as
users of the new system undergo training.
For external resources, the organization should find out from the consultants
and contractors the duration, skills and resources required for the successful
implementation of the system.
2. Inexperienced Consultants
Experience makes a lot of difference when implementing ERP. Typically, an
organization will use an ERP system for more than 10 years. Therefore, most
employees in the organizations would experience one or two ERP
implementations in their career.
Given the long-term expected use of the system, it’s important to identify
experienced leaders for your project. Both internal and external managers
should have experience in implementing the specific ERP you are deploying.
Outside consultants should have successfully implemented the same ERP in
other similar-sized organizations in the past.
3. Secondary Customization
Data conversion, interfaces and customization are the three main areas of
technical risk in ERP implementation. Customization usually increases the time-
to-deploy and costs of the implementation.
While the risks of customization are evident, some organizations find the
slightest reasons to implement small changes. The small customization
requirements usually grow to become technical problems that can derail the
implementation of the ERP.
While ERPs should not be implemented as the out-of-the-box solution they
come as, customizations should be managed tightly. Any customization should
be justifiable and result in the benefits the company wants to derive from the
ERP.
4. Project Management
The success of ERP implementation can be affected by the project manager in
charge. The scope and size of ERP implementation requires a professional,
dedicated and experienced manager to oversee the various activities.
Project management is a discipline, not an art. The project manager should
have the ability to get into the details of the implementation while keeping
perspective of the overall business goals. Most successful ERP implementations
are led by project managers that actively participate in both selection and
implementation.
When choosing a project lead for the implementation, choose one who will
understand the pain of the users. The manager should have the most to gain or
lose with the successful or unsuccessful implementation, respectively.
5. Poor Implementation Strategy
implementation should be done in a systematic manner to be successful. The
implementation strategy should be in line with the end goals of the
organization. Many times, lack of a clear strategy on the problems that the ERP
is expected to solve and the desired outcome lead to challenges in
implementation.
A good strategy should factor important business processes, financial benefits
and deadlines, and ensure they are fully addressed. Without a clear definition
of the end goals, the implementation strategy becomes jumbled up.
With successful ERP implementation, your organization can improve its
competitive advantage, increase productivity and plant utilization, raise
customer service level and reduce inventories.
6 Tips for a Successful ERP Implementation
An enterprise resource planning (ERP) system is a major proposition for any
organization. In addition to the monetary investment and maintenance, there
are also costs in terms of dedicated resources and time. A new solution is not
deployed overnight and all too often we hear about failed ERP
implementations.
Here are a few pointers to help your organization increase the chances of a
successful ERP selection and implementation:

1. Getting everyone onboardFrom upper management to end users, everyone

should understand the strategy behind the ERP implementation. While upper
management does not need to know the details behind the configuration,
being clear on the budget and resources required to support the project so the
project does not stall is critical. End users should also have a say in the
decision-making process since they will ultimately be using the ERP software.
2. Carefully defining the scope of your project
Before looking at vendors, a clear and extensive list of requirements will make
vendors be more detailed in their proposals. Absent requirements or
assumptions can easily disrupt the project timeline and budget.

3. Mobile users
Access to the ERP system from desktops only is no longer an option as mobile
workforces are increasing across all industries. When selecting an ERP system,
you need to make sure it can allow users to access it remotely and securely.

4. References
Your potential vendor should provide a number of happy customers they have
worked with – within your industry and geography. Customer Satisfaction
Scores and talking to the reference customers yourself can help you improve
the probability of selecting the right vendor – and reduce the risk of project
failure.

5. To customize or not
A highly customized ERP system comes with a higher price tag and you need to
consider the amount of customization required. You should consider turnkey
solutions provided by vendors since they can help you save time and money on
customization. In general, most organizations have similar business processes
(invoice payments, revenue collection, etc) and they can benefit from first in
class processes that are the reason ERP was built in the first place.

6. Providing time and resources for training

In order to have a successful ERP implementation, sufficient time to develop
and deliver training programs must be allocated. These proactive measures will
reduce the weight on your employees and ensure they are ready when the
new ERP is implemented. You should also consider a 24/7 support service from
your vendor.

As you look to either upgrade your legacy system or implement a new ERP
system, there are numerous ROI and long-term benefits. This type of
structured approach ensures that your ERP system will meet both your current
and future business needs.

ERP Pre-Implementation Tasks

There are a lot of considerations and careful steps to be taken while selecting
the right ERP software; and these are even before you start the
implementation. Let us walk you through the critical steps involved in ERP
Software Selection. Use these steps before starting the ERP implementation
project and you will see a successful project.

Step 1 – Form a team

The first and foremost thing that you should do once you have decided to
deploy ERP software is to assign a dedicated expert team who can work on it.
Designate your ERP project champion and identify the key stakeholders. These
can be the department heads or key individuals from each department who
know the functioning of that department well. Get yourself a consulting team
for all the know-hows of proceeding with an ERP deployment.

Step 2 – Get support from management

It is very important that your upper management supports your ERP team’s
efforts and puts in an active involvement in the project. Insights, inputs and
feedback from upper management are very important to be able to select the
right solution.

Step 3 – Gather all the requirements

Now that you have the necessary support and minds to work with, you should
start collecting your exact requirements. Make an extensive list of
requirements. Define the scope of your project and pay attention to the
specific businesses processes and system requirements. Make your
requirements specific, concise and clear. This will help the vendors come up
with detailed plans and solutions and make it easy for you to decide on the
final solution.

You may also have to consider special cases like mobility, cloud usage and
specific business processes and technologies used by your company while
setting up your requirement specification. You can find the right fit only when
you have done this step properly.

Step 4 – Define your objectives and business needs

Derive your business objectives and needs from your requirements. State what
you expect from the ERP software and be clear on its benefits. Review your
requirements documentation and make sure your objective aligns with your
vision and desired outcomes.

Step 5 – Make a plan

They say, “Fail to Plan is a Plan to Fail”; Make an IT strategy plan and make
sure it aligns with your business objectives and requirements. Formalize the
desired solution architecture and the necessary means for evaluation and up
keeping.

Step 6- Get references

Once you are clear with what you want, the next step is to start looking for the
right vendors. You need to qualify the ERP software and then select your ERP
Implementation Partner. To do this you can get references from your peers or
experts in the field.

Step 7- Evaluate the options you have

Once you have shortlisted list of solutions, evaluate them on need basis and
against a set criteria. You should understand the ERP providers planning,
support approach and capabilities and evaluate them. Review the product
demos and assess them carefully. Don’t forget it is more important to have a
correct ERP Implementation Partner than the product (ERP Software) itself.

Step 8 – Consider customization and change management

Level of customization and support for change management are two important
factors you need to consider while evaluating an ERP solution. ERP software
must be able to facilitate changes on large scale and must make change
management effective. Again the change management team of your ERP
Implementation partner will be helpful here.

ERP Implementation Methodology

What is ERP implementation methodology?
ERP can make a business more efficient than ever but many ERP
implementation process fails due to improper ERP implementation
methodology.
There’s no denying the fact that ERP deployment is a major undertaking but it
doesn’t need to be painful. With proper planning and execution implementing
an ERP should be a smooth process. This planning and execution for successful
ERP implementation is called ERP implementation methodology or ERP
implementation lifecycle.
ERP Implementation Steps
For a successful ERP implementation various steps should be followed. These
steps are:-
1.) ERP implementation project kickoff and team Forming
The first step for ERP implementation process is Project kickoff and team
forming. It consists:-
Identification of Project objective
Appointment of project coordinator and key user identification
Project kickoff meeting with steering committee
Auditing of infrastructure
2.) Requirement gathering and submission of proposal
The second step in ERP implementation methodology is identifying what the
business needs and submit a proposal on how ERP can help. This step
consists:-
Identification of department level objective
Preparation of current state of business practice within the organization
 Identification of key pain areas
Assertion of performance and acceptance criteria
Final design submission
Determination of checkpoints and milestones
3.) Business Process Reengineering (BPR)
The third step in ERP implementation life cycle is business process
reengineering.
Analysis and redesigning workflows
Optimize end-to-end processes
Automate non-value adding tasks
4.) Project Customization
The forth step in the process of ERP implementation is determining how much
customization is needed in the original ERP so that it can fulfill the objective of
a particular business. This contains:-
Gap analysis preparation
Size and effort estimation for customization
Planning
Customization of product
Testing
Release the customized solution
5.) Training and Knowledge transfer
After the release of customized solution the employees must be taught on how
to use the ERP effectively, this bring us to our fifth step in ERP implementation
methodology. This step consists:-
Function area identification for knowledge transfer
Live workshop on key functional area by functional experts
Detailed training, schedule preparation and finalization of go live date
with consent of project coordinator and key user.
Execution of training program per schedule for Hands-On experience
6.) Reviews and Feedbacks
The sixth step in the process of ERP implementation is reviews and feedbacks.
This consist of the reviews that the business give to ERP providers on how ERP
is doing and are there and changes necessary. This step consists:-
Frequent review meeting
Progress sheet preparation
Evaluation of implementation process
 Feedbacks on current status of the project to the management
User feedback system(effective gathering of feedback)
7.) Project Acceptance
The seventh step in ERP implementation process is project acceptance; this is
the step where management has accepted the ERP system from the providers.
This step consists:-
User feedback gathering on specific KPAs such as concept clarity,
Reliability, Validation, Print format, Data entry speed, Performance,
function requirement etc.
Approval from key users and HOD
Acceptance certification from management
8.) Post implementation
The final step in the ERP implementation life cycle is the post implementation
step, this step consists:
Keeping tabs on how ERP is working to avoid aberrations or glitches
Periodic maintenance to smooth working
Training employees to fix occasional small glitches
This completes the ERP implementation methodology
Hasting towards implementing ERP can result in wastage of both time and
effort. A proper roadmap to the final objective can ensure a smooth ERP
implementation. Setting clear goals, objectives and milestones and following
proper ERP implementation methodology is the key for a successful ERP
implementation.

Process Definition
Enterprise resource planning (ERP) is business
processmanagement software that allows an organization to use a system
of integrated applications to manage the business and automate many back
office functions related to technology, services and human resources.
ERP software typically integrates all facets of an operation — including product
planning, development, manufacturing, sales and marketing — in a single
database, application and user interface.
ERP is an Enterprise Application
ERP software is considered to be a type of enterprise application, that is
software designed to be used by larger businesses and often requires
dedicated teams to customize and analyze the data and to handle upgrades
and deployment. In contrast, Small business ERP applications are lightweight
business management software solutions, often customized for a specific
business industry or vertical.
Today most organizations implement ERP systems to replace legacy software or
to incorporate ERP applications because no system currently exists. In fact, a
2016 study by Panorama Consulting Solutions, LLC., indicates that
organizations implement ERP for the following reasons:
To replace out-of-date ERP software (49%)
To replace homegrown systems (16%)
To replace accounting software (15%)
To replace other non-ERP systems / had no system (20%)
Use Education and Training to Overcome Resistance to Change
What is the biggest hurdle when trying to implement a reliability or lubrication
program? Is it funding or obtaining approval from upper management? Or
maybe it’s that you have no idea where to even start?

Having designed and implemented world-class lubrication programs for many

years, I know the answers to these questions. It has become easy for me to
walk into a facility and compile a report of strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities and threats. Within three days, I will have written more than 100
pages spelling out the current conditions, the optimum conditions and a gap
analysis of how to bring the two more in line with one another.
These exercises have become almost second nature to me. But why do some
facilities that receive this information put it into practice, while others allow
their programs to wither and die?
When I become part of a program, I like to share in its successes and failures,
and I don’t like to fail. If there is a failure, I want to know why so I can prevent
it from happening again. After a few investigations, I’ve come to the realization
that almost all the failures (those that have not yet approached world-class
status) had something in common - the stakeholders were not on the same
page. They lacked a common goal and were pulling the program in different
directions.
Upon further investigation, I found the root cause of the problem - people do
not like change. There are many reasons for this apprehensiveness to change,
including fear of the unknown, lack of trust, unconscious incompetence, ties to
the old way of doing things and failure to communicate the project’s benefits.
See the sidebar below for a more detailed list of the reasons why people resist
change.
To combat this resistance, the first thing you should do is to expect it because it
will happen. Of course, the pushback you receive can come in different levels
of severity. It may feel like opposition is coming from the entire company at
once or only from a select few individuals. However, if you are expecting it, it
can be handled easily.
Now that you are anticipating resistance, plan how you will manage the
objections. Take a proactive approach. Noria preaches proactive maintenance,
but what about proactive objection management? A great way to start is to
focus on the list of reasons for apprehensiveness to change. What can you do
to ease this apprehension? Education and communication offer the best
solution.
Before changes come flying down the organizational hierarchy, you must show
those who will be most affected why the change is needed. The likelihood of
success is severely diminished when the change comes in the form of an order.
I’ve found that pushback and apprehension decrease to almost nothing if you
take the time to sit down with those affected and educate them.
Once they thoroughly understand the situation along with the nuances of the
decision, they will either get onboard with the project or at least know enough
about it to be able to make suggestions. Either of these situations is beneficial
to the overall outcome of the project.
6 Reasons for Resistance to Change
Fear of the Unknown – People will only take steps toward the unknown if they
believe that the risk of standing still is greater than that of moving in a new
direction.
Competency – Change in an organization often necessitates a change in skills,
and some people fear they won’t be able to make that transition.
Trust – If your organization has tried unsuccessfully to implement programs in
the past, why should employees trust that this one will be successful?
Unconscious Incompetence – If there is no understanding of why a change is
needed, the change rarely happens.
Ties to the Old Way – People are hard-wired and emotionally connected to a
certain way of doing things. The longer they have been doing them that way,
the harder it is to break that tie.
Failure to Communicate the Benefits – If you cannot easily help an individual
or group see the benefits of change, they are much more likely to be resistant.
Frequently, I’ll spend a few hours on basic lubrication fundamentals and then
begin discussions with the group about their particular plant. I like to use real-
world examples and discuss opportunities that center around change. I also ask
lots of leading questions to steer the conversation. When I hear, “Why haven’t
we always been doing it like that?” I know I’ve won them over. Through
education and
communication, I have shown them that the new way is better and has less risk
than the old way.
If you really want to increase the likelihood of success, put their new
knowledge to use. Ask for input based on what they have learned from past
experiences as well as their new awareness. When they start contributing, they
will feel ownership in the cause. This is the ultimate goal. When others have
contributed their ideas, time and effort to the decision for change, how can
they oppose it?
Change management is the single most important aspect of implementing a
lubrication or reliability program. You may have the best plan, equipment and
backing and still fail if the people charged with making the change on the plant
floor are not 100-percent onboard. Training and education are key to this
onboarding process.
With the amount of training available today, there is no longer a valid reason to
be unconsciously incompetent. Make training a priority before the
implementation of any program and you will see the likelihood of success
skyrocket. Take the next step.
5 Keys To ERP Project Management Success
ERP implementations are gaining momentum. As executives become more
comfortable with volatility and as they think they have a better handle on what
might occur in the future, they are starting to think about investing again. To
add fuel to the fire, they are realizing that they’ll be left in the dust by their
competitors who can deliver quicker, provide 24/7 access to shop and gain
order status visibility etc., and so they are considering investing in technology.
Thus, I’ve seen a sharp rise in requests to select systems and help with project
management for upgrades and implementations.
ERP implementations rarely fail in formulation; however, they frequently fail
in implementation. Almost every client I run across has heard a horror story
 of a failed ERP implementation - a supplier that couldn’t ship, a customer
that couldn’t figure out what was needed, the business in chaos, etc. Thus, it
makes imminent sense to consider the top keys to success for ERP
implementations. Don’t even start down the path until you’ve thought
through these keys to success:
1. Focus on just the critical few key requirements: Although it is natural to think
that every piece of functionality is critical (or why not include it since you're
spending money on a new system anyway), STOP! Take a step back and focus
80% of your efforts on the 20% of functionality that drives your business.
Which profit drivers are important? Which customer requirements are key to
success? Does your industry have any differentiators? How will the software
functionality address these critical success factors?
In my experience with numerous ERP selection and implementation projects,
this is one of the most overlooked yet vital success factors. Unfortunately it is
easy to get swiped up in the bells and whistles the ERP software providers
show you unless you have clearly defined which 3-5 critical requirements
should be seen with a deep dive.
2.People: Nothing else matters if the right people aren't on the team. As with
project success in general, it begins and ends with leadership! When
implementing a system, it is 99.9% probable that something will go wrong
during the implementation, and if you have the right people in the right
positions (on the implementation team, focused on change management,
leading the organization, etc.), they will turn these potential bottlenecks into
minor bumps in the road.
3.Functional-led: The project must be led by a core business function, yet the
IT project manager must be integral to the process. I know might seem like a
contradiction, but it is one of the most important elements to success. The
business must lead the process to make sure it is focused on the key elements
that will support the business and drive business value/ return; however, they
typically are not the best equipped to ensure a successful execution. Therefore,
finding an IT project manager proficient in bringing it all together (the business
needs, project management, the IT elements, etc.) and facilitating the
implementation (sometimes behind the scenes in a supporting role) is key to
success.

For example, in my experience, if the ERP implementation was led by IT, the
business leaders would blame IT’s lack of business knowledge on any issues
that arose – regardless of whether they could have prevented them. Instead, if
the business functions led the implementation, they brought up the business
issues in advance. In those cases, if IT wasn’t integral, the issues were typically
not addressed successfully – or in the most cost effective and efficient manner.
Thus, the optimal solution occurred when it was a collaboration.
4.Change management: Implementing a new system is one of the most
significant change management initiatives a company can embark upon.
People’s jobs change, processes are redefined, and the system is changed – not
much stays the same. Thus, change management is vital to success.

Even though change management is a requirement to succeed, it isn't

necessary for the project leader and team to be an expert in change
management to be successful. Instead, leadership is the key - communicate
proactively, provide as much clarity as possible about the future state,
communicate the roadmap to get to the future state, ask questions,
incorporate input, and listen. Project managers and functional leaders will
make or break your ERP project success.
5.Training and education: This topic should not be overlooked. It is the only
way to make sure the business results are achieved. Don't just focus on the
how-to's. Remember the whys - we want people to think, ask questions, push
back and work as a team to deliver the expected business results. Thus,
processes need to be defined and understood. How will each person’s daily job
responsibilities change? Do they understand the expectations? Do they
understand how to perform the functions in the system? Do they know how to
back out mistakes? Do they know how to run reports? Simple questions yet
often overlooked.
As businesses upgrade and implement new systems, those who follow these
keys to success will not only implement the new system without significant
stress and failures but they will also have the opportunity to leverage
technology to improve customer satisfaction and increase margins.
Key Success Factors for an ERP Implementation
One of the most common fallacies with ERP implementations is that
organizations are prepared for the undertaking. Organizations need to not only
recognize and understand the success drivers, but also to take action on
related preparatory recommendations that support them.
Success is defined as getting what you want with the ERP implementation, on

time, on budget and with a satisfactory Return on Investment (ROI).

The key success factors are:

1.Project Startup

2.Management Commitment

3.Project Scope

4.Project Team

5.Change Management, Communication and Training

6.Customizations/Modifications

7.Budget

8.Project Closure

1. Project Startup
Perform the due diligence of getting the project on the right track by preparing

all the necessary information and communicating it to the appropriate

personnel.

Recommendations:

Prepare/review the business strategy.

Prepare/review the IT strategy.

Prepare/review the ERP strategy.

Prepare/review the project scope (included in more detail below).

Prepare the organization for process changes and the new system by

applying the proper change management strategies and techniques.

2. Management Commitment
An ERP implementation is going to impact how a company operates by

updating business processes and changing system transactions. IT should not

be the only area responsible for the project. Senior managers and mid-level

managers should be involved in the project from its inception to its

completion. This gives the project the proper visibility across the organization

and shows the staff in general the importance of the project.

Recommendations:

• Involve management in project sponsorship, a steering committee, issue

escalation and issue resolution. This involvement will help to maintain

management support and keep them informed about the project.

3. Project Scope
The core ERP system will most likely not satisfy all the needs of the

organization. Develop the ERP strategy and understand the components of the

ERP, and how it will fit with other systems and tools. Define your project scope

from a position of knowledge, fully detailing what the project is going to

include.

Recommendations:

Understand the business requirements and plan how they are going to be

satisfied.

The ERP will satisfy some of your business requirements. Put together a plan

as to how other business requirements such as data management, business

intelligence, social media, etc. will be met.

Document items that are not in scope.

4. Project Team
The core project team should be composed of full-time personnel, including a

project manager and others representing the core areas of the business. If a

consulting integrator is used, the core project team needs to have a good and

cohesive working relationship with the consultants. Also, identify a set of

resources from the various areas of the business to provide subject matter

expertise.

Recommendations:

Use proven implementation methodologies and tools for the project.

Empower the implementation team to make decisions.

The core project team should be in the same location to aid in

communication.

Create a competency center for post go-live support needs.

Identify subject matter experts (SMEs) from pertinent areas across the

organization.

Project team to have a good working relationship with the consultants.

5. Change Management, Communication and Training

The ERP project will not only result in changes in systems, but also process and

organizational changes. A change management team will be necessary for the

organization to deal with the impact. The size of the team will vary depending
on the size of the project and amount of changes. Training falls under change

management, and the most common method is to “train the trainers.”

Normally the software vendors or the consulting integrators will train the

trainers, who are employees in the organization. This approach is most helpful,

because the organization will end up with the trained professionals on its staff.

Recommendations:

Create communication mechanisms such as a website, newsletters, road

shows, lunch and learns, etc.

Develop good communication between the project team and the

organization as a whole.

Key users should be involved with the project and its progress, as this will aid

in acceptance of the changes.

Create a business case that shows the changes to processes and system

functionality, and also the benefits brought about with the changes. Share the

business case with the pertinent individuals within the organization.

Hire a third party to perform an organization readiness assessment.

Be prepared to train during the project and after the post go-live date.

6. Customizations/Modifications
Most ERPs are built with embedded best practices. An organization must keep

a tight control on the customizations, as they may diminish the application of

the best practices. These modifications may result in an increase in scope and

budget as well.

Recommendations:

Study other ERP implementations in the industry and see what

customizations were required.

Perform a gap analysis and prioritize the gaps (High=Required,

Medium=Workaround Exist, Low=Nice to Have).

Set clear expectations on the company’s position regarding customizations.

Create a process by which a business case must be created for every

customization.

Be prepared to maintain these modifications as the software vendor releases

new versions of the software.

7. Budget
Organizations must create a realistic budget to include all costs for the

implementation, such as software, hardware and staff resources. Most

organizations expect a timely Return on Investment (ROI) from an ERP project.

Some companies reduce the project budget in an attempt to improve on the

ROI. The areas most commonly reduced are change management, training and

project management.

Recommendations:
Create a good estimate of your implementation costs and keep tight control

of the costs.

Do not cut costs in change management, training and project management.

Instead, consider rapid implementation methods and tools. Some of the

consulting implementers offer these methods and tools.

8. Project Closure
Having good project closure is just as important as the project start up.

Personnel need to have clear lines of communication as to when the new

system is going live and when the legacy system is being decommissioned. This

also applies to the introduction of new business processes.

Recommendations:

Communicate clearly when the new system is going live and when the old

system is being decommissioned.

Communicate when new business processes will go into effect and old

processes will be disabled.

Prepare to transfer system support functions from the project structure to

the on-going system support structure.

Audit processes and system transactions to make sure they are working as

planned.

Summary
Organizations exploring an ERP implementation must take into account these

key success factors and recommendations to achieve greater success with their

ERP implementations. These drivers are common areas that most system

implementation projects need to address.

Why ERP implementations Fail

There are many factors that determine the success and failure of ERP
implementation. Failure of ERP implementation can be a result of improper
planning, unclear objective or too much customization. The major reasons
why ERP implementations fail are:
Reasons for why ERP implementations fail are:-
1. Lack of Management Participation
One of the major causes of ERP implementation failure is lack of
management backing, ERP needs the active participation of people in the
organization and until and unless management doesn’t make clear that ERP
implementation is a priority there will always chance of delay or complete
ERP implementation failure.
2.Lack of Planning
Companies build a high-level plan with broad assumptions or underestimate
the amount of business change involved. Due to lack of planning many
unforeseen problems may come which causes failure of ERP
implementation. The plan for a successful ERP implementation needs to be
specific, detailed and realistic
3.Unclear business objective
Business should clearly define what is their definition of success. Having a
clear destination means defining the important business processes, financial
benefits, and deadlines up front and making certain stakeholders agree how
to address them. Without a clear destination, the endpoint becomes a
moving target and hence harder to reach.

4. Under-estimating resources required

Most common blunder to happen is with resources projected. Having a solid
understanding of the internal and external resources needed to complete
the project is critical. A correct estimation of the resources required is
necessary to avoid ERP implementation failure.
5.Unrealistic Expectation
If ERP is successfully implemented it can make the business more efficient
but realistic expectation should be set up, ERP should not be expected to
perform miracles. Vendors should make management aware of what kinds
of benefit should they expect after successful ERP implementation.
6.Extensive Customization
Most business lack standard business practices ask for a lot of customization
in the ERP system. Over-customization can result in a lot of time and effort
and makes installing the next release costly and difficult. Hence before
beginning the ERP selection process, business process of the organization
should be in place to avoid ERP implementation failure.
7.Lack of flexibility in ERP
Businesses realign their business processes continuously in response to the
ever-changing market. Many ERP is not flexible enough to accommodate it
and may result in failure.
8.Insufficient testing
The purpose of testing in an ERP project is not to see if the software works,
the purpose is to see if the system meets your business needs and produces
the output you need. Reducing testing may not leave defects undiscovered,
but it certainly increases the risk the ERP system will be missing important
functions or not be well accepted by end users.
9.Lack of training
Leaving training to a small phase at the end of the project makes it very
difficult for users to get the training they need to understand the system.
ERP covers different departments so all users must know ERP basics, an
overview of the system and its working and how an action by an employee
triggers a host of events throughout the organization
10.Improper Post-Implementation services
Going live is not the end of the journey. Business is ever changing and ERP
has to be changed according to it. ERP implementation requires frequent
reviews and corrections.
 11.Poor management of the transition phase
You will not see the benefits of ERP instantly. There could be a drastic
change after ERP implementation in the organization especially on the way
people do their job. This can result in a temporary dip in performance but if
the implementation is done right and transition phase is managed properly
after some time organization will become more efficient than ever.

UNIT-3
Post ERP implementation
Change management
Change Management: The Key to a Successful ERP System Implementation
Simply put, widespread organizational change management (OCM) is critical
to ERP system implementation success because an ERP system – and the
changes it necessitates – affects every aspect of an organization. As a result,
end-users across the spectrum are often overwhelmed with all the changes to
their jobs, including new business processes, new data, new systems and new
ways of interacting with all of the above. And since people tend to fear change,
stress levels run high and emotions rule the day.
So what’s an organization to do? Yeah, yeah, OCM this and OCM that but how
should it really manage change to ensure the best ERP implementation
possible?
Well, here’s a start . . .
1. Present Information and Share Knowledge
Employees need more than training to understand the need for (and
importance of) the new ERP system. At minimum, organizations must make
efforts to communicate:
Why the organization is implementing the ERP system
How and when the ERP system will affect their jobs
How the ERP system will improve their jobs
How the ERP system will improve the company overall
2. Train and Educate
In our experience, organizations almost always underestimate the amount of
education and training needed before, during and after implementation. It’s
obvious that ERP-related training is crucial to ensure employees learn the new
software but it’s also crucial to ensure they learn the new business processes.
These changes in business processes, which are inherent in any successful ERP
implementation, create changes in corporate culture and climate. Though less
obvious, perhaps, than changes in job functions, these subtle shifts will be very
important to your staff and must be managed to avoid resentment, fear and
anxiety.
3. Show Support and Commitment From Senior Management
One of the best ways to rally the troops is to present a unified front. From the
C-level down through the top management tiers, executives should be on point
about the reasons behind and benefits of the ERP implementation. A lack of
management buy-in is often a key reason behind ERP implementation failures
and resistance to change; do not think that an executive’s disengagement or
recalcitrance will go unnoticed by employees.
These are just a few of the ways an organization should, as David Bowie sang,
“turn and face the strange changes” wrought by its new ERP system. For more
information, please reference our organizational change management page or
call 720-515-1ERP to schedule a meeting.

3 Steps For Effective Change Management in ERP Implementation

Change is the law of life and resistance to change is the truth. To balance
both these aspects, change management is essential. Implementing ERP in
your organization implies change and there is bound to be some resistance.
To manage the change, it is essential to have a change management
strategy that will ensure a smooth transition throughout the organization.
Change management works on the relationship between people, processes,
and systems. It ensures people understand the business process change and
accept and use the new system. The Kubler-Ross Curve is an effective change
management strategy to understand how people deal with change.
3 Steps for Effective Change Management

Step 1: Communication

Communication is important because people cannot accept what they do not

understand. Early, frequent, and progressive communication much before the
ERP system is implemented should explain the need for change.
Employees need to know the reasons for adopting the new ERP system and
how it will help the organization. They need to be educated on the features of
the new system and how it will benefit them.
The nature of tasks or even job roles of employees change when ERP is
implemented. Employees need to know what the transition from a functional
oriented to a process oriented organization involves, its benefits, and how their
tasks will change once the system goes live.
It is necessary to have a communication strategy as part of change
management. It can be either one-way communication or two-way
communication. Mitel Corporation, a manufacturer of semi-conductors and
business communication systems decided to implement ERP in their
organization. They used both these communication methods to get the buy-in
from employees.
In one-way communication, the project was announced and its status was
updated regularly through the Intranet, posters, newsletters, town hall
meetings, and integration test demonstrations.
Mitel focused more on two way communication. Conversations and discussions
in meetings, workshops, and Q&A sessions on the Intranet helped employees
understand the change. This is important to gain the confidence of employees
and their buy-in for the change. It also helps resolve misunderstandings.
Employees accept and commit to the changes. They identify with the new way
of working and their help can be enlisted to convince other employees.

Step 2: Stakeholder Analysis

This step will define who will be affected by the ERP implementation. Analysis
will help know the level of involvement of each stakeholder and will determine
the amount of training they will require.

This analysis will help document the roles and responsibilities of each
stakeholder. The roles that will be defined at this stage are:
Leader – Provides direction and alignment
Super Users – SMEs within departments, understand the business process of
their departments
Power Users – Users with advanced knowledge of certain applications who
will monitor the day-to-day transactions of end users
End Users – Everyone who uses the system, they feed the system with data
In this stage, the perceived advantages and disadvantages, job roles, and
responsibilities for each stakeholder after the restructuring of the organization
will be analyzed. To enable stakeholders commit and own the change, an
assessment of each one’s level of involvement is necessary. The results of the
stakeholder analysis are used to identify the training requirements.

Step 3: End-User Training

Training employees on skills and knowledge is necessary to execute the ERP

system. Training must be customized for each process in the organization so
that the users understand how relevant it is to them.

Training requires an investment of time, money, and effort, but the results are
worth it because it will help employees learn about their roles, and
consequently reduce their resistance to the change. In fact, a report on how
top organizations deploy ERP training by The Aberdeen Group published in
2014 says that Best-in Class organizations (top 20% of companies based on
performance) are likely to combine ERP training with day-to-day business
processes so that they learn as they work. (Source: Aberdeen)
End user training will provide employees the knowledge of the software
fundamentals and the benefits it will provide. Organization-wide training is
necessary for this – from management to executive teams, IT project teams to
end users.
End user training must be ongoing and should include classes, workshops, and
practical sessions right through the implementation process. It should not be a
‘one and done’ program but a continuous process. Employees typically will not
be able to remember all the different tasks involved in using the new software.
So a combination of classroom training and online learning will work best.
As the above image shows, the process of change management involving the
above three steps should ideally provide employees the skills and knowledge
(through end user training) so that they enter a state of readiness that will
convert them into high-performance end users.
The change management strategy will ensure employees adopt change quickly
so that organizations can adopt the new technology faster with the least
impact on productivity.

Post-Implementation Review
What Is Post-Implementation Review?
What are you going to do when the project’s over? Have a little celebration
and move on to the next one, right? The project might be over, but the process
continues.
That means that if you delivered a product or a service, the project might be
completed, but you still need to check on the viability of the product or
service. You might have achieved the goals you set out for the project, but
what about the business needs that product or service was responding to?
Think of it as an ongoing step in your project closure process. It’s a post-project
review or post-implementation review, which is part of your project
management responsibilities. It’s also a great way to identify project successes,
deliverables, achievements and learn lessons from those parts of the project
that didn’t work out as planned.
How do you practically apply a post-implementation review? How can you be
sure that the project solved the problems it was created to address? Are there
more benefits that can be unpacked from the project? What are the lessoned
learned? To answer those and more questions, you need to follow a process.

What Is the Post-Implementation Review Process?

To get the most out of your project, you want to employ a post-
implementation review process. While this can start at any time after the initial
project has been complete, starting it sooner than later makes sure that the
project details are still fresh in the team’s mind.
While go get the most from the process, you’ll want to wait a while, after the
project’s product or service has had time to exist in the real world. But at least
start the process by beginning to list ideas and observations. You don’t want to
wait until the participants are distracted by other projects.
How to Conduct a Post-Implementation Review
After the project’s deliverables have gone through at least one successful
business cycle, you can get started on the review. There are project closure
checklists that help frame the process. Here are some of the best practices for
conducting the review include the following.
Trust. To get the information you need, you want honesty from your
participants. Therefore, tell them you want openness, without fear of
retribution. The more critical and truthful their observations about the
project are, the more successful the review.
Objectivity. While you want honesty, you don’t want sour grapes or
interpersonal issues clouding observations with bad feelings or to settle old
scores. Seek objectivity, or as close to an impartial critique as can be
expected.
Documentation. Like all project management, you want to create a paper
trail that illustrates how you went from Point A to Point B. By documenting
the practices and procedures that created the successes in the project,
you’ll be able to follow them again in future projects.
Hindsight. As you develop a narrative as to what worked and what didn’t,
what surprises arose during the project and how you dealt with them,
understand that this hindsight vision can also help as you look forward
towards new projects.
Improvement. The point of+ this review process is not to blame
individuals or teams for mistakes, but to learn from experience and then
apply that knowledge to future projects. Stay focused on what’s next,
rather than looking back as a means of applying guilt.
Post-Implementation Review Methods
There are many ways to gather the information you want to determine what
worked and what didn’t in your project. Here are some examples.
Gap Analysis. This method of assessing how a plan differed from the
actual application is always a powerful tool to see what benchmarks you
met, and which you didn’t. You can start with your project charter and see
how closely you adhered to your objectives. Look at your deliverables. Are
they at a quality level you expected? When there are gaps discovered,
figure out how they can be closed.
Project Goals. Simply put, did you achieve the goals of your project? Are
your deliverables functioning as planned? What was the error rate of the
project? Can the deliverables adjust to changes in the market? How well-
trained and supported are end-users? What controls and systems are in
place and are they working? Are problems being addressed? Did you
planned goal align with your result?
 Stakeholders. How satisfied are your stakeholders? Were users needs
met? What effect did the project have on them? If there is dissatisfaction,
why is that and what can you do to resolve it?
Cost. How much did the project end up costing? What are the costs
involved in operating the project’s result? Are the costs aligned to the
benefits of the project? If this isn’t the case, how can you improve the cost
next time?
Benefits. Did the project achieve the benefits projected, and if not why
and how can that be improved? What opportunities are there to further
the results? Are there other changes you could apply to help maximize the
project’s results?
Lessons. Did the project’s deliverable, schedule and budget all meet
expectations, and if not why? What were some of the issues that arose
during the running of the project and how could they be avoided for the
next project? What went well, and what can you learn from that
experience?
Report. Document what you learned from the review, whether there is
actions needed to get the beneficial results you want and list the lessons
you’ve learned, noting how the project can impact future projects, so you
can build on success and avoid problems.
Final Thoughts on Post-Implementation Review
There are many ways to close a project, but too often the post-implementation
review is neglected. It’s understandable, as a critical review can open some old
wounds.
When you’re dealing with a lot of people and asking them for criticism of the
project, there’s the potential to step on someone’s toes and create hurt
feelings that can creates some unpleasant political issues within your team or
organization. Therefore, be clear that what you’re interested in is not a
personal attack, but a systemic overview of process and how everyone
together can work towards improving it. That’s why it often helps to hire an
independent party to collect the post-project data.
Don’t forget to review all the project documentation. It’ll help you better
assess what worked and what didn’t, and provide you with an overview of the
project and where there might have been unforeseen holes that you can then
fill in with upcoming projects.
When you’re done with the review be completely transparent. Share your
findings in a report and make sure everyone has access to these documents. If
you want to, it can help if you present the information to the organization. Your
goal is to create better projects, and that information isn’t proprietary.
Everyone has a need to know.
7 things you need to know about maintaining your ERP system
There are things that users can do to make sure that things are running
smoothly. Periodically, there are issues that should be brought to the attention
of a professional. When something goes wrong, it should be addressed quickly
to avoid the problem escalating down the line.
The performance of an ERP system affects cyber, financial and job security

within a business. Just like how a first-time car owner needs to learn how to

properly care for their vehicle, businesses need to know how to care for their

ERP software.

Here are 7 things that every business should know when it comes to the

maintenance of their ERP system.

1. Get familiar with your ERP

Start by educating yourself about the ERP software that your business uses.

Read the manuals provided, know the software house that developed it,

research the business who implemented the system for you, and which other

organizations use the system within your industry.

This way you’ll have an overall feel of where the ERP fits in the marketplace

and how well it meets the needs of your business.

You will also learn about any limitations or related software, allowing you to

understand the full spectrum of technologies available to you.

 2. Assess your internal capabilities

Some businesses have ERP specialists within their IT department. Some do not.

Get an idea of whether or not your in-house staff can handle the ERP

maintenance duties.

If they can’t, find out whether it will be handled through a third-party

consultant, or if your business will pay for an ERP vendor’s maintenance plan.

Many businesses find it beneficial to utilize a team of third-party experts who

specialize in delivering solutions for their ERP system.

3. Weigh the financial options

Choosing how to handle ERP maintenance and who to utilize for those services

is a decision that should not be taken lightly.

Businesses should weigh-up the benefits/drawbacks of an ERP vendor

maintenance plan and see if it fits in to their general technology plans. More

often than not, businesses find they can leverage better value and level of

service from a third-party consultancy team, with many providing specialized

support desk teams for a specific ERP system.

If you are unsure how to make the call, remember this: Your maintenance plan

should mirror your general technology strategies. The financial decisions

should stay in line with the pace that your IT department implements and
supports system-wide changes. Don’t overestimate the speed at which your

business is ready to move, and be careful not to saddle your IT department

with more than they can handle.

4. Set the parameters of a service level agreement

Service level agreements (SLAs) are an important part of contracting for

maintenance services. For a third-party service or direct maintenance by the

vendor, you must insist on a clearly explained SLA policy.

An SLA typically defines various tiers of severity for when problems arise. The

level of problem dictates how quickly your service provider will respond and

how fast they will provide a solution to the problem.

For example, the most urgent problem may be defined as a complete system

failure and contractually requires a response within 30 minutes of notification.

A problem with less urgency, such as a minor system bug that doesn’t affect

important systems and is not necessary to customer service, may be able to

wait until the next scheduled service check. SLAs protect the maintenance

service from being at a businesses’ beck and call, although it also protects

businesses from ballooning charges for special attention.

Having clear urgency definitions will help remove confusion and frustration

from your service interactions.

5. Plan your ERP life cycle

In order to reduce costs, your business should plan the usability of your ERP.

How long will you go before upgrades? What is the intended life cycle of the

platform?

You should weigh-up the short-term and long-term costs of maintenance to

decide when it’s best to upgrade or consider switching to a new platform.

Every five years the life cycle should be reevaluated so that maintenance

purchases reflect the cycle you are on.

For example, if you decide to try a new platform, maintenance contracts can be

reduced in service and time span in preparation for the change.

6. Security

Maintain proper security measures by performing regular backups and system

restorations.

Installing patches as soon as they arrive from the vendor will help your

business from becoming a victim of cyber hacks and data breaches.

7. Systems review

When in doubt, call in the professionals.

A system review is a type of health check for ERP systems and should be done

periodically to assess the functionality of the system and address any issues

that could be slowing it down.

Updates or upgrades are evaluated, with your business gaining a clearer vision

of the opportunities for improvement and the budget required.

By following these tips, you will keep your system in top functional shape. The

board will be happy that you are staying within your software budget, and all

of the staff will be on the same page with a clear roadmap for managing the

businesses’ resources for years to come.

ERP Support Services

Every organization dream of staying pretty well organized by delegating their
ERP system to an entrusted ERP service provider who is proficient in taking
charge of the Custodial Support Service with a great bandwidth. It is true that
ERP related applications depend on dozens of database tables that need
governance all through the year. Your system demands timely upgrade for
functioning normally under contingency. With a solid ERP support, your
businesses will automatically adjust to migration, troubleshooting, bug fixing,
security authentication, scenario and other pernicious situations.

Ready, Steady & Flow with Raybiztech’s ERP Maintenance & Maneuvering
Onboarding our Customized Service Delivery Model will offer you with the
lucrative library of facilities. If our functional service catalogue runs to support
your Logistics, SCM, HCM, Analytics, Financial & Controlling, our technical
menu is marked to provide you with Security, Identity Management, Custom
Development, Application Integration, Mobility Migration, Data Quality,
Support & Administration services with loyalty. So, by engaging with us you will
avail all-inclusive ERP support of sterling quality.

Inch-perfect Diagnosis of Your ERP

Our knowledge-based IT engineers stretch out to the nerve of the diseased-
spot or problematic-area in your ERP. The team systematically applies Root
Cause Analysis to delve deeper and deeper into the architecture for fault fixing
so as to bring kinetic improvements into the obstructed system. The domain
experts stick to strict Service Level Agreements (SLA’s), methodologies and
provide wide-angle vigilance to your multi-fold ERP for integrating nuts and
bolts into your system that had gone astray.

ERP Service Connect Catalogue

A rich ERP suite can turn your company’s back office into an intuitive hub but
bringing hardware, software and software integrators together is a big
challenge. We are the technology-agnostic company that aims to make the
complex world of ERP simpler, enabling our customers to pin their focus on
their business. Our Hyper-converged Development & Service Centre in
Hyderabad, India allow our clients to go live with their lively ERP by navigating
their critical IT attrition for continuity of their system. Our customer retention
ratio is a testament to our success in providing 360 degrees ERP services with
reduced risks and lowered TCO.

Let’s Take a Glance of the Collected ERP Support & Service Highlighted Below:
ERP Assessment & Optimization
Error Check & Health Diagnostics
Hosting
Fast Fusion Assessment
SOA Boot Camp & Visioning
Hot Staging
Configuration & Change Management
Upgrade & Migration
User-intensive Training
Hardware Aid
Patch Transport
DB Administration & Compliance Audit
Patch Transport Management
Customization & Software Updates
 Project Governance
Testing & Validation
Code Optimization

Benefits of the ERP Support Service

Raybiztech doesn’t believe in locking you with the annual or biannual
agreement. It provides you with vista of billing alternatives enveloped with
advanced benefits. All standard support contracts are conveniently extended,
narrowed or subsided with a short flyer notice. For your welfare, we have a
Reasonable Engagement Model (REM) that will unlatch your liquid cash
outflows to be invested in your core business. Our billing is spoon-mixed with a
breed of service packages that include Pay-Per-Hour, Pay-Per-Period, Pay-Per-
Period, Pay-Per-Patch, or Pay-Per-Project. The payment options are often
incremented with the facility of carrying forward your unused time to the next
service season. Thus, Raybiztech is serviceable in offering User-oriented ERP
Support that will mitigate your esoteric glitches for business continuity. We not
only assist you to gaining stability in your state of business but also let you
attain remarkable economies of scale in the long run.

7Common ERP System Security Problems and Saftey Steps

Here are 7 common ERP system security problems, and handy hints on how
you can avoid them:

Delayed Updates

It’s reported that a whopping 87 percent of business computers feature

outdated software, including ERP systems which are not up-to-date. If your
version is currently unsupported, it can make it difficult to rectify any issues,
such as crashes. More importantly, it leaves your business vulnerable to risk.
Updates happen for a reason; sometimes to introduce new features, but
mostly to address weaknesses that have been identified in the software. The
world of cybercrime is changing constantly, and hackers are finding ways to get
around even the latest of measures. That’s why installing updates as soon as
possible is vital.

How to Avoid: If you’re finding you’re often lagging behind when it comes to
installing ERP updates, then it might be worth looking into an automatic
updater which applies any software updates when available.
Full Access Rights
The biggest threat to businesses undoubtedly comes from external sources,
but that doesn’t mean we can sit back and ignore potential in-house risks. Full
access rights shouldn’t come as default; instead, it’s important to look at who
has access to what data. For example, in most cases, a software developer
wouldn’t require access to employee salary information. It’s also worth looking
into which employees have permissions to make changes to the system. Access
rights and permissions will largely depend upon the needs and requirements of
your business, but as a general rule, it should be a ‘need to know’ basis.

How to Avoid: It’s important to maintain audit logs to track any changes. It’s
also worth adding ‘authorizations’ to checklists for new hires, promotions, and
any role change documentation.

Inadequate Training

Following on from the above, it is certainly worth considering the security risk
posed by internal sources in more detail. In some cases, the risk may be
intended and malicious, but in most cases, it is more likely to be the result of a
lack of understanding. This could be a lack of understanding of the ERP system
as a whole, or it could be a lack of understanding of what is expected by the
organisation in terms of security. This is especially true for new hires who do
not have an in-depth knowledge of internal processes. While any errors may be
classed as ‘innocent mistakes’, it still leaves your business open to security
risks.

How to Avoid: Ask your ERP provider if system training is including as standard,
nominate staff to train new hires, and ensure business protocols are widely
available and easily accessible to all employees.

Failure to Comply
If your ERP system is being used to store confidential sales information,
including personal details and payment details, then it’s essential that the
system meets local security standards requirements. This could include PCI DSS
requirements if credit card data is involved. The system itself should store
details in encrypted form only, without retaining the 3-digit security code, and
there are also requirements for the business, too. You’ll be required to
maintain secure passwords, restrict access to ‘need to know’, and track access
to the data that you keep. You may also need to comply with regulations within
your sector.

How to Avoid: Choose an ERP system that’s designed to comply with necessary
regulations. It’s also important to change your vendor-issued password and
adhere to good security practices at all times.

[easy-tweet tweet=”The whole point of ERP is integration; to remove the need

of ‘Frankensteining’” hashtags=”ERP,Frankensteining”]

Use of Unauthorised Systems

The whole point of ERP is integration; to remove the need for what is known as
‘Frankensteining’. Frankensteining happens when multiple software programs
are used simultaneously to achieve a single goal, such as maintaining sales
data on an ERP but running reports using Excel. This practices still takes places
across many businesses, even if it is not office protocol. It mostly comes down
to familiarity and preference for a specific application, and ease of use. This
means that data could exist within a number of different programs at the same
time, where it is not adequately maintained, updated, or secure.

How to Avoid: Firstly, look into preventing data export unless absolutely
required. Secondly, if your ERP system isn’t doing everything you need it to,
then perhaps it’s time to upgrade to a new system.

[easy-tweet tweet=”Cloud ERP systems are becoming increasingly popular –

any data is stored by a third party” hashtags=”Cloud,ERP”]

Automatic Trust

Cloud ERP systems are becoming increasingly popular. This means that any
data that you choose to enter into the system isn’t stored locally, but is instead
stored by a third party cloud hosting service. There are a number of
advantages to cloud ERP; they can mean much less work for your IT
department, freeing them up for more profitable tasks, they can save you
money, and it’s less drain on your internal networks. However, there is a slight
downside, and that’s the need to place 100 percent of our ERP system security
into someone else’s hands. Businesses need to have peace of mind that their
data is safe.
How to Avoid: Consider your cloud provider very carefully, paying particular
attention to their security processes and their data regulations. Ask around,
read reviews, and don’t be afraid to ask questions.

Single Authentication

As ERP systems have evolved, they’ve become capable of handling not only a
much wider range of information but also more sensitive information as well.
Single authentication — passwords, for example — is standard, but we have to
ask ourselves whether 1FA (one-factor authentication) is enough for modern
ERP systems. Password cracking is one of the simplest and most common
forms of hacking, so it really doesn’t make sense to protect our most
important, sensitive, and confidential business data through the use of
passwords alone which can be stolen or even guessed relatively easily by
experts.

How to Avoid: The obvious solution is 2FA. The good news is that the 2FA
industry has changed in recent years and there is no longer a need for a
physical device. Instead, a code can be sent to an email address.

Weighing Up The Benefits

Although there are a number of security factors to take into account when
implementing a new ERP system, it’s important to remember that the
advantages far outweigh the concerns. In fact, by maintaining a safe and
secure ERP system, with high levels of data consistency, the system could
actually help to make your business even more secure, providing peace of
mind for your staff and your clients.

Top ERP Security Problems and How to Avoid Them

Securing the data in your Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system is
crucial for the survival and success of your business. With such a large
amount of data stored in one system, however, it can easily pose the risk of
a security breach. ERP data is extremely valuable, and if it ends up in the
wrong hands or is hacked by a cyber criminal, it could mean the end for
your business
To that end, it’s worth taking a look at some of the most common ERP system
security issues so that if anything happens, you can be in the know-how about
what can be done to keep your ERP, and the data within it, protected and well
maintained.
Lack of Employee Training and Upkeep
The weakest link in any software system are humans. Uneducated, untrained
and uninformed employees that use the ERP system and handle important
data are one of the biggest security liabilities. Having an ongoing training
schedule should not be overlooked! It’s important to train all your employees
about the new system initially, but what’s really going to make a difference is
the continuous learning approach. Employees should be briefed about the ERP
regularly in the case there are any changes or upgrades made to the system.
Rather than investing time and money on cyber security measures, invest
some on educating your staff.

Overlooking Software Updates

Speaking of changes and upgrades to the system, failing to keep up with any
and all updates to your ERP is another security problem you’ll definitely want
to avoid. Because most software updates take time, companies see this as a
waste of precious resources and will often delay making regular updates to
their ERP system. Software vendors release updates to address known security
vulnerabilities and to fix weak sports in order to help keep their customers
systems more secure, so delaying or failing to keep up with system updates is
only hurting you more in the long run.

Inadequate Access and Authentication

Like all software systems, single authentication is the standard way to access
the data within them. Passwords may seem great, however, they may not be
enough anymore. Cracking a password is one of the most common forms of
hacking, so having your businesses most important and confidential data
accessible through the use of a single password (which can be easily stolen or
guessed by cyber criminals) doesn’t make much sense anymore. Switching to a
two-factor authentication method is a good way to make sure your passwords
aren’t hacked or stolen.

Who can access and edit data within your ERP system is another security
concern that stems from authentication. Full access rights are usually a default
when it comes to software, but it’s important to manage who has access to
what data. Access rights and/or permissions depend on the needs and
requirements of your business, so definitely keep this in mind when giving your
employees important information on how to access data within the ERP –
maybe maintain audit logs to track any changes or add authorizations to keep
track of who is looking at what.

A good ERP system can be the difference between falture and success. So
making sure the data stored in it is secure and protected from cyber breaches
and hackers. If you’re looking for more information, we suggest downloading
our free buyers guide in order to look over the top ERP software vendors and
some extremely important questions to ask before you choose one.

Basic Modules of ERP System

Enterprise Resource Planning System(ERP), just by considering name we can

simply define ERP as System or software that used to manage all the resources
of the whole enterprise. Right from employee payments to a single screw
coming into the enterprise, everything can be managed & tracked by using ERP
Systems. ERP is a cross-functional software that supports all the business
processes within the organization.
In an organization, ERP helps to manage business processes of various

departments & functions through the centralized application. We can make all

the major decisions by screening the information provided by ERP.

There are many vendors in the market which are providing traditional ERP

solutions or Cloud-based ERP solutions. Though implementation platforms or

technologies are different, there are common & basic modules of ERP which

can be found in any ERP System. Depending on organizations need required

components are integrated & customized ERP system is formed. All the below-

mentioned modules can be found in an ERP system:

Human Resource

Inventory

Sales & Marketing

 Purchase

Finance & Accounting

Customer Relationship Management(CRM)

Engineering/ Production

Supply Chain Management (SCM)

Each component mentioned above is specialized to handle the defined

business processes of the organization. Let us go through the introduction of

the various modules.

Human Resource Module(HR):

Human Resource module helps to HR team for efficient management of human

resources. HR module helps to manage employee information, track employee

records like performance reviews, designations, job descriptions, skill matrix,

time & attendance tracking. One of the important submodules in the HR

module is Payroll System which helps to manage salaries, payment reports etc.

It can also include Travel Expenses & Reimbursement tracking. Employee

Training tracking can also be managed by ERP.

Inventory Module:
Inventory module can be used to track the stock of items. Items can be

identified by unique serial numbers. Using that unique numbers inventory

system can keep track of item and trace its current location in the organization.

e.g. you have purchased 100 hard disks, so using inventory system you can

track how many hard disks are installed, where they are installed, how many

hard disks are remaining etc.

Inventory module includes functionalities like inventory control, master units,

stock utilization reporting etc.

There may be an integration of the inventory module with the purchase

module of ERP.

Sales Module :
Typical sales process includes processes like Sales queries & inquiry analysis &

handling, quotation drafting, accepting sales orders, drafting sales invoices

with proper taxation, dispatch/Shipment of material or service, tracking

pending sales order. All these sales transactions are managed by the sales

module of ERP. CRM module can take the help of the Sales module for future

opportunity creation & lead generation.

Purchase Module:
As the name indicates, purchase modules take care of all the processes that

are part of the procurement of items or raw materials that are required for the

organization. Purchase module consists of functionalities like supplier/vendor

listing, supplier & item linking, sending quotation request to vendors, receiving

& recording quotations, analysis of quotations, preparing purchase orders,

tracking the purchase items, preparing GRNs(Good Receipt Notes) & updating

stocks & various reports. Purchase module is integrated with Inventory module

& Engineering/production module for updating of stocks.

Finance & Accounting module:

Whole inflow & outflow of money/capital is managed by the finance module.

This module keeps track of all account-related transactions like expenditures,

Balance sheet, account ledgers, budgeting, bank statements, payment receipts,

tax management etc. Financial reporting is an easy task for this module of ERP.

Any Financial data that is required for running the business is available on one

click in Finance module.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) module:

CRM department is helping to boost the sales performance through better

customer service & establishing a healthy relationship with customers. All the

stored details of the customer are available in the CRM module.

CRM module helps to manage & track detailed information of the customer

like communication history, calls, meetings, details of purchases made by the

customer, contract duration etc. CRM module can be integrated with the Sales

module to enhance sales opportunities.

Engineering / Production module:

Production module is a great help for the manufacturing industry for delivering

the product.

This module consists of functionalities like production planning, machine

scheduling, raw material usage,(Bill of material)preparation, track daily

production progress production forecasting & actual production reporting.

Supply Chain Management (SCM):

SCM module manages the flow of product items from manufacturer to

consumer & consumer to manufacturer.

Common roles involved are a manufacturer, Super Stockiest, Stockiest,

distributors, retailers etc. SCM involves demand & supply management, sales

returns & replacing process, shipping & transportation tracking etc.

Today many SMBs face challenges in their process automation. ERP is a great

help for such organizations. ERP can efficiently streamline the business

operations of the organization. Above introduction of modules can help you to

choose & customize the ERP modules depending on your organization’s

requirements.

ERP Marketplace and Marketplace Dynamics

ERP Market
• The ERP market is a very competitive and fast growing market.
• According to Research, the enterprise resource planning (ERP) market is
experiencing double-digit growth in 2007, and is expected to continue to grow
at an average of 10% over the next five years.
• The ERP market continues to benefit from a widespread acceptance of the
idea that business must have integrated information systems to be
competitive.
• SAP continues to be the biggest player in the market with an estimated 43%
of the market share, or about $12.5 billion in revenue in 2006.
• The top players of the ERP market are SAP, Oracle, Sage Group, Microsoft
Business Solutions, Infor Global Solutions, Geac, Intentia, QAD, Lawson
Software, etc.
• The popular operating systems for ERP software are Windows and Unix.
• The most popular databases for ERP software are Oracle and MS- SQL Server.

SAP
• Sap
is Systems Applications and Products in Data processing.
• Founded in 1972 by a group of former IBM employees
• SAP is the world’s leading provider of business software, SAP delivers
products and services that help accelerate business innovation for their
customers.
• Today, more than 82,000 customers in more than 120 countries run SAP
applications – from distinct solutions addressing the needs of small
 businesses and midsize companies to suite offeringsSAP serves as a
standard in the industries like chemicals, customer products & oil.
• The SAP group has offices in more than 50 countries worldwide & employs
a workforce of over 19300.
• SAP’s ERP package comes in 2 versions i.e. mainframe version (SAP R/1
,SAP R/2) & client server version (SAP R/3).(R-Real)
• With SAP, customers can install the core system & one or more of the
fundamental components, or purchase the software as a complete package.
for global organizations.
• SAP has developed extensive library of more than 800 predefined business
processes.
• These processes may be selected from SAP library & can be included
within installed SAP application solution to suit the user exact requirements.
Oracle
• Oracle is direct competition of SAP and is intent
on snaring the lead from SAP.
• The latest moves of the software giant that include the acquisition of
PeopleSoft and Siebel Systems allowed for Oracle to position its software
well.
• This software is known for the flexibility it offers
to customers.
• ORACLE software runs on the network computers, work stations & micro
computers, mini computers, etc.
• ORACLE 8i is the leading database for internet computing.
• ORACLE database ALLOWS the corporation to access on any data, on any
service, over any network, from any client device
▫ Oracle application consists of 45 plus software modules which are divided
into following categories
– Oracle Financials
– Oracle Human Resource
 – Oracle Projects
– Oracle Manufacturing
– Oracle Supply Chain
– Oracle Front Office
Microsoft Dynamics
• This is another solid player when it comes to ERP and serves more than
80,000 customers.
• This ERP provider offers its end users with the Customer Relations
Management software and the business solutions tools that can help
facilitate the flow of communications from one business to the next or from
a business to its captive consumers.
• If SAP is high end, then Microsoft ERP is packaged just a few levels below
when it comes to cost.
ERP Scenario in Indian Market
• In India, the small and medium-sized businesses are the major force that
pushes the growth.
• There is greater demand for componentized solutions with standard
modules and specific functionality to address the unique processes.
• There is demand for customized solutions for sales and operations
planning, tactical planning, demand management which are not served by
traditional ERP systems.
• The major Indian ERP vendors are Ramco Systems, 3i Infotech, Godrej
Infotech, Eastern Software Systems and Base Information, etc.
• The USPs of the Indian ERP vendors are competitive price points and
higher return on investments. Indian players have products that are cheap,
can be implemented quickly, are flexible and need lower IT dependence and
support.
• Indian ERP vendors have a better understanding of the local landscape
and are in a better position to provide solutions with the right mix of
functionality, technology and pricing for the Indian customer.
• Some of the first Indian companies to have adopted ERP practices are HLL,
ONGC,ESSAR, Godrej Soaps, Cadburys, BASF, Telco, Maruti Udyog Ltd.,
 Century Rayon, Citibank, ACC, ANZ Grindlays, German Remedies, Blue Star,
Mahindra & Mahindra, Rallis India, Sony India Pvt. Ltd., Ceat Ltd., Indal, Ford
Motors, Kirloskar, Knoll Pharmaceuticals, and Glaxo .
ERP Functional Modules
All ERP packages contain many modules. The common modules which are
available in almost all ERP software packages are as following:
• Finance
• Manufacturing & Production Planning
• Sales & Distribution
• Plant Maintenance
• Quality Management
• Material Management
What are the I/o ?
• Input for A/F include:
▫ Payments from customers
▫ Account receivable data
▫ Account payable data
▫ Sales data
▫ Production and inventory data
▫ Payroll and expense data
• Output for A/F include:
▫ Payments to suppliers
▫ Financial reports
▫ Customer credit data
The finance module of most ERP systems will have the following sub
systems
1. Financial Accounting
• for company wide control and integration of financial information that is
essential to strategic decision making.
• It provides ability to centrally track financial accounting within an
international framework of multiple companies, languages, currencies and
charts of accounts.
2. General Ledger
• The GL is essential both to financial accounting system and to strategic
decision making.
• The GL supports all the functions needed in a financial accounting system.
• This includes flexible structuring of the chart of accounts at group and
company level, distributed application scenarios, real time simultaneous
update of sub ledgers and the GL, elimination of time consuming, and
parallel views of data in both GL and managerial accounting applications.
3. Accounts Receivables
• records all account postings generated as a result of Customer sales
activity.
• These postings are automatically updated in the General Ledger .
• The Accounts Receivable Module also integrates with the General ledger,
Sales and Distribution, and Cash Management Modules.
4.Account Payable
• records account postings generated as a result of Vendor purchasing
activity.
• Automatic postings are generated in the General Ledger as well.
• Payment programs within SAP enables the payment of payable documents
by check, EDI(Electronic Data Interchange), or transfers.
5. Asset Accounting
• for company’s fixed assets management.
• It is sub ledger to GL, providing detailed information on asset related
transactions.
• SAP allows you to categorize assets and to set values for depreciation
calculations in each asset class.
• Asset accounting also provides integration with plant maintenance for
management of machinery and equipment, management of leased assets
and assets under construction, and interactive reporting
6. Legal Consolidation
• Using different valuation methods , company can plan balance sheet
strategies to suit its requirements.
• The sub system is closely linked to the financial accounting system,
permitting direct data transfer from individual statements into the
consolidated statements required by the law
• These statements provide an overview of the financial position of the
company as a whole
7. Controlling
• controlling system gathers the functions required for effective internal
cost accounting.
 • It offers a versatile information system with standard reports and analysis
path for the most common questions.
• In addition there are features for creating custom reports to supplement
standard reports
SAP ERP financial business benefits
• Improve financial and managerial reporting:
▫ SAP ERP Financials gives you the flexibility to report performance by
business unit, organization, or cost center.
• Improve corporate performance:
▫ SAP ERP Financials provides the foundation to quickly read, evaluate, and
respond to changing business conditions with accurate, reconciled and
timely financial data.
• Achieve faster closes:
▫ With SAP ERP Financials, you can streamline accounting, consolidation,
process scheduling, workflow, and collaboration.
• Improve corporate governance and transparency:
▫ SAP ERP Financials provides broader support of accounting standards,
federal regulations, and improved administration of internal controls.
• Improve cash flow and liquidity:
▫ SAP ERP Financials automates dispute, credit, and collections management
– and offers electronic invoicing and payment capabilities that supplement
traditional accounts receivable and accounts payable functions to accelerate
and manage cash flow.
• Optimize global cash management:
▫ With SAP ERP Financials, you can report, analyze, and allocate cash in real
time, and establish in-house banks or payment center.
• Improve process integration between finance and treasury:
▫ With SAP ERP Financials, you can integrate risk and treasury transactions
with core accounting and financial reporting processes.
• Reduce overall finance costs:
 ▫ SAP ERP Financials helps you operate effective shared-services, collaborate
with customers or suppliers, and streamline operations to reduce costs and
resource demands.
Companies with financial ERP modules
◦ SAP
◦ Oracle E-Business suite
◦ Microsoft Dynamics
◦ JD Edwards
ORACLE 11 I E - BUSINESS SUITE MODULE INCLUDES FOLLOWING SUB
MODULES
◦ Account Receivable
◦ Account Payable
◦ General Ledger
◦ Fixed Asset
◦ Procurement(Purchasing)
◦ Order Management
◦ Financial Analysis
◦ Inventory Management
◦ Reporting an using the DB

UNIT-4
ERP System Options and Selection Methods

Optimal Means of Developing an ERP

What is ERP?
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) has been known to be the backbone for
many corporate-scale businesses. The software is a key tool for managing
production, order processing and inventory. It also monitors business
resources between stakeholders, such as; revenue, materials, orders, staffing
and manufacturing capacity. All of this is done in a single interactive database
management system with built-in analytics and a dashboard.
An ERP can be implemented across several industries including manufacturing,
retail, human resources, steel, concrete, banking, pharmaceutical, chemical,
oil/gas, as well as agricultural, farming and livestock management.
There haven’t been as many suitable ERP options available to small-sized
businesses in the past. These businesses simply didn’t have the funds or
technical support to create the infrastructure necessary to adopt the
traditional corporate-scale ERP solutions.
Therefore, growing businesses end up creating a fragmented business
structure made up of several separate programs that handle finance, inventory,
sales, payroll and more. However, recent technological advancements have
opened the door to more practical small business solutions.
What Do Small Businesses Need to Understand?
Within a small company or startup, employees wear multiple hats. Everyone
pitches in wherever and whenever the need arises (which is frequently). Who
has the time to manually process multiple spreadsheets and separate
mountains of data? ERP systems geared towards small businesses are able to
blend and automate key business functions such as order processing,
production and finances.
However, ERP software is integrated over all departments of a
company. Implementing an ERP system entails careful planning in order to
minimize the risk of failure and to ensure goals are met.
This requires a standardized implementation blueprint, an established ERP
strategy prior to selection and involvement of all business and IT staff
members in the process. Any business can get a real ROI from the use of an
integrated ERP system if executed correctly.
What Benefits Do Small Businesses Get From ERP?
Transparency: Instead of each department having its own information system,
all relevant data can be shared and accessed by all the departments. This
eliminates the need to re-enter or export data, which can result in less errors,
increased productivity and reduced expenses on human resource.
Decision-making: Real-time data provided by the system can be beneficial for
marketing, management, accounting, and enables the organization to make
vital decisions on time and reduce waste. Teams can detect any potential
obstacles or issues that may shake productivity levels. An overall picture of
operations allows for business leaders to make effective decisions and respond
quickly to a changing business environment.
Productivity: With increased clarity by streamlined business processes, staff
can shift their focus on managing increased volumes of business. This aids in
transforming various facets of your business and overcoming the challenges
involved in business growth.
What Are Signs That Your Business Needs an ERP?
The majority of small businesses start with just the basics. This may include a
combination of simple accounting software and document-based processes—
i.e., spreadsheets, synced documents.
As the business expands and transactions increase, it may become more time-
consuming and difficult to process a larger volume of data. Business processes
become much more tedious, such as; inputting sales and purchase orders from
various clients, updating inventory, manual stock checks, processing invoices,
billing and keeping track of client interactions.
This is especially true if this information is stored in separate systems and
databases. This means that data may need to be imported/exported from
program to program in the workflow, allowing room for errors.
ERP can automate these manual processes, allocating more company time to
sales and business development instead of administrative tasks. Furthermore,
ERP software allows synchronous workflow from inquiry to invoice and
payment. The ideal ERP system would handle the processes in one fluid
system:
Contact with Client (CRM) → Order Processing (Supply and Inventory
Management) → Invoicing and Payment (Finances and Accounting)
It may be time for ERP implementation:
When the amount of inventory in the warehouse becomes difficult to
determine;
When the sales forecast is based mostly on guesswork;
When the company is struggling to keep up with an upsurge of orders or
relies heavily on excel spreadsheets;
When getting solid facts becomes problematic, it may be time for ERP
implementation.
What Is the Right Choice of ERP?
There is no one size fits all ERP system. Each business has different competitive
profiles, customer mixes and business standards that make for a massive range
of solutions.
A good ERP option will offer a suite of business management tools such as
CRM, web hosting, ecommerce platform, a tasking system, a shipping manager,
email marketing, etc. However, too many unnecessary bells and whistles may
cut back revenue.
As a small business you want to invest in the most cost-effective solution that
meets your needs, fits your industry and is manageable. There are various
factors to consider when choosing which ERP is best for you and your
company.
Ease of Use: Consider the learning curve involved. Is it user-friendly? What
would be the amount of training involved? Modern ERP solutions come with
responsive user interfaces and can easily integrate with most business tools
such as Microsoft programs and Google.
Customization: Does the software accommodate changing business models?
Does the software utilization, platform and user count adapt with business
growth? The system should be scalable to your business goals.
While most of the sophisticated enterprise-scale software will be too bulky and
expensive, the ‘freemium’ software (small, basic packages) will be too difficult
to scale as your business grows. It is important to select an ERP solution with
the features that best align with your business objectives.
Highly customized systems will generate a higher cost, so think before you
customize. Design a workflow and ask the vendors to run demos based on your
requirements. It is important to see first-hand how a particular ERP system will
function within your business. 


Cloud or On-premise Platform: Traditionally, on-premise systems required
expensive licensing costs and large initial investments. Now with the
emergence of cloud ERP solutions, an affordable ‘pay-per-transaction’ pricing
model is now available to smaller businesses and start-ups. This minimizes the
risk of you purchasing an inadequate solution that is too powerful for your
needs.
For some companies it may be necessary to have the solution be in-house and
installed on an internal server, while others may prefer a web-based solution
that is more mobile and can be accessed through tablet and mobile devices.
Determine which option best suits your business objectives.
Frequency of Upgrading: Be aware of the support guarantee regarding
mandatory upgrades. Unless you are purchasing additional components for
your software, make sure enhancement fees are locked in and don’t increase
with developments and future releases. Also consider the ease of upgrading; a
cloud platform may provide faster and automatic updates while an on-premise
update may involve more work.
Security Measures
: Ensure that the security of your data is as much of a
priority to the vendor as it to you. Be aware of how to manage and determine
different access and authorization roles in the system to prevent data
violations. Make sure passwords are strong and securely encrypted. Also, ask
the vendor what security measures are employed for integrating third-party
products.
Support Service
: Take into account how much support is offered by the
vendor and find out if there are any additional fees involved for
troubleshooting your system. The vendor should also have plenty of personnel
to assist with setting up and maintenance of your ERP software.
Also, software buyouts and partnerships are now more commonplace. Protect
yourself against a situation in which the supplier management changes and
make sure they guarantee support for a certain extent of time on currently
implemented products.
Total Cost of Ownership: The goal here is to maximize your ROI. The costs
involved in purchasing software can be confusing. Sales reps are known to
downplay the costs and risks involved. Be clear on what the costs for the
software, implementation, maintenance, customization, training, support,
hardware and updates will entail. Determine the pre and post implementation
expenses and project these costs for the next 5-10 years.
Once you understand what you are after and what your business processes
are, you can ask more targeted questions about the ERP software you want.
Plan for Now and the Future
Many young and small companies shy away from investing in a full-fledged ERP
solution, due to the risks involving finances and inefficiency. Ultimately, you
need to understand how your business operates to fully understand what you
want to get out of your ERP program.
As a new startup, iS5 Communications had complex needs from the get-go. iS5
Communications designs, installs, manufactures and services network routing
equipment specifically for harsh environments commonly found in the
transportation, utility, military, industrial and surveillance industries.
They required a software package that offered powerful functionality through
a lean and scalable platform. They teamed up with an ERP solutions
consultant and decided on an ERP solution since it offered the manufacturing,
accounting and international features that iS5 needed immediately.
This ERP solution is a good fit for companies with varied requirements and
complex business processes while remaining cost-effective and fast to employ.
This company knew it was headed for growth, so rather than starting with
entry-level accounting software and eventually transitioning into an advanced
ERP solution, they invested in a solution that would take them from startup to
success.
The CEO of iS5 Communications, Clive Dias, claims they made the right choice
for now and the future.
“I have used many ERP applications during my career. What always plagues
these applications was the lack of integration. None of them offered all the
tools we needed in a single system; we used other add-on applications to
provide the necessary functionality,” explains Dias.
“We now have manufacturing, product configurator, customer relationship
management (CRM), service issue tracking, remote access, multicurrency,
strong core accounting, and financial reporting capabilities in one powerful
product. I appreciate that we have software that supports our business
processes, rather than us having to build and adapt business processes that the
software can support.”
To successfully weigh the risks versus the rewards of ERP software solutions,
the key is to identify your business priorities and corresponding resources for
training and project management strategy.
Even the best ERP software can fail if the implementation isn’t executed
correctly. With so many options available, seeking a consultant specializing in
ERP solutions and implementation may be in your best interest and ensure you
select the right system and manage the change effectively.
How can ERP improve a company’s business performance?
ERP’s best hope for demonstrating value is as a sort of battering ram for
improving the way your company takes a customer order and processes it into
an invoice and revenue—otherwise known as the order fulfillment process.
That is why ERP is often referred to as back-office software. It doesn’t handle
the up-front selling process (although most ERP vendors have developed CRM
software or acquired pure-play CRM providers that can do this); rather, ERP
takes a customer order and provides a software road map for automating the
different steps along the path to fulfilling it. When a customer service
representative enters a customer order into an ERP system, he has all the
information necessary to complete the order (the customer’s credit rating and
order history from the finance module, the company’s inventory levels from
the warehouse module and the shipping dock’s trucking schedule from the
logistics module, for example).
People in these different departments all see the same information and can
update it. When one department finishes with the order it is automatically
routed via the ERP system to the next department. To find out where the order
is at any point, you need only log in to the ERP system and track it down. With
luck, the order process moves like a bolt of lightning through the organization,
and customers get their orders faster and with fewer errors than before. ERP
can apply that same magic to the other major business processes, such as
employee benefits or financial reporting.
That, at least, is the dream of ERP. The reality is much harsher.
Let’s go back to those inboxes for a minute. That process may not have been
efficient, but it was simple. Finance did its job, the warehouse did its job, and if
anything went wrong outside of the department’s walls, it was somebody
else’s problem. Not anymore. With ERP, the customer service representatives
are no longer just typists entering someone’s name into a computer and hitting
the return key. The ERP screen makes them businesspeople. It flickers with the
customer’s credit rating from the finance department and the product
inventory levels from the warehouse. Will the customer pay on time? Will we
be able to ship the order on time? These are decisions that customer service
representatives have never had to make before, and the answers affect the
customer and every other department in the company. But it’s not just the
customer service representatives who have to wake up. People in the
warehouse who used to keep inventory in their heads or on scraps of paper
now need to put that information online. If they don’t, customer service reps
will see low inventory levels on their screens and tell customers that their
requested item is not in stock. Accountability, responsibility and
communication have never been tested like this before.
People don’t like to change, and ERP asks them to change how they do their
jobs. That is why the value of ERP is so hard to pin down. The software is less
important than the changes companies make in the ways they do business. If
you use ERP to improve the ways your people take orders, manufacture goods,
ship them and bill for them, you will see value from the software. If you simply
install the software without changing the ways people do their jobs, you may
not see any value at all—indeed, the new software could slow you down by
simply replacing the old software that everyone knew with new software that
no one does.
Measurement of Project Impact
Project managers often wonder if they are measuring the right things on a
project. It’s difficult to know how much time to spend evaluating past
performance and how much time to spend on keeping the work moving
forward.
Of course there are many indicators of project success, but what do you need
to be measuring while the project is in motion?
At various points during the project you want to evaluate five points: schedule,
quality, cost, stakeholder satisfaction and performance against the business
case. You should be doing this informally anyway. A formal project evaluation is
of use during the end of a phase or stage as it can give you a clear indication of
how the project is performing against the original estimates. This information
can then be used to grant (or withhold) approval from moving on with the next
chunk of work.
Let’s look at the five items you should be evaluating.
1. Schedule
Project management success is often determined by whether or not you kept
to the original timeline. Experienced project managers know how hard that is,
but it’s a little bit easier if you continually evaluate your progress as you go.
You’ll update your project schedule regularly – I recommend at least weekly.
The schedule evaluation is something you can do more formally at the end of
the stage or phase, or as part of a monthly report to your senior stakeholder
group or Project Board.
Look at your major milestones and check if they still fall on the same dates as
you originally agreed. Work out the slippage, if any, and how much of an
impact this will have on your overall project timescales.
2. Quality
The end of a project phase is a good time for a quality review. You can check
both the quality of your project management practices – are you following
the change management processevery time and so on – and also the
deliverables.
A quality review can evaluate whether what you are doing meets the standards
set out in your quality plans. Best find out now before the project goes too far,
as it might be too late to do anything about it then.
3. Cost
Many executives would rate cost management as one of their highest priorities
on a project, so evaluating how you the project is performing financially is
crucial. Compare your current actual spend to what you had budgeted at this
point. If there are variances, look to explain them.
You’ll also want to look forward and re-forecast the budget to the end of the
project. Compare that to your original estimate too and make sure it is close
enough for your management team to feel that the work is on track. If your
forecasts go up too much it is a sign that your spending will be out of control
by the end of the project – again, something it is better to know about now.
4. Stakeholder Satisfaction
Your wider team – your stakeholders – are essential in getting much of the
work done, so it’s worth checking in with them. Find out how they are feeling
about the project right now and what you could be doing differently.
This is a difficult measure to document statistically, although there’s nothing to
stop you asking them for a rating out of 10. Even if you are evaluating their
satisfaction subjectively, it is still a useful exercise. If you notice that
stakeholders are not fully supportive, you can put plans in place to engage
them thoroughly to try to influence their behavior.
5. Performance to Business Case
Finally, you’ll want to go back to the business case and see what you originally
agreed. How is your project shaping up? Check that the benefits are still
realistic and that the business problem this project was designed to solve does
still exist. It happens – project teams work on initiatives that sound great but
by the time they are finished the business environment has moved on and the
project is redundant. No one bothered to check the business case during the
project’s life cycle and so no one realized that the work was no longer needed.
Don’t work on something that nobody wants! Check the business case
regularly and evaluate it in light of the current business objectives.
You can add other items to this list. In fact, it should reflect what is important
to you and your team – you should be evaluating things that matter, so feel
free to add extra elements or ditch some of the ones that you are less worried
about. If you need help working out what’s important, this article about how
to set up project tracking will help.
When your project is over you’ll want to carry out a full and final evaluation.
This could be as part of a lessons learned review, but typically it is different. A
lessons learned review is where all the project stakeholders comment on what
worked and what didn’t. You take away key messages and tasks to improve
how projects are delivered in the future. It’s an essential part of project
closure, but it isn’t a formal evaluation. You get a lot of feedback, anecdotes
and stories but even the most structured lessons learned workshop generally
gives you narrative rather than statistics.
A project evaluation is about figures. The stories form part of it too, but a
smaller part. During a project evaluation you look at:
Schedule
Quality
Cost
Stakeholder satisfaction
Performance to business case
Sound familiar? Yes, it’s the same list of topics that you evaluate as you go
through the project. Anything that you are going to be evaluating at the end
should also be assessed during the project’s life cycle, or you risk not hitting
the targets you have set for yourself.
You can include your final end-of-project evaluation in your Project Closure
Document (get a template here). Note down how close you were to your
original timescales, budget and quality targets. Add a few sentences to
describe whether your evaluations showed that stakeholders were satisfied
with the end result and also if the project met the needs described in the
business case.
Project Selection
Project selection is the first important part of project portfolio management.
Who is responsible for the selection and review of projects?
The responsibility is with the leadership team of the organization. Typically,
they establish a steering committee that overlooks the process of selecting
projects, including project monitoring, and directly reporting to the CEO – if
the CEO is not a member of that steering committee already.
The leading question is:
"How can we make sure that we are doing the right projects?"
We assume that the organization has a strategy in place that covers the next
three to ten years, depending on the type of business the organization is in.
This strategy identifies areas where the organization
Needs to improve or change in terms of organizational structure, research
and development capacity, development of products, office space,
manufacturing capacity, etc.
Wants to serve customers in order to earn money.
Then, our leading question for the selection of projects turns into:
"How can we make sure that we are doing only projects that support our
strategy in these two areas?"

Answering this question for the first area leads to investment projects; for the
second area it leads to customer projects.

All these projects need resources partially or fully provided by the organization
itself. Since these resources are limited not all of the projects we would like to
pursue can be staffed or funded adequately. So, projects in different areas will
compete with each other in order to get support of the organization in terms
of staffing and funding.
The generic process of project selection looks as follows.

(1) Identification of Projects

The first step of this process, identification, requires a clearly defined and
communicated strategy. The best option would be to set up a strategy
development process that contains project identification and project selection
as an integral part (cf. "How to Find the Right Projects" in sub-section White
Papers). In fact, we observe that most organizations identify investment
projects within their strategy development process, but delegate the
identification of customer projects to their key account and sales departments.

Like in strategy development, we find four different ways to identify projects.

We categorize them in the following table.

The following examples may illustrate these four basic approaches.

Example 1 (intuitive identification): The family who owns our company wants
to add a new product to our portfolio. Therefore, they tell our CEO to start a
development project for this new product.

Example 2 (evolutionary identification): Quite a few of our colleagues in our

engineering department find it necessary to have a more efficient knowledge
management system. In their coffee and tea breaks, they discuss some basic
ideas for requirements of such a system, and, some weeks later, propose to
start a project to purchase a software package with the necessary functionality
and adapt it to our needs.
Example 3 (holistic identification): Following the tradition of periodical
meetings, all employees of our division join beginning of this fiscal year again;
as usual, one point on the agenda is the session with presentations and Q & A's
for new projects which have division-wide impact.
Example 4 (expert oriented identification): Our CEO invites an external
consultancy firm to benchmark our customer service organization. Two months
later, this firm proposes to start a project in order to change our service
organization's structure.

(2) Evaluation and Prioritization of Projects

Central part of the project selection process is evaluation and prioritization of

identified projects. There are a couple of methods available:
Net Present Value (NPV)
Internal Rate of Return (IRR)
Benefit / Cost Ratio (BCR)
Opportunity Cost (OC)
Payback Period (PP)
Initial Risk Assessment
These methods require a certain minimum level of "planning" for each one of
the projects to be evaluated. We need to know
Project life cycle duration, in number of accounting periods,
Expected project cost per accounting period,
Expected project revenue per accounting period,
Overall risk values of the projects to be evaluated.

Usually, we do this whole evaluation in definition or early planning phase.

Then, we only have estimates of those values and should make sure that the
estimation accuracies are comparable.

The Net Present Value (NPV) of a project is defined as the difference between
present value of cash inflow (revenue, PV in) and present value of cash outflow
(cost, PV out) of that project over the project life cycle time. Here is the
formula to calculate the present value (PV) for given future value (FV), interest
rate (r), and number of accounting periods (n):
 Project Selection, Example 1:
Investment project "Blue": development of a new version of product "Blue
Dolphin". The cost for development is $100,000.-- this year. Next year, we
will be able to sell the first batch for $70,000.--, in two years the second
batch for $50,000.--. Given an interest rate of 10%, what is the net present
value of that project?

Project
Selection, Example 2:
Investment project "Red": development of a new version of product "Red
Shark". The cost for development is $150,000.-- this year. Next year, we will be
able to sell the first batch for $90,000.--, in two years the second batch for
$85,000.--. Given an interest rate of 10%, what is the net present value of that
project?

If we would have to choose between project "Blue" and project "Red" we

would choose the one with the higher NPV, i.e. project "Blue".

Another evaluation method uses the concept of Internal Rate of Return (IRR).
The internal rate of return of a project is defined as the interest rate at which
the net present value of that project equals zero. Here, we spare you the
mathematical details of calculating IRR's, and give you the results for the two
examples, projects "Blue" and "Red", obtained by trial and error with a simple
MS Excel sheet.
Again, we choose project "Blue", the one with the higher IRR.
In project selection, we usually account for an overall view of benefits and
costs of proposed projects, trying to express all benefits and all costs in
monetary terms of present values at given interest rates. This is the concept of
the benefit cost ratio (BCR). Here is the formula:

In our examples, at an interest rate of 10%, we obtain for

1. Project "Blue": BCR = 104,959 / 100,000 = 1.050
2. Project "Red": BCR = 152,066 / 150,000 = 1.014
(rounded to 3 decimal digits.)

If we only consider cash inflow as benefits and cash outflow as costs we end up
with our familiar decision to choose project "Blue".
With the concept of opportunity cost (OC) we consider that choosing one
option means to give up other options we might have. In our example, we
choose project "Blue" (because of the higher NPV or IRR or BCR) and give up
project "Red", at an opportunity cost of NPV = $2,066.--.
Using the method of payback period (PP) gives us the simplest approach. We
have the following formula.
In our examples, we obtain as payback period for
1. Project "Blue": PP = 100,000 / 40,000 = 2.50 (years)
2. Project "Red": BCR = 150,000 / 58,333 = 2.57 (years)
(rounded to 2 decimal digits.)

We decide in favor of the project with the shorter payback period, and our
choice would be project "Blue". Notice that we do not apply present values
explicitly.

In general, we emphasize that the methods using Net Present Value (NPV),
Internal Rate of Return (IRR), Benefit / Cost Ratio (BCR), or Opportunity Cost
(OC), are all based upon the calculation of present values of estimated future
cash inflows and outflows. In a mathematical sense, they usually lead us to the
same project selection results. Typically, application of one of these methods is
enough. In sub-section Free Project Management Tools, we offer a template
with some more examples filled in.
If available, we can take initial risk assessments into consideration of the
evaluation of project proposals. The following chart shows an example of this
comparative analysis.

We represent each project by a bubble with the size of the bubble indicating
the project volume. Those with high NPV and low risk value we should choose,
those with low NPV and high risk value avoid. For the others we need to
consider other criteria like estimated profit, payback period, etc. We find our
two projects, "Blue" and "Red", but now, the picture does not immediately
lead to the selection of "Blue" since it seems to have a much higher risk value
than "Red".
Remarks:
The examples we used above are rather simple and therefore, the
corresponding results suggest equivalent selection decisions. In sub-section A
Project Selection Case, we describe a more realistic situation where the
"mathematical" results do not match our intuitive evaluation.

We do not recommend integrating those risk values into the interest rates for
any of the PV based calculations. Rather consider them being independent of
other parameters.
(3) Selection and Initiation of Projects
Project selection and initiation is the step that naturally follows evaluation and
prioritization. A particularly delicate step of project initiation turns out to be
the staffing of project teams. As mentioned earlier, resources are scarce, and in
most organizations appear to be the most limiting factor in project selection. If
we take in too many projects we overload our resources, if we do not take in
enough we do not utilize them economically enough. As discussed in the sub-
section Multi Project Management, having too many staff members working in
multi-tasking mode, i.e. on two or more projects at the same time, decreases
overall productivity of the organization. On a medium / long term scale, it
seems to be the better option to initiate projects in a way so that the teams
can focus and work on one project at a time, thus, avoiding disturbances of
one project by the others. Of course, that needs clear prioritization of the
selected projects, based on evaluation done in the previous step.
(4) Review of Projects
After project selection we need to regularly review projects that are under way
in order to find out if they are still in-line with our strategy. Thus, the first way
of checking them is repeating the initial evaluation with more accurate
estimates as they become available; the second way is holding regular project
management review meetings in order to identify major problems on a per-
project basis, via project status reports. In our view, the minimum
requirements of project management reviews along each project's life cycle
are as follows.
From the perspective of a project owner (for an internal project the
organization is the project owner as well, and partially even the supplier):
Acceptance of feasibility studies
 Request for proposal (RFP) or request for quotation (RFQ)
 Vendor selection / signature of contract
 Design freeze / approval of detailed planning documents
 Preliminary acceptance
 Final acceptance

From the perspective of a supplier:

 Bid / no bid decision
 Bid approval
 Signature of contract
 Order approval for sub-contractors
 Declaration "ready for preliminary acceptance"
Project closure

This way, an organization can monitor all their projects by "standardized"

project management reviews.
Final remark: The whole organization should have a clear understanding about
when to terminate a project. Like in project selection, the criteria are similar: If
a project cannot fulfill expectations in terms of strategy support or originally
estimated figures like net project value (NPV), payback period (PP), etc. it
should be terminated.
Project Proposals: Means and Methods for Project Selection
Projects just don't happen by themselves. Before projects begin, the
underlying "concept" must be proposed, evaluated and approved. This
is project selection, and as a process, it must be designed to ensure that
project proposals are evaluated fairly and objectively, with a focus on business
value and project viability. That's the goal - now how is it accomplished? Read
on for more.
As a management process, project selection is accomplished through

standardized practices that establish parameters and boundaries for how

projects are to be proposed and selected. Standardized practices set the stage

through pre-defined steps and related “viability criteria” - forming the basis

which all proposals are evaluated and measured. This paves the way to

consistent, informed and timely decision making (a.k.a the ultimate goal).

What is a project proposal? The project proposal is the initiating trigger of the
project selection process. Whether it comes in the form of a verbal proposal,
simple project request form, or documented business case, the project
proposal is the vehicle by which the initial project "concept" is presented.
Getting Started: Making "Selection" Work

Every project begins with a proposal, but not every proposal can or should

become a project. In a world of limited resources, choices have to be made.

Not every project has viability. And, amongst those that do, any limited

resources, (including people, time, money and equipment), must be applied

judiciously. Consider the risks if resources are misapplied:

Valuable resources can be "used up" before projects are completed and
finalized.
Resources might be used less effectively through assignment to projects
of lesser value and priority.
Credibility and influence can be lost as perceived project failures pile up.
Project Selection Focuses on Viability

To maximize available resources, and avoid potential failures, project proposals

must be evaluated and selected on the basis of overall viability. In a business

sense, project viability is the degree to which a given project will provide the

expected return on investment. Viability can be measured by three key

variables:

Value: The project must provide measurable benefit to the

organization, in terms of revenue, cost reduction, productivity, or some
other desired result.
Alignment: The project must be consistent with, and supportive of,
overall business goals and objectives (including technology goals).
 Probability of Success: The project must present a realistic opportunity
for success, relating to outcome and process, and as can be measured by
business, project management, and technology standards.
Project Selection Relies on Standards

In order to develop selection practices that are fully “defined, aligned and

approved” the following questions must be considered and addressed:

How will project proposals be submitted into the "pool" of potential

projects?
How often will the project "pool" process be undertaken (yearly,
quarterly, monthly)?
Who is responsible for managing the project "pool" selection process?
How will project proposals be reviewed and evaluated?
How will selection decisions be made?
How will selection decisions be approved?
How will selection decisions be communicated?
How will disputes be resolved?
Project selection is a cog in the project management lifecycle, but informed,

effective selection decisions are essential to management success and the

ability to deliver on time, on budget projects. Selection steps kick things off,

providing the basis for all of the planning and decision making that lies ahead.

You can never be reluctant to re-examine selection decisions as time passes

and project circumstances change. That’s the whole point of a lifecycle

approach to managing projects.

Key ERP Evaluation Criteria and Functionality Checklist

Evaluating enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems for possible acquisition
is a major undertaking – you and your selection committee/stakeholders have
a lot of research material and operation data to consider.

We’ve tried to alleviate some of the challenge by building you this practical
list of ERP evaluation criteria based on our extensive research and real user
data with ERP selection projects in our technology selection management
(TSM) platform.

Take advantage of the key ERP evaluation criteria and functionality checklist on
this page to help you get off on the right foot with your ERP research.

Use this template once you’re ready to start prioritizing the your specific
requirements for an ERP implementation. As a bonus, you get an amazing
requirements management tool for free to manage your complete ERP
requirements and evaluation process.

See the full list of key ERP evaluation and functionality criteria:

ERP Evaluation Criteria

Your ERP software should meet most or the following criteria, depending on
your organizational needs:

Customer Relationship/Account Management

Ensure that the CRM module lets users view customers across a wide range of
custom views including products, geography, account type and more. An
effective CRM Module should also allow ease of access to necessary ERP
information on any device at any time.

Accounts Payable Reporting

Good ERP systems will provide your AP team with sufficient reporting so that
collections is more efficient and account aging is easier to assess.

Bank Reconciliation
Your potential ERP solution needs a Bank Reconciliation feature to help your
organization reconcile bank statement balances with the General Ledger cash
accounts amount.

Benefits Administration
Your ERP needs a system for to manage and track participation in benefits
programs, including insurance, compensation, profit sharing and retirement
programs.

CRP (Capacity Requirements Planning)

If you need to determine the resources required to meet production
requirements, a CRP module is essential within your ERP.

MRP (Material Requirements Planning)

Some organizations require production planning, scheduling, and an inventory
control system. If this is part of your requirements as well, check that the ERPs
you are evaluating include this module.

BOM (Bill Of Materials)

Do you need to use bills of material when creating production orders to
manufacture products? If so, be sure this feature is built into whatever ERP you
are considering.

Logistics Management
Since logistics management is essential to all of your organization’s planning
and execution, having logistics management in your ERP is a core feature. I
don’t think an ERP qualifies without logistics management as an integral
feature.

BI (Business Intelligence)
We’ve touched on business intelligence requirements before – with many of
the top BI solutions being stand alone products. However, BI can also be part
of your ERP as well. It’s a matter of organizational preference whether you
harness the BI tools in your ERP or select a stand-alone, best in class BI tool.
Email tools come in many different platforms. Being part of essential CRM
requirements, you’ll likely already have them if you’ve deployed a separate
CRM. However, if your ERP is also your core CRM (as listed above), make sure
that robust email tools are part of the product feature set.

B2C Commerce
Here again is a choice of organizational preference whether your ERP acts as
your point of commerce or you select a stand-alone commerce platform.

Advanced Allocations
If you want help improving overall efficiency, accuracy of financial reporting,
and shortening close cycles, having advanced allocations functionality in your
ERP is critical.

Tax Administration: Payroll & Tax Filing

You need a tax administration technology as a core part of your ERP solution as
it inherently saves your finance team substantial time, money and effort.

Engineering Change Management

Managing your products and manufacturing and business processes is a
fundamental and continual challenge your organization likely faces. Having a
solid ECM component ensures that challenge is most effectively handled. The
solution should have ECM with central logistics functions that can be used to
change various aspects of production basic data depending on specific
conditions.

Customer Credit Management

Your ERP software needs to report customer’s credit standing for any time
period and be able to monitor ongoing sales activity for customers designated
as needing credit hold evaluation for sales.

Available-To-Promise (ATP)
ATP software module gives manufacturers better visibility into completion
through all levels and across the entire supply chain. This may functionality
may be optional to your organization but is something many organizations
need to have come standard in their ERP.

Advanced Planning System (APS)

You need to track costs based on the activities that are responsible for driving
costs in the production of manufactured goods using APS. It should also be
able allocate raw materials and production capacity optimally to balance
demand and plant capacity.

Lean Manufacturing
If in manufacturing, you need tools that support lean manufacturing and flow
scheduling practices for production, replenishment and inventory.

Business Process Management (BPM)

Business Process Management Software will provide the capability to
automate virtually any business process. This is vital to your ERP system and
selection.

Flexible Network Design

A flexible network design can increase the efficiency and scalability of a supply
chain module and is generally a critical and included element of any top ERP
selection.

Module/API Integration
Your selected ERP package needs integration between modules and optionally
(but often necessary) other 3rd party platform APIs, so that all of the core
business functions are connected. Information should flow across the
organization so that BI reports on organization-wide results.

Installation Type
You’ll likely be selecting from either a SaaS or On-Premise ERP Installation.
Both have their pros and cons so make sure you evaluate your organization’s
preference extensively. Part of the evaluation you are consider should include
what are the Implementation Services available, what are the Maintenance
Contracts/On-site maintenance availability, etc.

Support
Any good ERP should include the following support channels:
Forum/Community Support, Phone & Email, Chat & Instant Message. Great
Support would include 24×7 availability considering how critical their ERP
system is to your organization functioning at it’s best. Further, support should
include extensive end-user training development tools, as well.

Training
Obviously ERP is an advanced technology with many different potential
modules you’ll want to utilize. Make sure that upfront and ongoing training
comes standard from your list of potential ERP vendors.

Previous Experience With Vendor

Has your organization engaged with this vendor for a previous project? Do
some due diligence on this to make sure there weren’t past performance
issues (integration, staff interfacing, etc.) that rule out a possible vendor you
are considering.

Financial Stability
As we’ve recommended before in our CRM checklist, be sure to check out
financially stability/status using services like Dun & Bradstreet. Check for
funding history (including most recent funding), count of employees, and other
indicators that the selection of ERP vendors you’re evaluating are in good
shape fiscally.

Top Analyst Reports, Community Reviews, Customer Recommendation

Check that the ERP Vendors you are evaluating have received positive scores
and reviews across the range of ERP features and functions listed above. Make
sure you evaluate from the perspective of both analysts and within ERP
customer review sites.

What Does ERP Testing Mean?

ERP testing refers to the process of verifying the functioning of your ERP
software solution during the implementation process. It’s a quality assurance
(QA) process designed to ensure the ERP system you’re implementing operates
correctly before the full launch.

ERP testing across multiple stages of the implementation process prevents

surprises such as the program crashing at go-live. It also decreases the number
of bugs that would otherwise surface post-implementation. ERP testing during
implementation is hardly new, as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics
Engineers (IEEE) began promoting the practice through their conferences and
publications more than a decade ago.
The fact that crashes and bugs occur does not mean the software wasn’t well
designed. There is always some configuration to be done during
implementation (think of report generation, custom dashboards, etc.)—and
those configurations can be the source of bugs and issues of their own. For on-
premise ERP solutions, another potential source of bugs can arise during
customization. For example, changes to the code made to satisfy the needs of
one set of users might inadvertently cause problems or reductions in efficiency
for another set of users.
Without ERP testing, the risk of implementation failure increases. By testing
your new ERP system, you can not only check the functionalities but also make
certain that reports and forms are being generated and displayed correctly. By
making sure the ERP system works smoothly in a test environment and
addressing any bugs at that stage, you can avoid having to fix issues after the
solution has launched and your employees are using it—thus saving you a lot
of system downtime. In addition, rapid adoption of the ERP system is vital to
ensuring that the new system is used as soon as it is implemented and as
efficiently as possible. A buggy system that is frustrating for new users is hardly
a good way to get users onboard quickly.
Types of ERP Testing
Companies implementing an ERP system need to perform several types of
testing, each ensuring the functionality of a different aspect of the system.

Functionality Testing—working from a precise listing of goals and definitions,

this type of testing makes sure each of the features within a functional
category is working and is fulfilling the needs of your organization.

Performance Testing—this type of testing examines how well the ERP solution
runs as it communicates with the various systems it is designed to integrate
with (e.g., financials, sales order processing, inventory, etc.). Testing should
reflect demanding, high data flow transactions such as those that might occur
under the highest potential peak demands, or preferably even beyond that, to
ensure the system, as implemented, is sufficiently robust.

Integration Testing—as the name implies, this testing verifies that the ERP
system has fully integrated the various processes it is meant to run. It tests the
individual modules or components within your ERP as a group—just like the
software will be doing once implementation is complete. This type of testing
uses real-world scenarios wherein actual users run typical scenarios that they
encounter in their work activities. So you are testing ahead of time how the
ERP system can address real-world issues your organization encounters during
the course of running its business—to make sure that all the components or
modules within your ERP systems are operating smoothly.

Functionality and performance testing can be done mostly in tandem at the

early stages of implementation (i.e., well before the go-live date). Integration
testing can begin early on during implementation and tested along the way to
going live. As you identify adjustments that need to be made, you can make
the necessary changes to your system and retest it to ensure that it is stable.
Automated ERP Testing
ERP testing in an automated fashion (versus manual testing) is necessary for
several reasons:

First, automated testing reduces overall implementation time and may

also yield more information because testing data is stored automatically
by the test tools.
As you know, ERP solutions are complex systems, as ERP tools underpin
many processes and link together many different systems. Thus, by
 running automated test scripts, you can quickly uncover any bugs or
vulnerabilities, and promptly fix them before they become big problems.
Automated testing can also help ensure that the implementation stays
on track so that your organization’s new ERP system is fully up and
running as per the business requirements set forth at the start of
implementation.
ERP systems typically integrate disparate sources of data into one
centralized pool of data. Therefore, testing verifies that your centralized
database stays actively connected to the various ERP-mediated processes
and that the data remains secure.
Automated testing can also circumvent the kind of slow response times
that manual testing can sometimes cause to ERP systems. It can also
improve the user experience by avoiding the sorts of frustrating bugs
that can leave new users wondering if they have made an error and need
more training. Ease-of-use of the system not only influences efficiency
and employee productivity but also has a direct impact on adoption
rates. There is always a human element in successfully adopting new
procedures at work, including using new enterprise software. When
users find the new ERP runs smoothly and error-free, they are more likely
to “take to it” quickly.
A Hidden Benefit of ERP Testing

As ERP testing during implementation involves users from the different user
groups (i.e., stakeholders) who will be using the new ERP solution, the
procedure plays a key role in training.

Remember that training users plays a huge role in how readily the intended
users will adopt the new ERP software. During the tests involving users from
the various stakeholder groups, a lot of data and documentation can
accumulate that will help with training others down the line.

Also, the actual users or testers will be enjoying hands-on training, which they
can later draw on when they sit down with others in their user groups and
show them how to use the new ERP for the daily processes that concern their
group.

Tips for Successful ERP Testing

Don’t “skimp” on users’ time and don’t be resigned to availability problems
and simply move on to a subsequent phase. It is important that processes
specific to particular business groups (user groups or stakeholders) are tested
and are fully functional.

It makes sense to regard the testing of interfaces and, if applicable, any

software modifications as especially important. These two considerations are
among the mostly likely to be buggy later, so there is virtually no such thing as
testing them “too much” during your ERP testing phase.

While your implementation partner should raise some strong objections if

asked, do not try to pressure the implementer to “jump ahead” to the final
testing phases just because the initial test phases are smooth and bug free.
Each phase tests different aspects of how the ERP solution will function post-
implementation, so it’s wise to follow each of the steps conscientiously.
Even if your implementation partner is managing the project and providing
regular reports on progress and test results as the ERP testing phases move
forward, be sure to have your own appointed in-house project manager. This
individual should be responsible for monitoring the project and keeping track
of deliverables and milestones along the way. Remember that the
implementer’s project manager does not report to you, the client, but to his or
her own supervisor.

In short, automated testing might seem to some like “busy work,” but
exercising patience is beyond any doubt the wisest course of action. By
carefully following through on each aspect of the testing phase, you can
ultimately save your organization both time and money. You will also ensure
that your implementation stays focused on getting the new ERP solution fully
integrated and up and running as soon as possible.

UNIT-5
ERP present and future
Turbo charge the ERP system
Turbo Charging ERP with BI and CPM
Business Intelligence (BI) - An ERP product provides hundreds of standard
reports, generated weekly or monthly or year end basis which acted as a
hardcopy dashboards within the organization. In order to improve report
generation functionality, an ERP system provides various report writing tools
(such as crystal report writer, safari report writer) as well as SQL query
functions. A few ERP vendors also attempted to provide hyper relational
interface to provide direct logical link to database. But these functionalities are
having limited utilization due to complexities of their usability. The user has to
still depend on IT department for generation of custom built reports. As a
consequence, the “export to excel” is still the most popular mode of creating a
customized report from an ERP system.
The need for corporate management is for an analytics which provides an
insight to current trend and future direction of the organization, assisting
proactive and predictive business management. For the common user, getting
simple drag and drop reports, which supports their current decision making
process on operational issues, without the help of IT department, is also an
imperative.

Advent of BI - A number of product developers have currently come with their

offering of BI tools to meet this business need. This includes more generic
products offered by SAS and Cognos as well as products targeted to specific
business segments such as BI for procurement offered by Informatica. ERP
product developer also started to embed their products with BI suite.

Functioning of BI: BI tools are database independent and provides access to

ERP data, legacy data and off line data. It also interacts with data warehouse to
access instances of data. It encompasses and pull information from various ERP
modules and other installed software and presenting it in real time. It provides
a dashboard with drill down capacity that gives a single and consolidated view
of relevant information without forcing the end users to switch between
several windows and applications. End users create tailored view of data
involving their operation through simple drag and drop operation. BI comes
with strong analytic tools which facilitate sorting, calculation, analysis of data
and provides different graphical representation to identify critical key trend
and opportunities.
Corporate Performance Management: The corporate performance
management systems are built over the platform of business intelligence. It
provides a bi-directional integration of strategic, operational and tactical
business process metrics where strategy is broken down into operational
targets and the execution is monitored and adjusted to achieve the set targets.
CPM builds on a number of methodologies and system solutions to achieve
this objective and ensures the drive for performance is coordinated and
becomes the responsibility of each person in the organization.

Approach to CPM: The approach to CPM, based on the principal of

predictability, visibility, accountability and confidence emanating in the eyes of
investors, other stakeholders and regulatory authority for an organization, is
comprised of the following:

1.Enterprise risk management which requires predictive risk analysis

capability.
2.More stringent corporate governance to meet legislation
accountability.
3.Formation of executable strategy.
4.Goals and rewards linked to strategy.
5.Becoming an agile and real time enterprise.
6.Management process improvement beyond ERP.
Structure of CPM: CPM solutions are built over existing ERP and BI systems, as
per the following diagram:
 Cloud ERP Turbo charge
Behind this incredible development lies cloud computing, which has created various
opportunities for all kinds of organizations and entrepreneurs, making the competitive
landscape more impact-driven than capital-driven.
Cloud ERP software allows small companies to access all of the benefits which a large
company obtains after setting up an extensive IT infrastructure at a fraction of its cost.
Cloud ERP boosts performance and efficiency within the organization. Here are eight ways
how Cloud ERP turbocharges your business.

1. More Flexibility
ERP provides massive flexibility in work management. The growing workforce can easily
be added as authorized users and allows you to modify the existing human resource
structure of your system.
This is possible due to the fact that the cloud ERP system is highly scalable as the resources
can be scaled instantly as per the requirement of your business process. Hence, if you want
to upgrade the server resources due to the expansion of your business, it can be done very
conveniently.

2. Boost Your Productivity

A cloud ERP consists of a centralized database and a dashboard view of all the areas of
business. Working on tasks which require cross-department guidance and approval becomes
hassle-free, as ERP gives you a complete view of task status and operational bottlenecks of
each department in the current business.
Access to updated and accurate data is always at disposal which reduces long mail threads,
getting lost in them and eventually limiting the silo structure of organizations, which is the
biggest enemy of productivity in an organization. As a result, ERP implementation helps in
better decision-making and streamlined business operation.

3. Adopt Mobility
Is your work limited to your office space? Do you feel paralyzed when not in the office and
have to work remotely any given day? Cloud ERP changes that. Remote.co study suggests
that more than 34% of the workforce operated from home in 2016.
As the remote working culture is becoming more common, adoption to cloud services has
also been increasing, as a result. Cloud ERP is accessible online; it can be used anytime and
anywhere without being location-dependent. Whether it is a laptop or a mobile phone, cloud
ERP fits all, reduces paperwork, and makes collaboration easier.

4. Reduce Operating Costs

Cloud ERP doesn’t need a dedicated IT team to be set up in-house. Your entire business
process is hosted on the cloud, and the ERP cloud providers are responsible for the
migration of data, setup on the cloud, and maintenance of the hardware.
Hence, as a business, you don’t have to invest in any hardware as cloud ERP is billed
monthly on a SaaS-based model serving to all business sizes. While your service provider
takes care of all the hassles related to IT, your employees can focus on the core of the
business.

5. Be More Secured
No in-house hardware, no damage risks! It’s as simple as that. A cloud-based ERP ensures
the highest security of your data. Even if your local infrastructure gets damaged due to theft
or natural disaster, your data is secured as it is stored in remote data centers.
Moreover, the renowned ERP cloud providers such as Ace Cloud Hosting deploy various
security measures such as multi-factor authentication, data encryption, firewalls, and more
in the cloud environment to keep your data secure from breaches and cyberattacks.

6. Reduced Cycle Time

Research shows that cloud ERP out beats on-premise ERP in terms of operational efficiency
and process management. A lot of it has to do with the fact that the cloud environment
comprises a cluster of high-performance servers performing multiple tasks at the same time.
In a local setup, the systems are not capable of delivering such high-performance.
Enhanced business processes mean that your business is on the path to growth. When
decision-making time is reduced, employee satisfaction increases and there is a sense of
clarity in the organization regarding its core purpose.

7. Forget Ticket Raising to IT Support

With the implementation of the ERP cloud, forget raising internal tickets to your IT team as
your ERP cloud provider will help you in every step, from troubleshooting, scheduled
maintenance, and day-to-day issues. Every ERP cloud provider’s top priority is to keep the
system running without any issues. Your internal IT team can be minimized and can focus
on what’s essential for your business in-house.

8. Integrate All Your Systems

A cloud ERP system easily integrates with all your existing business systems and syncs data
in real-time. By integration, data duplicity time is saved as all your employees have to feed
data only once.
This eliminates multiple entries, and report creation becomes more accurate and robust,
making more space for essential tasks. Process and customer handling become so easy that
you’ll be able to add more revenue streams to your business.

9. Analytics Matter
Once your company is well acquainted with cloud ERP, as a business owner, you’ll have all
the vital business data on your fingertips. You can easily chart down individual performance
and time spent on the dashboard to calculate the productivity of the employees. Having a
metrics-driven mindset will enhance the work culture and reflect in your overall
profitability.

Enterprise Application Integration (EAI)

Definition - What does Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) mean?

Enterprise application integration (EAI) is the use of technologies and services
across an enterprise to enable the integration of software applications and
hardware systems. Many proprietary and open projects provide EAI solution
support.
EAI is related to middleware technologies. Other developing EAI technologies
involve Web service integration, service-oriented architecture, content
integration and business processes.

Techopedia explains Enterprise Application Integration (EAI)

Intercommunication between enterprise applications (EA), such as customer
relations management (CRM), supply chain management (SCM) and business
intelligence is not automated. Thus, EAs do not share common data or
business rules. EAI links EA applications to simplify and automate business
processes without applying excessive application or data structure changes.
However, EAI is challenged by different operating systems, database
architectures and/or computer languages, as well as other situations where
legacy systems are no longer supported by the original manufacturers.
EAI meets these challenges by fulfilling three purposes, as follows:
 Data Integration: Ensures consistent information across different
systems.
 Vendor Independence: Business policies or rules regarding specific
business applications do not have to be re-implemented when replaced
with different brand applications.
 Common Facade: Users are not required to learn new or different
applications because a consistent software application access interface is
provided.
The advantages of EAI are clear:
 Real-time information access
 Streamlining processes
 Accessing information more efficiently
 Transferring data and information across multiple platforms
 Easy development and maintenance.
What are the differences between EAI and ERP?
EAI stands for Enterprise Application Integration. EAI is the framework that's
often used to allow different types of software to communicate. For
example, if you had two separate pieces of software, one for accounting
 and the other for order processing, you can allow the two to communicate
using an EAI configuration.

ERP stands for Enterprise Resource & Planning. This is software that is used
to automate your business processes with a view to becoming more
efficient and more profitable. Common ERPs include Microsoft
DynamicsNAV/AX, Epicor, SAP, Netsuite etc.

In short, EAI automates the communication between different types of

software, ERP automates key business processes.
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Enterprise Application Integration can
be defined and differentiated on the basis of the problems that they solve.
An ERP solution is primarily designed to help organizations in managing their
business critical operations. A comprehensive ERP information system uses
different business systems for managing different aspects of business like
planning, inventory, marketing, and human resources, finance, etc. Each
department uses different modules to communicate with the rest of the
company. It collects the business centric information of different departments
and makes it available to others. Each module helps an organization achieve a
specific business objective. It primarily automates back office functions,
standardizes processes and allows organizations to plan systems more
strategically.
Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) on the other hand helps enterprises in
integrating, orchestrating and marshaling its business systems in an IT
environment. The integration layer helps organizations in sharing real time
data with internal and external partners. This unique advantage eliminates
multiple sources of truth and prevents data duplication errors. An Advanced
EAI tool also simplifies IT and data governance in an organization. IT allows
differentiated technologies in a complex IT environment to work in tandem
with each other. More importantly, it aligns technologies with the business
objectives of the organization.
WWW Overview
WWW stands for World Wide Web. A technical definition of the World Wide
Web is : all the resources and users on the Internet that are using the
Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP).
A broader definition comes from the organization that Web inventor Tim
Berners-Leehelped found, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).
The World Wide Web is the universe of network-accessible information, an
embodiment of human knowledge.
In simple terms, The World Wide Web is a way of exchanging information
between computers on the Internet, tying them together into a vast collection
of interactive multimedia resources.
Internet and Web is not the same thing: Web uses internet to pass
over the information.

Evolution
World Wide Web was created by Timothy Berners Lee in 1989
at CERN in Geneva.World Wide Web came into existence as a proposal by him,
to allow researchers to work together effectively and efficiently
at CERN. Eventually it became World Wide Web.
The following diagram briefly defines evolution of World Wide Web:
WWW Architecture
WWW architecture is divided into several layers as shown in the following
diagram:
Identifiers and Character Set
Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) is used to uniquely identify resources on the
web and UNICODE makes it possible to built web pages that can be read and
write in human languages.
Syntax
XML (Extensible Markup Language) helps to define common syntax in
semantic web.
Data Interchange
Resource Description Framework (RDF) framework helps in defining core
representation of data for web. RDF represents data about resource in graph
form.
Taxonomies
RDF Schema (RDFS) allows more standardized description of taxonomies and
other ontological constructs.
Ontologies
Web Ontology Language (OWL) offers more constructs over RDFS. It comes in
following three versions:
OWL Lite for taxonomies and simple constraints.
OWL DL for full description logic support.
OWL for more syntactic freedom of RDF
Rules
RIF and SWRL offers rules beyond the constructs that are available
from RDFs and OWL. Simple Protocol and RDF Query Language (SPARQL) is
SQL like language used for querying RDF data and OWL Ontologies.
Proof
All semantic and rules that are executed at layers below Proof and their result
will be used to prove deductions.
Cryptography
Cryptography means such as digital signature for verification of the origin of
sources is used.
User Interface and Applications
On the top of layer User interface and Applications layer is built for user
interaction.
WWW Operation
WWW works on client- server approach. Following steps explains how the web
works:
1.User enters the URL (say, http://www.tutorialspoint.com) of the web
page in the address bar of web browser.
2.Then browser requests the Domain Name Server for the IP address
corresponding to www.tutorialspoint.com.
3.After receiving IP address, browser sends the request for web page to
the web server using HTTP protocol which specifies the way the browser
and web server communicates.
4.Then web server receives request using HTTP protocol and checks its
search for the requested web page. If found it returns it back to the web
browser and close the HTTP connection.
 5.Now the web browser receives the web page, It interprets it and
display the contents of web page in web browser’s window.

Future
There had been a rapid development in field of web. It has its impact in almost
every area such as education, research, technology, commerce, marketing etc.
So the future of web is almost unpredictable.
Apart from huge development in field of WWW, there are also some technical
issues that W3 consortium has to cope up with.
User Interface
Work on higher quality presentation of 3-D information is under deveopment.
The W3 Consortium is also looking forward to enhance the web to full fill
requirements of global communities which would include all regional
languages and writing systems.
Technology
Work on privacy and security is under way. This would include hiding
information, accounting, access control, integrity and risk management.
Architecture
There has been huge growth in field of web which may lead to overload the
internet and degrade its performance. Hence more better protocol are
required to be developed.
Internet Overview
Internet
Internet is defined as an Information super Highway, to access information
over the web. However, It can be defined in many ways as follows:
Internet is a world-wide global system of interconnected computer
networks.
Internet uses the standard Internet Protocol (TCP/IP).
 Every computer in internet is identified by a unique IP address.
IP Address is a unique set of numbers (such as 110.22.33.114) which
identifies a computer location.
A special computer DNS (Domain Name Server) is used to give name to
the IP Address so that user can locate a computer by a name.
For example, a DNS server will resolve a
name http://www.tutorialspoint.comto a particular IP address to
uniquely identify the computer on which this website is hosted.
Internet is accessible to every user all over the world.

Evolution
The concept of Internet was originated in 1969 and has undergone several
technological & Infrastructural changes as discussed below:
The origin of Internet devised from the concept of Advanced Research
Project Agency Network (ARPANET).
ARPANET was developed by United States Department of Defense.
Basic purpose of ARPANET was to provide communication among the
various bodies of government.
Initially, there were only four nodes, formally called Hosts.
 In 1972, the ARPANET spread over the globe with 23 nodes located at
different countries and thus became known as Internet.
By the time, with invention of new technologies such as TCP/IP
protocols, DNS, WWW, browsers, scripting languages etc.,Internet
provided a medium to publish and access information over the web.
Advantages
Internet covers almost every aspect of life, one can think of. Here, we will
discuss some of the advantages of Internet:

Internet allows us to communicate with the people sitting at remote

locations. There are various apps available on the wed that uses Internet
as a medium for communication. One can find various social networking
sites such as:
Facebook
Twitter
Yahoo
Google+
Flickr
Orkut
 One can surf for any kind of information over the internet. Information
regarding various topics such as Technology, Health & Science, Social
Studies, Geographical Information, Information Technology, Products etc
can be surfed with help of a search engine.
Apart from communication and source of information, internet also
serves a medium for entertainment. Following are the various modes for
entertainment over internet.
Online Television
Online Games
Songs
Videos
Social Networking Apps
Internet allows us to use many services like:
Internet Banking
Matrimonial Services
Online Shopping
Online Ticket Booking
Online Bill Payment
Data Sharing
E-mail
Internet provides concept of electronic commerce, that allows the
business deals to be conducted on electronic systems
Disadvantages
However, Internet has prooved to be a powerful source of information in
almost every field, yet there exists many disadvanatges discussed below:
 There are always chances to loose personal information such as name,
address, credit card number. Therefore, one should be very careful while
sharing such information. One should use credit cards only through
authenticated sites.
Another disadvantage is the Spamming.Spamming corresponds to the
unwanted e-mails in bulk. These e-mails serve no purpose and lead to
obstruction of entire system.
Virus can easily be spread to the computers connected to internet. Such
virus attacks may cause your system to crash or your important data may
get deleted.
Also a biggest threat on internet is pornography. There are many
pornographic sites that can be found, letting your children to use
internet which indirectly affects the children healthy mental life.
There are various websites that do not provide the authenticated
information. This leads to misconception among many people.

Five Trends that Will Shape the Future of ERP

As high-tech innovations continue to advance at a break-neck pace, it’s
important that IT embraces new technologies and trends just as fast.
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) in particular has a lot to gain.

Businesses today are required to deal with technological advancements

occurring at a pace never experienced before. What’s more, trends like the
consumerization of IT have lessened the CIO’s ability to regulate which
technologies are used alongside the corporate network.
As trends like Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) continue to make an impact, it’s
important that the IT department embraces new technologies for a number of
reasons. Aside from missing out on any potential benefits, being too
proscriptive regarding the technology employees can use risks the emergence
of shadow IT; when IT solutions are built or adopted without explicit
organizational approval.
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) in particular has a lot to gain from adopting
an open approach to new innovations. Here are the five technology trends that
I believe have the potential to shape the future of ERP, if implemented
correctly:
Businesses today are required to deal with technological advancements
occurring at a pace never experienced before. What’s more, trends like the
consumerization of IT have lessened the CIO’s ability to regulate which
technologies are used alongside the corporate network.
As trends like Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) continue to make an impact, it’s
important that the IT department embraces new technologies for a number of
reasons. Aside from missing out on any potential benefits, being too
proscriptive regarding the technology employees can use risks the emergence
of shadow IT; when IT solutions are built or adopted without explicit
organizational approval.
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) in particular has a lot to gain from adopting
an open approach to new innovations. Here are the five technology trends that
I believe have the potential to shape the future of ERP, if implemented
correctly:
1. The Internet of Things
The Internet of Things (IoT) is a concept that provides objects, such as cars and
electrical appliances, with the capacity to transfer data over a network without
requiring human interaction.
In the case of ERP, devices are available that can be attached to tools and even
vehicles, feeding data back to applications hosted in the cloud. Information
such as location, usage and performance can then be easily accessed, allowing
organizations to identify issues like where unused assets are, or if maintenance
is required.
2. Wearable technology
This was one of the focal points at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES
2014) and Gartner has predicted that the wearable technology market will be
worth $10 billion by 2016.
While much of the attention generated by wearables has focused on consumer
propositions like fitness trackers, there are also a host of applications in the
workplace. Augmented Reality enabled glasses like Google Glass will enable
hands free operations which can be of great benefit for many blue collar
workers. Even smart watches represent a step forward compared to PDAs and
smartphones since they are more easily accessible and are less likely to be
misplaced/ dropped, etc. Devices designed to monitor external factors like UV
exposure or heat can help improve management of employee health
3. Big data analytics
Organizations have become more dependent on IT and, as a result, they have
accumulated a wealth of data that has been traditionally underutilized. As the
IoT connects tools and employees to the internet, this data generation is set to
grow exponentially.
By employing analytical tools, organizations can begin to use this data to make
accurate predictions that form the basis of a more intelligent approach to
business strategy.
4. The age of context
With businesses increasingly operating in a multichannel world, using
technology that understands the situation you’re in, what information you
would like to see, and how you would like to see it, will begin to have a real
impact on performance. PCs and mobile apps will increasingly integrate
context aware functionality to anticipate user needs and improve the efficiency
of day to day tasks.
For example, a field service engineer will automatically receive all the asset
data, job instructions, customer relationship history as soon as they arrive at
the repair site.
5. Opening business to innovation
Over the next few years, technology like wearables, the IoT and big data
analytics stand to reinvent business processes across many different industry
sectors. Organizations need to keep an eye on technological advances, even
those that may seem to be irrelevant.
Recent developments have shown that solutions which first appeared to be
designed for consumers are increasingly finding profitable applications within
businesses. By taking an innovative approach to the adoption of technology,
businesses stand to save time and increase productivity; results that will be
reflected in the bottom line of enterprises that choose to embrace new
technologies.

Future directions in ERP

The only thing constant is change & more so in the high speed world of
technical innovations the question to be asked is whether these changes can
affect the ERP market ?
The new cutting edge technologies like Internet commerce & EDI ( electronic
date interchange ) & the new business practices involving supply chain &
customer self service provide a fresh threat to the ERP technology

New Markets
As large enterprises become saturated with new generation client/server ERP
systems , vendors are being forced to find new markets for their products .
What they would be doing is
Supplementing their direct sales force with reseller channels
Lowering the entry price point of their soft ware to make it financially viable
Porting their products on platforms such as Microsoft Windows NT
New channels
Vendors such as SAP AG inc , Oracle Corporation , & Baan co have been
building reseller channels – both in us & world wide –
This is because the future targets for this companies will be the smaller
businesses that are looking for the complete –one – stop shopping for their
ERP solutions

Faster Implementation methodologies

All ERP vendors have suffered from the perception that their soft ware is
difficult & costly to implement . SAP has introduced a program called
accelerated SAP or ASAP that takes into account knowledge from thousands of
R/3 implementations to date & consolidates this expertise in a product called
business engineer. This product helps the implementation teams configure the
sap modules to conform to the processing style of some 100 business
operating scenarios this helps reduce the sap implementation to less than 6
months in many cases

Business models & BAPIs

Using products like Intellicorps live model , implementation teamscan review &
simulate changes to the SAP R/3 application reference model that provides
views of r/3 processes , data models & functions The reference model & any
changes made to it are stored in the live model repository

New Technologies in ERP

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) platforms are an old-school software
concept that's working hard to stay relevant in this new age of smaller, more
focused cloud service applications. In a nutshell, ERP software is software
that's typically delivered in a modular fashsion—a financial reporting module, a
human resources (HR) module, a sales pipelining module, and so on—with
customers choosing which modules they need to completely address every
operational aspect of their business. When compared with smaller, more
nimble cloud-delivered apps that many companies (including enterprises) find
so attractive these days, the problems inherent with the old-school approach
boil down to price, customization, and feature relevance.
Many ERP vendors are addressing the pricing problem by dropping the cost of
their individual modules to compete with their cloud service competition,
often moving to cloud delivery in the process. Customization is less easily
handled as many ERP platforms rely on complex scripting languages to manage
customization, often requiring value-add partners with scripting expertise to
add their costs onto an ERP implementation simply to get customers up and
running. But that's also changing as many ERP platforms move to a design
specifically aimed at easy cloud delivery and application programming
interface (API)-level integration, like Oracle NetSuite OneWorld or SAP
Business One Professional.

Feature relevance, however, remains an unsteady variable as some vendors

excel in this area while others aren't as agile. Because an ERP framework
attempts to address all or at least most of any particular company's operation,
introducing new features or technologies is more difficult since the stack those
technologies address is much larger. It becomes incumbent on customers then
to more thoroughly test the capabilities of any potential ERP tool purchase to
make sure it will address their feature needs in the future. To help, we have
compiled this short list of five trends that any potential ERP tool buyer should
consider in 2019.
Competition from Disruptors
The ERP behemoths that have traditionally dominated the industry are facing
stiff competition from new, often Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)-only startups as
well as the proliferation of new trends threatening to disrupt how enterprises
gather and process data, and also operate. Companies such
as FinancialForce(founded in 2009 and already having more than 1,300 ERP
customers) and Kenandy (founded in 2010) are building solutions on the
Salesforce App Cloud to make their solutions more appealing to users of the
most popular customer relationship management (CRM) and sales automation
tool. However, while having your ERP app delivered via SaaS has its benefits—
most notably, cost and scalability—it also brings up the usual questions
surrounding any web hosting project, especially performance and security
questions.
On the disruption side, big data, data visualization, and artificial intelligence
(AI) top the list of new technologies that threaten to fundamentally alter the
way ERP systems are built and used. Enterprises looking to upgrade or migrate
their ERP systems in 2019 will need to pay attention to how their new
prospects handle these trends. Database performance will be a key
performance indicator (KPI) for ERP in 2019, even moreso than it is today.
Meanwhile, how the database handles big data warehousing and querying will
also be important.
And once data is gathered, how users are able to visualize and present it for
consumption by themselves and their colleagues is another important criteria.
Microsoft Excel may still be the most popular data visualization tool on the
market, but that's changing as new tools such as Tableau Desktop or
even Microsoft's Power BI are giving users new options for data processing
and consumption.
2. ERP, SaaS, and Hybrid ERP

Traditional ERP apps are stored on your servers, which means you're
responsible for upfront hardware costs, long-term hardware maintenance and
expansion, and data backup and recovery. SaaS-based apps are stored on
cloud-based servers, which are much less expensive, much quicker to update
and scale, and don't take up any valuable office space with clunky servers. The
hardware difference alone can mean a savings in the tens of thousands of
dollars in terms of total cost of ownership (TCO), facilities management, and
per-seat licensing costs.
In several other business app sectors, including CRM, HR, and talent and
procurement, SaaS has become the default deployment model for new
implementations, according to Forrester Research's "Vendor Landscape: SaaS
ERP Applications, 2017" report. For ERP systems, the report says, "the shift to
SaaS will accelerate over the next three years and become the preferred
deployment option for many types of businesses. For large enterprises,
adoption will be more restrained near-term, but solutions are maturing quickly,
and we will see significant adoption at scale for complex businesses within five
years."
If you've already heavily invested in your vendor's on-premises ERP tool, then
don't immediately jump ship to the same vendor's SaaS product. Your
incumbent on-premises ERP vendor may offer an attractive migration path to
SaaS, and also remember that ERP isn't an on-premises or off-premises
decision. Hybrid ERP systems aren't just possible: they're becoming popular in
some segments as long-time ERP customers enjoy the ability to move certain
ERP functions to the cloud while maintaining tighter, on-premises control over
other facets, especially those most vulnerable to compliance regulation.
3. Adding Social Media and Digital Marketing

ERP is generally focused more on operations than marketing, but those

modules that address sales will need to become social media-savvy in 2019.
That's mainly due to the massive user base that social media will enjoy in the
coming year—upwards of 2.77 billion users according to research from market
research company eMarketer (see infographic below). For digital marketers
and other roles, including product planners and support managers, that's
simply too massive a customer footprint to ignore. Future ERP systems will
need to be able to incorporate direct marketing and data gathering links across
multiple social media channels to remain competitive.
Also, social media has disrupted the way certain business disciplines operate.
For example, HR managers routinely use social media to scour for new
employees and as background check and even performance management
indicators. These changing trends in how business operates need to be
reflected in any competitive ERP platform.4. ERP for the Subsidiary
Another cost-controlling trend becoming popular even among midsize
businesses with multiple subsidiaries is to ignore ERP's goal of managing the
entire enterprise and simply deploy those pieces that make sense at any
particular location. As more ERP systems are being delivered via the cloud, it's
becoming easier to deploy such SaaS-based tools incrementally through the
enterprise.
Rather than replace ERP whole-hog, large companies are choosing one slice of
the business and plugging in SaaS ERP on a trial basis. This approach lets
businesses monitor SaaS ERP performance to determine how it might fit into
the existing on-premises ERP implementation—or whether it should replace
on-premises ERP throughout the entire organization.
Where this can become complex is when IT professionals consider security and
compliance requirements. While chaining campuses together with virtual
private networks (VPNs), identity management and similiar baseline IT
security measures is certainly core to success. Mapping those features across
individual field offices and subsidiaries can become complicated and even
burdensome, both from a managerial as well as a network performance
perspective.
5. The Internet of Things

Accept it: The Internet of Things (IoT) is here and it's going to stay. As more
devices and products become connected to the internet, more data can be
automatically funneled into the ERP system, and that's imply too valuable an
advantage to ignore. This trend gives you better oversight over things such as
the supply chain, your shipping partners, and appliance performance, and it
also provides more data to your overall data pool for better overall decision
making.
That's exactly where it bumps hard into ERP, which is a software philosophy
that shares the same goal. Harnessing this data could prove beneficial across
any industry. From health care sensors that inform electronic medical
records(EMR) management to robotic sensors on the factory floorm and even
to data monitoring devices mounted in delivery trucks sending information
back to fleet management software, IoT devices are becoming indispensible to
competitive operation.
Where this complicates things for ERP is, unfortunately, across the entire stack.
From an ERP platform's back-end database on up to its most forward-facing
features, especially reporting and data visualization, incorporating IoT
capabilities efectively can have enormous impact. To stay on top of this trend,
businesses need to stay conscious of the IoT technologies they have, and more
importantly, intend to deploy in the near future. They need to know what kinds
of data they're expecting back from that deployment and how they intend to
use it to improve operations. Only with a very clear understanding of these
fundamentals will ERP purchasers be able to intelligently distinguish between
the slew of new IoT features that ERP makers such as Microsoft or SAP are
bringing to market.

Faster Implementation Methodologies

ERP software has made a big difference for many companies in recent years,
and it can certainly have a huge impact on your productivity and profitability as
well. However, even more important than deciding which ERP software to use
is the process of integrating it with your business. By following the best
practices for ERP implementation methodology, you can ensure that your
company is fully prepared to use ERP software — and this way, you’ll be able to
get much more out of it.
The following steps should play a central role in your ERP implementation
methodology:

Planning — As with any business task, appropriate planning is key to successful

implementation. For most businesses, this involves a careful evaluation of their
current processes (including both strengths and weaknesses), as well as
forming goals for what they hope to accomplish with ERP software. Quite
often, a software vendor will be used to assist company managers as they
decide which processes are most in need of fine tuning.
The planning phase should take full stock of the unique challenges and
opportunities facing your business, as well as industry best practices. A
software vendor can also guide you in determining which software options and
extenders will be most useful to your company — after all, the needs of an e-
commerce retail company will differ from a warehouse that manufactures
automotive parts! With a solid understanding of what your business needs and
what different software packages can offer, you’ll be able to make the right
selection.

Development — Once the goals and needs of a company have been

established, the software vendor will then begin work on a custom solution.
Typically, this involves taking a pre-existing ERP platform and then modifying it
based on the unique requirements of a particular company. For example,
custom menu items might be created within the software platform, or certain
extenders might be integrated with the main system.

Custom color schemes and even company logos may also be added into the
software platform to create a fully branded user experience. The system is
tested multiple times during development to catch any bugs or other problems
that would inhibit usability before it is finalized and sent out to the end users.
This process usually takes several weeks to ensure full functionality.

Education and Implementation — The introduction of a new ERP system can

be scary for your employees, especially if they’ve grown used to an older
system that has been used by your company for several years. Because of this,
providing proper education and training regarding the new system is essential
for successful implementation. More often than not, the software vendor
assists in this process by providing demonstration workshops, video trainings,
and other forms of assistance. Continued real time support (often available
either via phone or online chat) will also prove extremely helpful during these
early stages.

It should hardly be surprising that there will be a few bumps along the way as
your team begins to adapt to your new ERP software. Depending on how many
people will be using the software, it can be helpful to have one staff member
(or a small team) serve as an on-site specialist who can help others understand
the ins and outs of the new platform. Thankfully, the user friendly nature of
modern ERP systems should allow your team to adapt in a relatively short
amount of time.

Conclusion

Proper ERP implementation methodology takes time, and no small amount of

effort. However, as you take the essential steps to ensure that you identify your
company’s most pressing ERP needs and then work with a reliable software
company to develop a customized solution, you can have confidence that your
new platform will help you deliver better results to your customers.

What is a Business Segment?

A business segment is a part of a company that can be identified by the
products it provides or by the services or geographical locations it operates in.
In other words, it a single part of a business that can be distinctly separated
from the company as a whole based on its customers, products, or market
places.
Management often divide companies into business segments to help gauge
what areas of the company are performing well and what areas need
improvement. During times of slow economic growth, managements also
separate company performance into segments to make decisions about what
discontinuing operations in certain markets or cutting departments altogether.
Example

Most companies operate in multiple segments. All large companies have tons
of different segments. Take Apple for example. Apple originally started out as a
personal computer manufacturer. They have almost always created software,
but that was largely to support their hardware operations.
Today, Apple manufactures computers, tablets, phones, headphones, music
players and more. Management at Apple can divide the overall company
performance into smaller segments based on these products to measure
where the company is succeeding. Without this type of segmentation, you
might thing Apple’s steady profits are from the iPad because its one of the
newest products to be release. In fact, the Apple tablet segment’s sales have
slowed down in recent quarters because consumer demand has decreased.
Apple’s steady profits are still attributed to the continued success of its phone
segment.
With this information, management at Apple can choice what direction the
company needs to take to improve areas or stop production of products
altogether.
As you can see, separating a company into distinct business segments helps
management analyze not only the current structure of the company, but it also
helps them evaluate performance based on products, customers, and market
locations.

Trends in Security
1. Operationalizing GDPR
The EU's general data protection regulation (GDPR) requires every business
operating in the EU to protect the privacy and personal data of EU citizens. The
penalties for non-compliance are high, and the GDPR takes a broad view of
what constitutes personal data, making this a potentially onerous duty. An
Ovum reporton data privacy laws from July 2018 suggested that two-thirds of
businesses consider they will have to adapt their own procedures in order to
become compliant, and over half fear they are likely to be fined for non-
compliance. A proactive approach to data privacy is also beneficial for
enterprises trading solely in the U.S. Will 2019 be the year we see the adoption
of a comprehensive federal privacy law in the U.S.?

2. Managing managed and unmanaged devices

As the number and range of mobile devices (both managed and unmanaged)
employed by users continues to grow, enterprise networks have had an uphill
struggle to mitigate the risks involved. The IoT has linked numerous connected
devices, many of which have little or no built-in security, to previously secure
networks resulting in an exponential rise in exploitable endpoints. The
enterprise needs to come to grips with this trend and assert some control over
the use of unmanaged devices and establish clear protocols for managed
devices.

3. Take a complete inventory

A survey conducted by Ponemon in 2018 found that even though 97 percent of

security professionals agreed a cyber attack caused by an insecure device could
be catastrophic for their company, only 15 percent had an inventory of the IoT
devices connected to their systems, and fewer than half had a security protocol
that would allow them to disconnect devices seen as high-risk. It’s imperative
that the enterprise take a proactive approach to this vulnerability. This year we
expect to see more companies follow the best practice advice of NIST in
establishing a real-time inventory of all connected devices. Not only those
employing a physical connection, but also through Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

6 Security Trends for 2018/2019

Trend 1: Senior executives are finally paying attention to security; now,
security professionals will have to pay attention to senior executives.

Between GDPR, WannaCry, and a handful of other high-visibility incidents,

dollar figures for security breaches have grown to the point that executives and
corporate boards are forced to pay attention. That means they're asking
questions about security using the language of business — and security
professionals have to be ready to answer in the same language.
Security professionals must be able to discuss security needs and responses in
terms of business risks rather than security threats, Firstbrook says. He also
pointed out that embracing diversity will improve the ability to respond to a
wider range of requests and needs while boosting the chances that the IT
security team will be able to meet ever-growing staffing requirements.
Trend 2: Laws and regulations around data protection are getting serious and
demanding a serious response from IT security groups.
The liability costs of security breaches are growing, whether you measure
them in reputation and business loss or in direct fines from regulators and
legislators. That changes the calculus on security and data protection costs by a
bit, though everything will still need to be seen through the business-risk lens.
One of the results of the new wave of regulations is that customers are gaining
far more direct control over the gathering, storing, and use of their personal
data. As a consequence, many successful companies are now looking to offload
some of that data gathering by, for example, using third parties for credit card
payments rather than dealing with the transactions — and the data that
results — themselves.
Trend 3: Security products are moving to the cloud and becoming more agile
in the process.
The importance of this trend is in the implications of the move, Firstbrook said.
He gave the example of the Prius — a hybrid car that's still firmly rooted in the
classic automobile — versus the Tesla, which in many ways reimagined both
the propulsion and degree of connection possible in a car. The Tesla, he said,
opened the thinking of connected possibilities in ways that other
manufacturers are using in their products.
Cloud security services are more agile and extensible than traditional on-prem
offerings, Firstbrook said, plus they offer another advantage: staff
augmentation. The key to taking full advantage is making sure that the services
are complete with full APIs for real integration into larger ecosystems, he said.
Trend 4: Machine learning is providing real value to simple tasks and complex
analysis.
The real problem with deploying machine learning in security, Firstbrook said,
has been that it was possible to throw far too many false-positives, creating
more noise than usable signal for the human analysts. Now, though, the same
machine learning is helping to sort through the positives to increase the signal-
to-noise ratio and successfully augment the effort of the humans involved.
That augmentation is where Firstbrook said he sees the real value of machine
learning in security, though he admitted that one speed bump is in the training
of machine learning engines — something other experts have warned about,
as well.
Trend 5: Geopolitical factors are joining technology and business factors in
guiding security purchases.
Companies are based in physical locations. It's an inescapable fact of living in
the real world. That means the relationships between nations can have an
impact on the relationships between companies, especially when it comes to
trust in just how secure products can be.
In the security world, the market has seen that play out in purchasing decisions
regarding companies such as Kaspersky and Huawei. And whether you trust
products from those companies may not be the most important factor when it
comes to purchases.
If your customer base includes government agencies or departments, then the
companies they trust may define the limits of the companies from which you
can buy. The fact that the cyberwar landscape is getting more, rather than less,
active means this trend is likely to accelerate.
Trend 6: Concentrations of power and capability are leading to reactions of
decentralization.
The security industry is in a period of concentration, exemplified by the fact
that, essentially, two companies are issuing certificates for the world. Concern
about this sort of concentration has led to the beginnings of a reaction in
decentralizing power.
The most prominent example is blockchain technology, Firstbrook said. The
distributed ledger is still in the early stages of security use, but many
companies are looking for various ways to use the technology.
Another example of decentralization is the move to edge computing, where
compute power is distributed to endpoint devices rather than being confined
to a cloud at the center of the architecture.
For successful companies, Firstbrook recommended exploring a number of
different decentralized architectures and providers, thereby avoiding
concentrating on any one distributed model.

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