Enterprise resource planning
Enterprise resource planning is the integrated management of main business processes, often in real time and mediated by software and technology. ERP is usually referred to as a category of business management software that an organization can use to collect, store, manage, and interpret data from many business activities.
ERP stands for “Enterprise Resource Planning” and refers to software and systems used to plan and manage all the core supply chain, manufacturing, services, financial and other processes of an organization. Enterprise Resource Planning software can be used to automate and simplify individual activities across a business or organization, such as accounting and procurement, project management, customer relationship management, risk management, compliance and supply chain operations.
Individual ERP applications can offer software as a service (SaaS), while a complete suite of ERP applications forms an ERP system that can be used to effectively communicate and bring together business processes to enable a flow of data between the applications, typically through common databases either on-site/on-premise or in the cloud.
ERPs connect every aspect of an enterprise. An ERP software system allows for better performance and project management that helps plan, budget, predict and accurately report on an organization’s financial health and processes.
How Does an ERP System Work?
The main purpose of an ERP system is to increase organizational efficiency of an organization by managing and improving how company resources are utilized. Improving and/or reducing the number of resources necessary without sacrificing quality and performance are keys to effectively improving business growth and profitability.
ERP systems typically cover all aspects of business operations and commonly provide:
- An integrated system
- Common database
- Real-time operation
- Support for all applications/components
- Common user interface across application/components
- On-premise, cloud hosted, or SaaS deployment
ERP software has the ability to collect and compare metrics across departments and provide a number of different reports based on roles or specific user preferences. The data collected makes finding and reporting on data faster and gives a complete view of business performance with complete insights on how resources are being spent.
ERP synchronizes reporting and automation by reducing the need to maintain separate databases and spreadsheets that would have to be manually merged to generate reports. This combined data collection and reporting offers valuable insight, such as where to cut costs and streamline processes, providing the information to make real-time business decisions.
