ERP Business Software India, Oracle ERP Enterprise Application, ERP Suites, ERP Vendors
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Business Products & ERP Services |
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Enterprise Application Planning software packages are used to seamlessly integrate the different business functions and departments of an Enterprise. ERP packages are used to run business operations. Organizations leverage on ERP systems to save time and effectively control organizational resources. ERP Systems comprise of hardware, software, resources and the infrastructure necessary to operate the business transactions of an enterprise. |
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There are many ERP suites that are present in the Business Software Market today. These ERP products from the different Enterprise Application vendors are developed to cater to different Industries, functions and businesses. Among the application software packages some of the products of top ERP Vendors are listed below |
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ERP Products |
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SAP: SAP R Suite, mySAP ERP, SAP Business One, SAP Business By Design, SAP All in One.
Oracle: Oracle E-Business Suite, PeopleSoft Enterprise , JD Edwards EnterpriseOne , JD Edwards World , Hyperion , Oracle Fusion ,Oracle On Demand, Oracle CRM On Demand.
Microsoft: Microsoft Dynamics AX, Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Microsoft Dynamics GP, Microsoft Dynamics NAV, Microsoft Dynamics Point of Sale, Microsoft Dynamics RMS ,Microsoft Dynamics SL, Microsoft Dynamics Snap.
Lawson: M3 and R3 Suites
Infor: Infor ERP XA, Infor CRM , Infor ERP, Infor FMS, Infor HCM, Infor SCM
Sage: Sage Pro, Sage Accpac, Sage FAS
Epicor: Epicor ERP, Vantage, Enterprise, iScala, Retail (CRS+NSB), Vista, Epicor For Service Enterprises
Exact: Exact Globe Enterprise, Exact Macola ES, Macola Progression Series, Exact e-Synergy, EXACTUS Impulso
IFS Applications for various Business Functions.
Activant Applications for various business Applications |
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Apart from application software packages, there are a lot of Application Vendors that are providing enterprise services using the Software-As-A-Service Model. |
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For More Literature on ERP Industry, Products and Services, read our Blog |
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ERP Services |
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ERP Implementation |
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Once an ERP product is chosen after careful Software Evaluation and Research, the next step is to identify the right implementation partner for the product. For the top ERP Products there are a lot of software consulting companies who are competent in ERP Implementations. The ERP implementation partner has to be carefully chosen after complete research on its competencies specific to the product and the industry. Once chosen the next step would be creating a Plan. Most ERP implementations fail due to lack of proper planning. |
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Top ERP vendors will establish best practices and guidelines for the implementation of its software products. For instance, for implementation of Oracle e-Business application, Oracle has developed ‘Application Implementation Methodology’ or ‘AIM’. These provide the implementers a set of guidelines specific to the software implementation. Often Business Process Re-engineering is associated with ERP Implementations. There are instances where organizations have done business process re-engineering to leverage on newly installed ERP packages. Some of the key points that need to be followed for a successful ERP Implementation are as below |
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- Understand Business Processes and Requirements correctly at the Outset
- Define the Scope of the work
- Identify areas of customization and system integration
- Keep scope for flexibility and scalability
- Keep track of the progress with time- avoid slippages
- Implement in Phases. Learn from mistakes in previous phases
- Involve end users in implantations
- Do not be resistant to change
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Most ERP Packages come with standard business functionalities which may not be able to capture the business process of the client. In such cases ERP Customizations are inevitable. However, it should be tried to keep customizations as low as possible as ERP Vendors may not be very enthusiastic of supporting customizations. Also maintaining customizations can be a costly affair at times. |
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If ERP implementation is properly planned and coordinated then a successful implementation can be achieved. |
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ERP Support or Maintenance |
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Maintaining a large ERP product along with legacy systems and other software requires continuous support function. If the IT management staff of a company has enough resources it is a good idea to form an in-house support team to deal with day to day issues faced while running transaction in an ERP System. Most companies prefer to outsource ERP Annual Support in form of a maintenance contract to ERP Consulting Company. Few of the reasons for outsource ERP Projects or Support work are as below: |
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- External Consulting Companies have expert resources to troubleshoot any issues faced while maintaining an ERP system
- Clients can save time spent on troubleshooting issues and focus on core competencies
- Outsourcing helps in reducing costs for the client
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Clients using ERP systems should carefully evaluate and research support consulting companies before awarding the projects. Geographical location and vicinity of the support consultants can play a vital role in successful support. |
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ERP Upgrades |
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As ERP Products are being used, there will be issues in the software that would be reported by the users. Top ERP Vendors continuously strive to fix these issues and develop patches for them. Additionally, enhanced product functionalities and new features are developed by these vendors. In order to avail new functionalities, new features which can reduce customizations and help improve business transactions, ERP Clients must keep upgrading their products.
However, all new versions of an upgraded ERP may not be very stable or acceptable in the market. Hence before making a decision to upgrade companies must research on the success of the upgraded version of the ERP and must take feedback from different sources including clients who have upgraded to newer versions.
Upgrades can also happen in database of the ERP system. Database upgrade may help in improving performance; facilitate more integrations and migration etc.
Whether it is a Database Upgrade or an Upgrade of the ERP Software, ERP Vendors should be carefully selected for the job. It is not always necessary to give an upgrade task to the existing vendor who is doing the Support of the ERP System. There are independent software companies who are specialist in upgrades and can accomplish the task in much lesser time and money. |
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ERP Technical Services |
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Technical Services like ERP Customization for a specific module or report, Database support, System integration with a third party software, development of a EDI or XML gateway to facilitate electronic transactions, 3PL Integrations etc. are some of the services that are needed on a recurring basis for clients running on ERP Systems. There are a lot of independent ERP Consulting companies who are experts in technical services. Often technical services are a part of an Annual Maintenance Contract for an ERP System. However, if it is not mentioned within the contract then the clients have to request for a new work from the existing ERP Support Consultants. Under such circumstances, instead of giving the project to the existing consultant, it is always recommended to do an initial research on more vendors or independent freelancers and consultants.
Though there are different areas of ERP Services like Implementation, Support, Customization, Integration or other Technical Services- it is always better to research and evaluate different ERP Vendors for different kinds of work. Best results in terms of Cost Saving and Resource utilization can be achieved by a selecting the Right ERP Vendors for the Right Kind of work. |
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2009