ERP Software

ERP and CRM Software

If you are a small business owner or CIO facing the challenges of the current economic climate, you may be investigating ERP and CRM software options to facilitate the back office business functions of your enterprise. This is a wise move, and if you’re in the process of researching different ERP and CRM software business solutions, you certainly aren’t alone, no matter the size of your company. Smaller and mid-sized businesses, even tiny startups, are increasingly able to take advantage of ERP offerings that once stood financially out of reach. There are several reasons for this, but first, a short history.

In the early 1990s, before ERP and CRM software existed, the manufacturing industry was in search of a way to unify some of its various departmental software functions onto a single integrated platform. Scheduling, order processing, and raw material shipping and delivery all require coordination in the manufacturing sector in order to keep shop floors running smoothly. It was the identification of this need that led to the first early integrated business systems, known as MRPs or manufacturing resource planning systems. Many of the early MRP implementations that took place led to failure, often as a result of poor goal identification or incomplete employee training. But these early failures led to the lessons that later spawned the design of modern ERP and CRM software systems.

ERP systems were soon applied to companies beyond the world of manufacturing, and as these enterprises saw returns on their initial implementation investments, other firms followed suit and the demand for ERP installations began to skyrocket. The busiest period for ERP system implementations at the enterprise and Fortune 500 level occurred during the last years of the 1990s as companies rushed to upgrade their legacy systems before the transition to the new millennium.

Now, demand has slowed among companies, university systems and government offices at the highest budget levels, mainly because once a firm installs an ERP and CRM software system, they don’t need a new one for several decades. As a result, large developers and providers are turning their attention to smaller businesses with more restrictive budgets and trying to compete for market share at this level. Products are consequently becoming more streamlined, customized and affordable. And competition for this business is heating up as hosting solutions and other ERP alternatives come onto the market. These hosting and application service providers can allow small businesses to run applications and store shared data based on a collective server without having to incur the cost of purchasing and maintaining complete server architectures of their own. This arrangement is advantageous to the clients and to the providers, and bodes well for the future of ERP and CRM software systems. 

Written by :

tracey boxer