ERP Infrustructure

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Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP

Introduction

The deployment of standard software is an important factor in business process optimization . A major focus of standard software is on Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP ) systems . ERP is a computer-based system designed to process an organization 's transactions and facilitate integrated and real time planning , production and customer response . In addition , it has the following essential features : a packaged software designed for the client 's business environment integration of the majority of the business processes processes

a large majority of an organization 's transactions uses an enterprise wide database that typically stores each piece of data once and allows access to the data in real time . The essential feature of ERP is its ability to integrate the business processes of the organization

Design Concepts

In for people to enjoy working with their computer-based workplace , the system must be designed from a human , rather than a system-architecture perspective . To accomplish this , system designers have to look at how people perform their activities and tasks and design the software to facilitate these natural work rhythms . The software must also be easy to learn . Navigation complexities are the bane of many ERP and other mainframe-based or client-server corporate systems . Workplace software should be simple to navigate and easy to adapt to people 's needs

Visualization is important . For software to be enjoyable , the screens it generates must be appealing to the eye . Screen design should direct the eye to important elements and intuitively alert the brain to the navigational flow . The tone of the design should be soft rather than garish , with important elements highlighted . In addition , the screen should include multiple fields so that an individual has to go through fewer steps to access data . In short , a person should know where to go and how to get there without having to puzzle it out . A good design can accomplish this

A well-designed workplace will also affect the way applications are designed and redesigned in the future . Software designers will have to create applications that are aware ' they are being run in a workplace environment . For example , navigation between applications accessed via the workplace must be easy and intuitive (Watson , H .J , R .K . Rainer , C Koh , 1998

ERP implementation

Firms that are considering implementing ERP are referred to as 'potential implementors . Strategies that could adopt for implementing ERP are as follows

Justify the need for ERP

The first step to implementing ERP is to justify its necessity based on costs and benefits to the firm . There should be a justification for the investment (such as to solve a problem ) and any changes must be in tandem with the direction the company is headed . Firms would need to ask themselves : how might an ERP system strengthen our competitive advantages

First , ERPs are expensive . Vendors , such as SAP , PeopleSoft , and Oracle , that supply ERP applications often charge in the millions depending on the number of licenses and users . A single SAP...