ERP Software

ERP Software Solutions

Enterprise resource planning platforms, also called ERP software solutions or ERP business solutions, are collections of integrated software programs designed to facilitate business functions. In the early 1990s, manufacturing firms found that problems arose from running departmental functions on separate isolated software systems. While each software platform improved functionality in an individual department, like accounting or human resources, business managers wanted to find a way to merge each of these functions onto a single integrated system. ERP software solutions were developed with the goal of improving process efficiency and scheduling  processes on manufacturing shop floors.

The earliest ERP software solutions were called MRPs, or manufacturing resource planning systems, and while they offered a variety of business advantages, these early systems were far from perfect. Implementations of the first ERP software solutions often failed, due to the length and complexity of the process, poorly communicated goals, and frustrations related to employee training. But the lessons learned from these early challenges brought design improvements to later ERP software solutions and the benefits of later systems began to outweigh the costs and obstacles.

During the late 1990s, ERP software solutions were still expensive and implementations were still complex, but the return they provided on initial investments placed them in high demand among large firms and organizations. Fortune 500 companies, government offices and university systems worked to replace their legacy software with ERP software solutions before the millennial transition could create operational problems for older platforms.

By the mid 2000s, the market landscape for ERP software solutions began to change. Demand at the Fortune 500 level began to plateau, and smaller firms interested in the benefits of ERP software solutions began to receive more attention from providers and developers. Options began to expand for small businesses as established vendors of ERP software solutions, like Oracle, SAP and Microsoft, began to customized and scale their product offerings to appeal to small businesses with restrictive budgets and low tolerance for risk. Vendors began producing scaled product suites for back office operations like accounting, payroll, HR and customer service. Meanwhile, smaller providers of industry specific ERP software solutions began to appear on the market, and some forms of back office software became available as freeware or open source solutions that could be downloaded at low or no cost over the internet.

ERP software solutions are now available in an increasing variety of forms. In addition to traditional server architectures owned and maintained by business clients, there are several ERP software solutions that allow clients to sidestep maintenance and ownership costs. Outsourcing, or the use of application service providers, can allow small business owners with the advantages of ERP software solutions with low risk and minimal upfront investment.

Written by :

tracey boxer