Agility and speed are among the crucial characteristics shared by successful enterprises in today’s highly competitive business world. Outdated business systems can be one of the largest impediments to achieving the agility and speed necessary for
success. Old, ineffective business applications can stifle a business and keep it from reaching its full potential. Just one outdated system can bog down an entire operation and hinder its success.
This Executive Brief reviews the benefits of business process
automation (BPA) and enterprise resource planning (ERP), shares the limitations of ERP, and presents an alternative from Direct Focus Software that, for some businesses, will be more effective and less expensive than ERP.
ERP provides organizations with the ability to deliver an integrated suite of business applications. ERP tools share a common process and data model, and help organizations track and process information across all departments and business functions, from inventory procurement, to production, to sales and beyond.
Common ERP functionality includes:
- • Inventory management
- • Scheduling and planning
- • Manufacturing
- • Project management
- • Sales and marketing
- • Finance and accounting
- • Customer relationship management (CRM)
- • Human resources
Over the past 20 years, ERP systems have grown in popularity and have been deployed in thousands of organizations. On balance, the consensus from most ERP customers is that ERP is a valuable tool for business productivity. But the experience of many ERP customers has exposed some notable limitations
and frustrations related to the deployment, ongoing support, and day-to-day use of ERP systems.