Enterprise Resource Planning. Doc
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ENTERPRISE RESOURCE PLANNING 1. Analyse how predecessors of ERP like MIS, DSS and EIS will slowly phase out. Management Information Systems (MIS) In the past most payroll systems were data processing systems that did little more work than process time sheets,print payroll checks, and keep totals of annual wages and deductions. Most other departmental information systems did the same data processing and never monitored the actual process of the departments. The data processing systems evolved into management information systems, as managers began to demand more and better information about working of the organisation. MIS is a computer based system that optimises the collection, collation, transfer and presentaion of information throughout an organisation. The main characteristics of the MIS are the ability to: Support the data processing operation of transaction handling and record keeping. Support a variety of functional areas in organisation using integrated database. Provide operational, tactical, and strategic levels of the organisation, but does not provide ad-hoc query facility for most part of the structured information. Any successful MIS must support a business five year plan or its equivalent. It must be flexible enough to provide reports based up on performance analysis in specific areas critical to that plan. The reports include feedback loops that allow for titvation of every aspect of the business, including recruitment and training regimens. Decision Support System (DSS) Before making a decision managers spend a lot of time and effort in gathering and analysing infomation. Decision Support systems (DSSs) were created to assist managers in the task of gathering and analysing information. With the help of these tools can produce and present information targeted to support management in the desicionmaking process. In many occasions, depending on their previous experience knowledge, decision makers, especially at the top management levels, are often confronted with complex decisions. The need for complex information analysis and reduction of human interference in some crucial decisition making process demanded for a decision making system, and led to the evolution of Decision Support Systems (DSSs) The main characteristics of a DSS, are: It is designed to address semi-structured and unstructured problems. It mainly supports decision-making at the top management level.
It is interactive, user-friendly,and the decision-maker canu use it with little or no assistance from a computer professional. It makes general-purpose models, simulation capabilities and other analytical tools available to the decision maker. Executive Information Systems (EIS) The line dividing DSS and EIS is very thin. EIS can be considered as a better and sophisticated DSS. Top-level executives and decision-makers have to face many problems and face enormous work related pressures. Inspite of that, they have to make the right decisions, at the right time, to resolve the problems and take the company forward keeping the profit margins high. In today's competitive world, reaction times are shrinking, and time to make decisions is very less. EIS is a decision support system especially made for senior-level executives. The main concern of an EIS is hwo decisions can affect the entire organisation. An EIS takes the following consideration: The overall vision and mission of the company, and the company's goals Strategic planning and objectives Organisational structure Crisis management/ Contingency planning Strategic control and monitoring of overall operations. Many a time executive decision-making also requires access to outside information from competitors, governmental regulations, trade groups, news gathering agencies, and so on. So most executive decision involves a high degree of uncertainty and a future course for the organisation. Successful EIS are easy to use, flexible and customisable, and use the latest technological innovation.
2. Evaluate different and popular modules of an ERP package like finance, manufacturing and materials management. FINANCE: The entire concept of Information Technology (IT) is based on the principle that provides the right information, at right time, to the right people. Since, it plays a crucial role in an organisation's decision making. Financial data provides much of this key information, but simply having financial data is not enough. A set of processes and views of data that provides up to date information, in exactly the form needed to make critical difference. This will help in formulation crucial design. From each area of organisation accounting software needs access for information; for example, the software should be able to access information from R&D and market research through manufacturing, distribution and sales. One need to know that in today's market environment, financial decisions are based on today's data, not numbers from records closed a month ago, or even a week ago. And this today's data
must represent every segment of organisation's activities, whether enterprise stretches across a room or around the globe. This is essential, to plan for the future growth of enterprise, which is prossible only if one knows exactly where is is today. In many countries across the globe the finance modules of most ERP systems provide financial functionality and analysis support to thousands of businesses. These ERP systems include not only the components or financial application, but also Human Resources, Logistics, and Business Workflow. It also links this to internet and hundreds of business processes covered in these systems. MANUFACTURING AND MATERIAL MANAGEMENT A good manufacturing system shoud provide multi-mode manufacturing application that include full integration of resource management. Thesse manufacturing applications must allow an easier exchange of information throughout the entire global enterprise, or at a single site within a company. Regardless of how big or small an enterprise is, these applications should provide a wealth of feature/function, broad scope of coverage, operational stability, and a platform-independent architecture. These capabilities empower an enterprise to achieve productivity gains, adopt forward-thinking technologies, and implement process re-engineering. A robust system of manufacturing planning business process and execution must satisfy a variety of business practices and production methods. These business practices and production methods place stringent demands on the manufacturer. Regardless of how manufacturers view their internal operations, to the customer, it boils down to quick resposes to customer demand in two fundamental ways. Manufacturer either make products to stock, prior to receipt of a customer order, or they make and ship the products upon receipt of a customer order. MATERIAL AND CAPACITY PLANNING Today's customer-focused business environment makes it more critical than ever for manufacturers to have an effective production plan for managing material and capacity. Customers want accurate shipment dates. Sometime to the hour-even when there are schedule and product changes. The planning systems of the ERP packages are designed to provide the responsiveness company needs to meet those customer requirements. With these systems, the management can simulate alternative plans; gaining the information they need to determine which parts and assemblies to make, which to buy, and when to manufacture or purchase. Meeting the business goals requires effective execution contol and detailed production planning. The ERP packages give the company full control with flexible scheduling, and sophisticated shop floor functionality. They also offer extensive freemdom for defining production processes in most appropriate way.
3. Describe the functioning of various sub module of Sales and Distribution module. SALES AND DISTRIBUTION In today's global business environment, new competition pushes organisation to achieve higher levels of service. At the same time, evolving technology compresses product life cycles and forces companies to adopt new technologies or risk losing market share. In this continuously changing environment, keeping a competitive edge means being able to anticipate and respond quickly to changing business conditions. Companies need and integrated and flexible ERP system. It should support all aspects of their business with high-tech functionality, to keep pace with these rapid chages. This new solution must upgrade effortlessly and interface easily with other applications. It must also possess the ability to incorporate existing systems, while extending its reach to the internet and e-commerce. Companies are increasingly being forced to streamline business processes looking at today's business environment. Due to characteristics like the growing competition, shrinking cycle times, and the accelerating pace of technological innovation in today's market. Today, it is no longer enough to simply have the best product. So the organisations are focusing on core competencies and closer partnerships over the whole supply chain. For improving both profit margins and customer service, and to retain a competitive edge, the companies need to increase efficiency of its sales and distribution function. The sales and distribution modules of many ERP vendors, offer a comprehesive set of best of its kind components for both order and logistics management. Many of these systems are tightly integrated with the Distribution REquirement planning (DRP) engine of the 'for Just-in-time' (JIT) deliveries. This integration enables to improve the efficiency of supply chain of single-site or multi-site organisations. It also upgrades the relationships in a company's internal supply chains. Depending on how your system is configured,the functions may be completely automated or may also require some manual processing. The data that results from these basic function, for example, shipping dates, confirmed quantities, prices, and discounts is stored in the system where it can be displayed. HOwerver, in some cases it is changed manually during subsequent processing. For delivery and billing the sales and distribution module can very acrtively interact with the Material management and Financial Accounting modules. 4. Describe the types and sub modules of CRM. There are three main types of CRMs. They are Operational CRM, Collaborative CRM and Analytical CRM Operational CRM: This CRM deals with providing complete front office support to sales, marketing and similar services. Each customer
interaction is recorded and added to customer's history. This can be easily retrieved from database for future reference. This CRM is mainly useful in automating customer-centric processes and providing appropriat support to sales and marketing services. Hence, this CRM software is used popularly in call centres or Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) companies for supporting the call centre staff. Collaborative CRM: This CRM directly communicates with customers without the involvement of any sales or service representatives. Provide efficient communication with customers across a variety of communications channels. Providing online services to reduce customer service costs Providing access to customer information while interacting with customers This collaborative CRM reduces the company costs and improves the service provided. Analytical CRM: This CRM analyses data (gathered as part of operational CRM, or from other sources) in an attempt to identify means to enhance a company's relationship with its customers. SUB MODULES IN CRM: We already know that CRM is the process of managing relationships with customers by capturing, analyzing, and storing customer information. The functionality of a CRM system can be studied under three sub modules. Marketing Module: Functionalities of marketing modules of CRM comprises short term execution of marketing activities and long term planning within a company. Service Module: Focuses on managing planned and unplanned customer service. This module helps in activities such as Service ORder Management, Service Contract Management, Planned service Management, Warranty Management, Service-Level Agreement Management, Resource planning and Knowledge Management. Sales Module: The sales module of CRM focuses on managing and executing the pre-sales process of the company by making it more organised. The sales teams in most companies are responsible for capturing opportunities and customer interaction. The CRM help the sales team in processing this data and following-up it in the future.
5. Assess the various approaches for implementation of ERP STEPS IN ERP IMPLEMENTATION: PeopleSoft country head Mr Thiru Vengadam says "Phased implementation is the right way as the risks are controllable. It is a good management practice to build a roadmap for the overall project, but break them into logical phases. Take one logical phase at a time, give it the right focus and ensure the success of that phase before taking up on the next. It is also critical to have a high level of design of the overall system is done
upfront, such that even when the project is driven in phases,there is a frame of reference ensuring an integrated system at the end of the overall project. The different phases of the ERP implementation are: Pre-evaluation Screening Package Evaluation Project planning phase Gap Analysis Reengieering Configuration Implementation Team Training Testing Going Live End-user Training Post-implementation Pre-evaluation Screening- Once the company has decided to go in for the ERP system; the search for the perfect package starts. But there are hundreds of ERP vendors of all shapes and sizes, all claiming to have the solution that is idel. Analysing all the packages before reaching a decision is not a viable solution. It is always better to do a thorough and detailed evaluation of a small number of packages, than doing a superficial analysis of dozen of packages. Package Evaluation- The evaluation/ selection process is one of the most important phases of the ERP implementation. Since, the package that you select will decide the success or failure of the project. ERP systems involve huge investments, once a package is purchased, it is not and easy task to switch to another one. So it is a 'do it right the first time' proposition. Project Planning Phase- This is the phas that designs the process of ERP implementation. In this phase the particulars of how to go about the implementation process are decided. The time schedules, deadlines, and so on for the project are decided. The time schedules, deadlines, and so on for the project are formulated. The project plan is developed. Roles are identified and responsibilities are assigned. Gap Analysis- This is the most crucial phase for the success of the ERP implementation. This is the process through which organisations create a complete model of where they are now, and in which direction they want to head in the future. The trick is to design a model which both anticipates and covers any functional gaps. Reengineering- It is in this phase that the human factors are taken into account. In ERP implementation settings, reengineering has two different connotations. The first connotion is the controversial one, involving the use of ERP to aid in downsizing efforts. There have been occasions where high-level executives have invoked the reengineering slogan, and purchased an ERP package with the aim of reducing significant numbers of employees. The second use of the word
reengineering in the ERP field [ or business process reengineering (BPR) as it is usually called], refers to and ERP implementation moded. Configuration- This is the main functional area of the ERP implementation. There is a bit of mystique around the configuration process. For food reason, the unwritten rule of ERP implementation is synchronising existing company practises with the ERP package. Instead of, changing the source code and customising it to suit the company's demand. In order to do so, you have to analyse and map the business processes. This has to be done in such a way that the arrived solutions must match up with the overall goals of the company. Implementation Team Training- Around the same time that the configuration is taking place, the implementation team is taking place, the implementation team is being trained, not so much how to use the system, but how to implement it. This is the phase where the company trains its workforce to implement it and later, run the system, The ERP vendors and the hired consultants will leave after the implementation is over. Testing- This is the phase where you try to break the system. You have reached a point where you are testing real case scenarios. Once the system is configured, you must come up with extreme-case scenarios for example, system overloads, multiple users logging on at the same time with the same query, users entering invalid data, hackers trying to access restricted areas and so on. Going Live- On the technical side, the work is almost complete. The process of data conversion is done, databases are up and running. The prototype's functional side is fully configured and tested, and ready to go operationa. End-User Training- This is the phase where the actual users of the system will be given training on how to use the system. This phase starts much before the system goes live. The employees who are going to use the new system are identified. Their current skills are noted and based on the current skill levels, they are divided into groups. Then each group is given training on the new system. Post-implementation- One important factor that must be realised is that the post-implementation phase is very critical. Once the implementation is over, the vendors and the hired consultants will go. to reap the full benefits of the ERP system, it is very important that the system must get the eneterprise-wide acceptance. There must be enough employees who are trained to handle the problems that might crop-up. There must be people, within the company, who have the technical prowess to make the necessary enhancements to the system as and when required.
6. Describe the ERP market. The vendors in the ERP market are segmented into two levels. They are focusin on expanding product functionality, new market targets and higher penetration rates. The top level consists of five vendors (1998)- SAP AG, BAAN PEOPLE SOFT, Oracle Applications, and J.D. Edwards. These companies, account for 64% of the ERP market revenue and have grown over the past year at a furious pace of 61%. In addition, Oracle, People Soft, J.D. Edwards, and Baan are each expected to approach or exceed $1 billion in total revenue in 1998, while SAP will approach $ 5 billion. In the survey conducted by ARM during the year 2005 the list had few changes with new players entering into the huge market of ERP. Some of the companies were not able keep up with technology and lost their market like Baan. Some even went for merger like PeopleSoft and J.D. Edwards. The efforts these companies (SAP AG, Baan Peoplesoft, Oracle Applications, and J.D. Edwards) made as start-ups, created a new market for ERP. Although ERP was considered only for manufacturing large scale industries, they penetrated into smaller markets during 90's. AMR Research had predicted that the ERP market will reach $14.8 billion in total company revenue in 1998. In addition, when third party services like hardware, databases, and networking are considered, AMR Research obvious that the market for ERP would continue to be one of the largest, fastest growing and most influential in the applications industry. Compared to the global market the scenario in India is slighty different. The Indian ERP package Ramco's Marshal accounted for 9% of the market share. There was also an extensive list of ERP solutions being implemented in much smaller numbers. The ERP awareness in Indian organisations was growing. The survey shows around 35% of organisations are using ERP for less than 24 months and the number is growing. Assuming an average implementation process of 18 months, 35% of organisations have therefore, been grappling with ERP issues for close to 4 years and longer. Amongst the organisations planning to implement ERP in the future, the research indicated that SAP still remains the number one preferred solution. This is followed by Oracle Financials, Baan and MFG/PRO. Home-grown solutions like Marshal and MakESS have also been indicated as preferred options.
It is interactive, user-friendly,and the decision-maker canu use it with little or no assistance from a computer professional. It makes general-purpose models, simulation capabilities and other analytical tools available to the decision maker. Executive Information Systems (EIS) The line dividing DSS and EIS is very thin. EIS can be considered as a better and sophisticated DSS. Top-level executives and decision-makers have to face many problems and face enormous work related pressures. Inspite of that, they have to make the right decisions, at the right time, to resolve the problems and take the company forward keeping the profit margins high. In today's competitive world, reaction times are shrinking, and time to make decisions is very less. EIS is a decision support system especially made for senior-level executives. The main concern of an EIS is hwo decisions can affect the entire organisation. An EIS takes the following consideration: The overall vision and mission of the company, and the company's goals Strategic planning and objectives Organisational structure Crisis management/ Contingency planning Strategic control and monitoring of overall operations. Many a time executive decision-making also requires access to outside information from competitors, governmental regulations, trade groups, news gathering agencies, and so on. So most executive decision involves a high degree of uncertainty and a future course for the organisation. Successful EIS are easy to use, flexible and customisable, and use the latest technological innovation.
2. Evaluate different and popular modules of an ERP package like finance, manufacturing and materials management. FINANCE: The entire concept of Information Technology (IT) is based on the principle that provides the right information, at right time, to the right people. Since, it plays a crucial role in an organisation's decision making. Financial data provides much of this key information, but simply having financial data is not enough. A set of processes and views of data that provides up to date information, in exactly the form needed to make critical difference. This will help in formulation crucial design. From each area of organisation accounting software needs access for information; for example, the software should be able to access information from R&D and market research through manufacturing, distribution and sales. One need to know that in today's market environment, financial decisions are based on today's data, not numbers from records closed a month ago, or even a week ago. And this today's data
must represent every segment of organisation's activities, whether enterprise stretches across a room or around the globe. This is essential, to plan for the future growth of enterprise, which is prossible only if one knows exactly where is is today. In many countries across the globe the finance modules of most ERP systems provide financial functionality and analysis support to thousands of businesses. These ERP systems include not only the components or financial application, but also Human Resources, Logistics, and Business Workflow. It also links this to internet and hundreds of business processes covered in these systems. MANUFACTURING AND MATERIAL MANAGEMENT A good manufacturing system shoud provide multi-mode manufacturing application that include full integration of resource management. Thesse manufacturing applications must allow an easier exchange of information throughout the entire global enterprise, or at a single site within a company. Regardless of how big or small an enterprise is, these applications should provide a wealth of feature/function, broad scope of coverage, operational stability, and a platform-independent architecture. These capabilities empower an enterprise to achieve productivity gains, adopt forward-thinking technologies, and implement process re-engineering. A robust system of manufacturing planning business process and execution must satisfy a variety of business practices and production methods. These business practices and production methods place stringent demands on the manufacturer. Regardless of how manufacturers view their internal operations, to the customer, it boils down to quick resposes to customer demand in two fundamental ways. Manufacturer either make products to stock, prior to receipt of a customer order, or they make and ship the products upon receipt of a customer order. MATERIAL AND CAPACITY PLANNING Today's customer-focused business environment makes it more critical than ever for manufacturers to have an effective production plan for managing material and capacity. Customers want accurate shipment dates. Sometime to the hour-even when there are schedule and product changes. The planning systems of the ERP packages are designed to provide the responsiveness company needs to meet those customer requirements. With these systems, the management can simulate alternative plans; gaining the information they need to determine which parts and assemblies to make, which to buy, and when to manufacture or purchase. Meeting the business goals requires effective execution contol and detailed production planning. The ERP packages give the company full control with flexible scheduling, and sophisticated shop floor functionality. They also offer extensive freemdom for defining production processes in most appropriate way.
3. Describe the functioning of various sub module of Sales and Distribution module. SALES AND DISTRIBUTION In today's global business environment, new competition pushes organisation to achieve higher levels of service. At the same time, evolving technology compresses product life cycles and forces companies to adopt new technologies or risk losing market share. In this continuously changing environment, keeping a competitive edge means being able to anticipate and respond quickly to changing business conditions. Companies need and integrated and flexible ERP system. It should support all aspects of their business with high-tech functionality, to keep pace with these rapid chages. This new solution must upgrade effortlessly and interface easily with other applications. It must also possess the ability to incorporate existing systems, while extending its reach to the internet and e-commerce. Companies are increasingly being forced to streamline business processes looking at today's business environment. Due to characteristics like the growing competition, shrinking cycle times, and the accelerating pace of technological innovation in today's market. Today, it is no longer enough to simply have the best product. So the organisations are focusing on core competencies and closer partnerships over the whole supply chain. For improving both profit margins and customer service, and to retain a competitive edge, the companies need to increase efficiency of its sales and distribution function. The sales and distribution modules of many ERP vendors, offer a comprehesive set of best of its kind components for both order and logistics management. Many of these systems are tightly integrated with the Distribution REquirement planning (DRP) engine of the 'for Just-in-time' (JIT) deliveries. This integration enables to improve the efficiency of supply chain of single-site or multi-site organisations. It also upgrades the relationships in a company's internal supply chains. Depending on how your system is configured,the functions may be completely automated or may also require some manual processing. The data that results from these basic function, for example, shipping dates, confirmed quantities, prices, and discounts is stored in the system where it can be displayed. HOwerver, in some cases it is changed manually during subsequent processing. For delivery and billing the sales and distribution module can very acrtively interact with the Material management and Financial Accounting modules. 4. Describe the types and sub modules of CRM. There are three main types of CRMs. They are Operational CRM, Collaborative CRM and Analytical CRM Operational CRM: This CRM deals with providing complete front office support to sales, marketing and similar services. Each customer
interaction is recorded and added to customer's history. This can be easily retrieved from database for future reference. This CRM is mainly useful in automating customer-centric processes and providing appropriat support to sales and marketing services. Hence, this CRM software is used popularly in call centres or Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) companies for supporting the call centre staff. Collaborative CRM: This CRM directly communicates with customers without the involvement of any sales or service representatives. Provide efficient communication with customers across a variety of communications channels. Providing online services to reduce customer service costs Providing access to customer information while interacting with customers This collaborative CRM reduces the company costs and improves the service provided. Analytical CRM: This CRM analyses data (gathered as part of operational CRM, or from other sources) in an attempt to identify means to enhance a company's relationship with its customers. SUB MODULES IN CRM: We already know that CRM is the process of managing relationships with customers by capturing, analyzing, and storing customer information. The functionality of a CRM system can be studied under three sub modules. Marketing Module: Functionalities of marketing modules of CRM comprises short term execution of marketing activities and long term planning within a company. Service Module: Focuses on managing planned and unplanned customer service. This module helps in activities such as Service ORder Management, Service Contract Management, Planned service Management, Warranty Management, Service-Level Agreement Management, Resource planning and Knowledge Management. Sales Module: The sales module of CRM focuses on managing and executing the pre-sales process of the company by making it more organised. The sales teams in most companies are responsible for capturing opportunities and customer interaction. The CRM help the sales team in processing this data and following-up it in the future.
5. Assess the various approaches for implementation of ERP STEPS IN ERP IMPLEMENTATION: PeopleSoft country head Mr Thiru Vengadam says "Phased implementation is the right way as the risks are controllable. It is a good management practice to build a roadmap for the overall project, but break them into logical phases. Take one logical phase at a time, give it the right focus and ensure the success of that phase before taking up on the next. It is also critical to have a high level of design of the overall system is done
upfront, such that even when the project is driven in phases,there is a frame of reference ensuring an integrated system at the end of the overall project. The different phases of the ERP implementation are: Pre-evaluation Screening Package Evaluation Project planning phase Gap Analysis Reengieering Configuration Implementation Team Training Testing Going Live End-user Training Post-implementation Pre-evaluation Screening- Once the company has decided to go in for the ERP system; the search for the perfect package starts. But there are hundreds of ERP vendors of all shapes and sizes, all claiming to have the solution that is idel. Analysing all the packages before reaching a decision is not a viable solution. It is always better to do a thorough and detailed evaluation of a small number of packages, than doing a superficial analysis of dozen of packages. Package Evaluation- The evaluation/ selection process is one of the most important phases of the ERP implementation. Since, the package that you select will decide the success or failure of the project. ERP systems involve huge investments, once a package is purchased, it is not and easy task to switch to another one. So it is a 'do it right the first time' proposition. Project Planning Phase- This is the phas that designs the process of ERP implementation. In this phase the particulars of how to go about the implementation process are decided. The time schedules, deadlines, and so on for the project are decided. The time schedules, deadlines, and so on for the project are formulated. The project plan is developed. Roles are identified and responsibilities are assigned. Gap Analysis- This is the most crucial phase for the success of the ERP implementation. This is the process through which organisations create a complete model of where they are now, and in which direction they want to head in the future. The trick is to design a model which both anticipates and covers any functional gaps. Reengineering- It is in this phase that the human factors are taken into account. In ERP implementation settings, reengineering has two different connotations. The first connotion is the controversial one, involving the use of ERP to aid in downsizing efforts. There have been occasions where high-level executives have invoked the reengineering slogan, and purchased an ERP package with the aim of reducing significant numbers of employees. The second use of the word
reengineering in the ERP field [ or business process reengineering (BPR) as it is usually called], refers to and ERP implementation moded. Configuration- This is the main functional area of the ERP implementation. There is a bit of mystique around the configuration process. For food reason, the unwritten rule of ERP implementation is synchronising existing company practises with the ERP package. Instead of, changing the source code and customising it to suit the company's demand. In order to do so, you have to analyse and map the business processes. This has to be done in such a way that the arrived solutions must match up with the overall goals of the company. Implementation Team Training- Around the same time that the configuration is taking place, the implementation team is taking place, the implementation team is being trained, not so much how to use the system, but how to implement it. This is the phase where the company trains its workforce to implement it and later, run the system, The ERP vendors and the hired consultants will leave after the implementation is over. Testing- This is the phase where you try to break the system. You have reached a point where you are testing real case scenarios. Once the system is configured, you must come up with extreme-case scenarios for example, system overloads, multiple users logging on at the same time with the same query, users entering invalid data, hackers trying to access restricted areas and so on. Going Live- On the technical side, the work is almost complete. The process of data conversion is done, databases are up and running. The prototype's functional side is fully configured and tested, and ready to go operationa. End-User Training- This is the phase where the actual users of the system will be given training on how to use the system. This phase starts much before the system goes live. The employees who are going to use the new system are identified. Their current skills are noted and based on the current skill levels, they are divided into groups. Then each group is given training on the new system. Post-implementation- One important factor that must be realised is that the post-implementation phase is very critical. Once the implementation is over, the vendors and the hired consultants will go. to reap the full benefits of the ERP system, it is very important that the system must get the eneterprise-wide acceptance. There must be enough employees who are trained to handle the problems that might crop-up. There must be people, within the company, who have the technical prowess to make the necessary enhancements to the system as and when required.
6. Describe the ERP market. The vendors in the ERP market are segmented into two levels. They are focusin on expanding product functionality, new market targets and higher penetration rates. The top level consists of five vendors (1998)- SAP AG, BAAN PEOPLE SOFT, Oracle Applications, and J.D. Edwards. These companies, account for 64% of the ERP market revenue and have grown over the past year at a furious pace of 61%. In addition, Oracle, People Soft, J.D. Edwards, and Baan are each expected to approach or exceed $1 billion in total revenue in 1998, while SAP will approach $ 5 billion. In the survey conducted by ARM during the year 2005 the list had few changes with new players entering into the huge market of ERP. Some of the companies were not able keep up with technology and lost their market like Baan. Some even went for merger like PeopleSoft and J.D. Edwards. The efforts these companies (SAP AG, Baan Peoplesoft, Oracle Applications, and J.D. Edwards) made as start-ups, created a new market for ERP. Although ERP was considered only for manufacturing large scale industries, they penetrated into smaller markets during 90's. AMR Research had predicted that the ERP market will reach $14.8 billion in total company revenue in 1998. In addition, when third party services like hardware, databases, and networking are considered, AMR Research obvious that the market for ERP would continue to be one of the largest, fastest growing and most influential in the applications industry. Compared to the global market the scenario in India is slighty different. The Indian ERP package Ramco's Marshal accounted for 9% of the market share. There was also an extensive list of ERP solutions being implemented in much smaller numbers. The ERP awareness in Indian organisations was growing. The survey shows around 35% of organisations are using ERP for less than 24 months and the number is growing. Assuming an average implementation process of 18 months, 35% of organisations have therefore, been grappling with ERP issues for close to 4 years and longer. Amongst the organisations planning to implement ERP in the future, the research indicated that SAP still remains the number one preferred solution. This is followed by Oracle Financials, Baan and MFG/PRO. Home-grown solutions like Marshal and MakESS have also been indicated as preferred options.
