ERP Performance Management and BI Solutions Comparison Guide

Today’s business settings have companies constantly looking for ways to manage large amounts of data, analyze it, and present it in an organized way. This needs to be done in order to help paint a clear picture of the business life cycle to ensure efficiency. Luckily, enterprise resource planning (ERP) performance solutions are able to handle a broad range of information, and in this side-by-side comparison guide you will learn more about features that aid with your organization’s data analysis and reporting such as compliance management, demand forecasting, and inventory valuation. http://bit.ly/BIsolutionsERP

ERP Financials Comparison Guide

Having an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) finance module is a way for a company to organize its financials as well as meet its business objectives in the most efficient way. Most solutions aid in generating general ledgers, balance sheets, expense tracking, and quarterly financial statements.

In this guide, you will learn more about the top 10 ERP vendors who offer finance modules and important features to consider before implementing such as ease of customization to, user range, financing options. http://bit.ly/FinancialERP

ERP Product/Project Lifecycle Management

Businesses are constantly changing and it’s important for your organization to keep up with industry trends and technology by creating new, different and exciting products and services for customers in order to stay competitive. This can be easily achieved with business management software such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) to help guide you through every stage of creating new business goods to go to market with.

This guide provides a side by side comparison of the top ten ERP product/project lifecycle management solutions. A lot of providers offer features such as work order management, quality assurance, and production planning and scheduling. http://bit.ly/1ztjJXP

ERP for Manufacturing Comparison Guide

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) software modules are tailored to aid in business-specific needs. When it comes to manufacturing and distribution companies, the need to manage the supply chain is important, especially since supply and demand can be fickle. In order for manufacturers to closely ensure business processes run as smooth as possible, an ERP manufacturing module helps automate functions such as quality control, order accuracy, and communication between supplier and distributor.

In this side-by-side comparison guide of the top ERP solutions, you will learn more about specific manufacturing module features offered such as inventory management, material requirements planning, bar coding and much more. http://bit.ly/1pyx1Bf

ERP Supply Chain Comparison Guide

In the past, enterprise resource planning (ERP) and supply chain management (SCM) were difficult to integrate. It wasn't until recent advancements that made integration of the two a bit more conceivable. Today, companies are now looking at both as “must haves” in order to operate at optimal efficiency and are also observing advantages such as improved forecasting accuracy, reduced inventory levels, and even improved customer service.

This 10x10 comparison guide highlights the top ERP vendors and features tailored to helping organizations get a tighter control on the supply chain. http://bit.ly/1pYxhti

ERP Overview Comparison Guide

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is, in short, management software for your business. It helps run all aspects from customer data, accounting, human resources, manufacturing, etc. An organization can also integrate various applications dedicated to a specific business function as well as automate back office tasks.

If you are new to ERP and looking to see what options are available in market, this guide will help you start with the basics. It highlights the top ten solutions and the main features you should be looking at when considering integrating ERP. http://bit.ly/ERPoverComp

ERP: A Layman's Guide

This layman’s guide to ERP discusses how various industries, trends, challenges and new tools are reshaping the ERP landscape and what you can do to ensure ERP success in your organization. http://bit.ly/1p5Jmrn

ERP: The Buyer's Guide

Companies looking to implement an up-to-date, innovative ERP system must be prepared to sift through a complicated vendor landscape. ERP works by integrating all of a company’s processes and data into a single unified system. Automating and uniting disparate business processes, from managing inventory records to parsing financial data, can drive significant improvements in productivity, customer service and interdepartmental collaboration. http://bit.ly/ErpBuyGuide 

ERP Trends Shifting from Big ERP Systems to Componentized ERP Environments

Conceptually, enterprise resource planning(ERP) is the same as it ever was, but pragmatically, it will never be the same. Gone are the days of the behemoth, on-premisesERP systems, or as they are now referred to,legacy ERP. Today, there’s a demonstrative shift from big ERP systems to componentized ERP environments.

Componentization is the breaking apart of these massive systems into smaller, functional components or modules, like financials, supply chain, management, and human resources. These separate modules can stand alone or be integrated into all-inclusive, overarching systems. Instead of having to upgrade and implement an entire system to gain additional functionality, a company need only incrementally upgrade and deploy a specific component.

The purpose of ERP has always been to maximize efficiency, increase visibility, and drive product innovation. Businesses still require these solutions from ERP as part of a reliable, integrated solution but now demand lower IT costs and increased flexibility. Business is becoming increasingly decentralized, so it’s not so much a shift in ERP but a shift in business needs and the accommodation of those needs. As business functions, facilities, suppliers, and personnel become increasingly distributed, ERP systems must be, as well.

The catalyst for componentization was the economic recession that began in 2008. IT budgets contracted and organizations had to do more with less. Because of the coinciding innovations in cloud technology, instead of deploying and implementing traditional ERP infrastructure, organizations started adopting a two-tier, or hybrid,ERP model. Two-tier ERP is a method of integrating multiple ERP systems simultaneously. For instance, an organization may run a legacy ERP system at the corporate level while running a separate ERP system or systems, such as cloud ERP, at a subsidiary or division level for back-office processes that have different requirements. To facilitate the adoption of the two-tier methodology, vendors increasingly opened core databases and application programming interfaces and provided customization tools, thus spurring the advent of self-contained, functional ERP components or modules.

The data from the second-tier cloud ERP or modules typically require normalization to integrate with the legacy ERP system at the corporate level. Although direct cost is associated with master data management to ensure consistency and no redundancy, by extending the life of the legacy system, the intention is to reduce the total cost of ownership (TCO) while meeting additional needs for flexibility and functionality. However, the shorter duration of implementing and deploying a two-tier ERP model can actually lead to increased TCO if the indirect costs, such as training, hiring staff, and vendor support, are not taken into to account, as well.

Nonetheless, componentization and two-tier ERP aren’t the end of ERP but another, progressive iteration of its evolution. By breaking up ERP into functional modules or components, the lofty goals of ERP are finally becoming practical and achievable. Whether it’s legacy ERP, cloud ERP, hybrid ERP, ERP modules, or components, the goal has always been the same: Provide an apparatus to help businesses do what they do better and smarter.

Understanding ERP Tiers

Forget what you know or what you think you know about enterprise resource planning(ERP) tiers. Like anything related to ERP, there are no clear-cut answers, and all lines are blurred. The answer for any question related to ERP is, “It depends.” Tiers are completely irrelevant, and it doesn’t matter in the least when selecting an ERP solution. What’s important is that you understand your business and your company’s needs. It depends on you, your business—not the vendor, nor the tier. Instead, focus on:

• What does my business do?
• With whom does it do business?
• Where does it do business?
• When does it do business?
• Why do we do business that way?
• How can we do it better and smarter?

With that said, some distinctions can be drawn.

Tier 1 

Tier 1 ERP solutions are typically used by large, multinational enterprises. They are highly complex systems designed to meet all possible functional and scalability needs of big business and are usually deployed on premises. On-premises systems have traditionally been used by larger operations because of the substantial initial capital investment, such as extensive IT infrastructure and the required IT maintenance professionals. Larger companies prefer on-premises ERP because the economies of scale tend to reduce their total cost of ownership over the long term compared with a fee-based service such as Software as a Service (SaaS) ERP solutions. Nonetheless, your Tier 1 ERP solutions are either SAP or Oracle.

Tier II 

Tier II ERP solutions are geared more toward mid-sized companies. Tier II vendors focus on mid-sized companies that have a regional or national presence and distributed suppliers, personnel, and facilities. Vendors in this category tend to become niche and focus completely on one specialized industry.

The Tier II ERP market is the largest and most competitive ERP market. Because of the highly verticalized nature of the vendors, there is potential for industry consolidations among vendors. Also, Tier 1 vendors like SAP and Oracle have been partnering with vendors and offering scaled-down versions of their products to meet customer demand in this tranche. For this reason, it’s advisable that mid-size companies use more horizontal systems that can offer third-party add-ons and enhancements. For example, Microsoft and NetSuite offer integration with SAP that enables consolidation of financial data, integration of intercompany supply chain and plant automation. According to Microsoft, “The Microsoft Dynamics ERP two-tier connector enables common business process integration scenarios for headquarters and subsidiary locations, including the following:

• Financial Consolidation. The sharing and consolidation of detailed financial information from subsidiaries using Microsoft Dynamics AX can be automated and exposed through a central SAP installation, increasing visibility of financial performance across the organization.
• Intercompany Supply Chain Integration. The integration of intercompany procurement and supply chain processes between local and regional distribution with centralized fulfillment organizations helps facilitate automated order processing.
• Plant Automation. Integration of decentralized manufacturing operation processes into centrally orchestrated planning processes enables more accurate and responsive manufacturing planning across the organization (Microsoft, 2010)”

According to NetSuite, “The two-tier model lets you preserve your on-premises ERP investments in SAP or other systems while equipping global subsidiaries with a more agile, flexible cloud-based ERP/financials system and giving headquarters the real-time visibility it needs” (NetSuite, 2014).

Tier III

Tier III ERP solutions tend to be used by small businesses and are usually SaaS solutions. Some would are argue that these solutions do not qualify as ERP because of their limited functionality and scalability. Tier III ERP solutions or the perceived need for such solutions can usually be met by Microsoft Office, competent personnel, and process controls.

The differentiation of ERP tiers and their distinctions, such as number of employees and revenue, vary, but the point is it’s less about the vendor and more about the user. Tiers are not important, but what is important is that you understand your business and that the focus is on providing a better product or service for your customer. Then and only then can a proper ERP selection be made that adds value for your business and its clients.