Marketplace for Potential ERP

Discuss about the ERP System Strength And Benefit.

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is a kind of software that is built for the organizations that belongs to different sectors irrespective of the strength and size of the organization. It helps in supporting and integrating the functional areas that are present in the process of business, which is inclusive of the purchase of the services and the goods, accounting and finance, sale and distribution of the goods along with management of the human resources (Cohan 2017).

The integration of the business processes will help the organization in automating their process and securing the datas that are present in the various applications along with the operations and the processes of support. The ERP system evolved from managing the materials in to a system called the MRP that is Material Requirement Planning (Arachchi, Chong and Gunawardana 2015).

The ERP system consists of many functions as well such as the support that it provides to the process of the business within the organization. the planning of the capital, which helps in executing the plans and strategies of the business can be improved with the help of this software. It also helps in speeding up of the decision process in the organization, as it helps in analyzing the data within the organization in a proper manner. The use of these softwares also helps in mitigating the risks that will help in improving the governance of the organization (Ram, Corkindale and Wu2014).   

It can be seen that the market is expected to benefit from the software market that is being presented in the global economy so that the organizations can manage the processes that are present in the business in an efficient manner. The entry of the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) has helped the processes of the business in integrated it in a better manner. It has helped the operations in the back office to be handled in a careful manner so that the mistakes and the errors can be minimized. The record of the production, control of the inventory, accounting and the management of the orders that are coming within the organization are all managed with the help of ERP. It can be forecasted that this market is expected to earn $41.69 billion by the end of 2020, as the rate of growth is calculated to be 7.2 percent (Arachchi, Chong and Gunawardana 2015).

Potential ERPs and Vendors: ERP Vendors

The integration that can be done with the help of these softwares has helped the companies in keeping a track of the raw materials or the inputs that are being bought within the organization. The systematic use of this software will help the companies in organizing the products in a better manner (Khaled and Idrissi 2015).

The solutions that are provided by ERP specialize in their necessary fields and the expertise of the domains helps them in critically analyzing the providers so that it can be broken down in various sectors. The major sectors that are included in this industry are as follows:

• Distribution and manufacturing industry
• Communication, sanitary, energy and transport services
• Retail sector
• Services sector

Vendors in distribution and marketing industry

The market is particularly dominated by Oracle, Microsoft and SAP, which commands probably 55 percent of the overall market. The lower part of the industry is fragmented to around 26 percent where a large number of vendors have less than a meager 1 percent of the share from the total market (Jagoda et al. 2017).

Communication, sanitary, energy and transport services

The share of the market for the vendors has increased by 20 percent. This has resulted in SAP, Microsoft and Oracle taking up a majority of 73 percent within the market and around 11 percent of the market share is divided among the smaller vendors (Zach, Munkvold and Ollsen 2014).

Service sector

The market is majorly dominated by the big three that is SAP, Oracle and Microsoft and the other vendors cover only a meager 1 percent of the total share in the market.

Retail sector

In this sector as well, the dominance of the big three can be felt as well but it is seen that Microsoft has an increased advantage along with Oracle. The small vendors have an accountability of nearly 11 percent of the share in the market (Peng and Gala 2014).

The major vendors in the market are as follows:

SAP- It was founded by IBM engineers in 1972 and is one of the undisputed leaders in the market with respect to the space in Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and is the third largest company dealing with software in the world. The present version of their software consists of more than 30,000 database tables that are relational in nature and allows the user in handling the complex situations in business at an easy manner. Though it has been the leader in the market, many criticize it that the handling of the software is very complex (Johansson et al. 2015).

ERP Modules

Odoo- This software is also known as OpenERP, which consists of various applications in the business such as management of the projects, CRM, Warehouse management, Sales, Financial management along with many other services. It gives a choice of more than a thousand modules for the organizations to choose from so that they can work in an organized manner. It has helped mostly the companies that range from small to mid-sized. It is one of the widely used solutions with respect to open sources that is being used by the companies all over the world (Haddara 2014).

Sage- This Company was started in the United Kingdom in the year 1981 where the first version of the software was based on the principles of accounting. The company eventually grew in number and by the year 1984 the company was launched in a successful manner. The company was able to acquire most of the organizations, as it was able to successfully attract most of the organizations (Erturk and Arora 2017).

Oracle- This was considered to be one of the earlier known relational databases that have helped the organizations in choosing the ERP applications that are present in SAP. During 2004, the company started to build its own solutions for ERP, which has helped them in providing the solutions in the Microsoft SQL database as well so that the performance can be increased. The first product of the company known as Oracle Financials was introduced in the market in the year 1989, which helped them in establishing their foothold on the market (Johansson et al. 2015).

Microsoft- The Company mainly keeps their focus on the Tier II clients that are present in the ERP market and helps in providing the solutions to various domains of the business organization with respect to the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) (Erturk and Arora 2017).

The modules of ERP can be divided as follows:

• Human Resource Module- This module helps the team of HRs in efficiently managing the human resources. The module also helps in managing the information of the employees by keeping a record of their performances, description of their job profile along with the designation that has been allotted to them so that it can be maintained in a proper manner. The payroll system is one of the important part in this module, as it helps the employees in managing the salaries of the employees along with other benefits as well (Mu, Kirsch and Butler 2015).
• Inventory module- This module helps the organizations in tracking and sorting the items by keeping a track of the serial numbers that are unique in nature. The track of the serial numbers of the inventory system helps the organization in keeping a track of the location of the inventories. It is also inclusive of the functions such as controlling the inventories and the reporting of the utilization of the stocks (Khan and Faisal 2015).
• Sales module- This module helps in processing the sales of the organization and is inclusive of the queries and enquiries that are present in sales with respect to handling of the quotations along with the acceptance of the sales orders and the proper taxation facilities (Kim 2014).
• Purchase module- This module takes care of the purchase of the raw materials and other items that are required within the organization so that the process of production can continue. It also helps in the listing of the suppliers and linking the items with the suppliers as well. The sending of the quotations of the price to the suppliers and the track of the items that have been purchased are all done through this module (Omar and Gomez 2017).
• Finance and Accounting module- The inflow and the outflow of the capital has to be managed through this module, as it helps in keeping a track of the account related transactions such as the expenditures and the ledgers of the organization. apart from this, the module also helps in keeping a track of the balance sheet and other payment related transactions within the organization (Eker and Aytac 2016).
• CRM module- This module helps in maintaining a better service to the customers by maintaining healthy relationships with the customers, which helps in boosting up the sales for the organization. The module also helps in managing and tracking the information of the customers with respect to the calls that have been made by them to the organization along with other attributes (Kim 2014).
• Engineering module- This module helps in planning the production function for the organization along with the scheduling of the machines and the usage of the raw materials. The progress of the daily production is also tracked by these modules, which helps in reporting the actual production that is done within the organization on a daily basis (Omar and Gomez 2017).
• Supply chain management (SCM) module- This module helps in keeping a track of the products from the point of view of the manufacturer to the consumer and vice versa. It basically involves the manufacturer, distributors, and retailers along with the stockiest for the products. it is also responsible for keeping a track of the supply and demand of the products so that the market can be studied in a better manner (Khan and Faisal 2015).

The primary aim of the organization known as CRLS will be to provide the legal advice to the people who come from poor economic backgrounds. The people from the major cities cannot afford who cannot afford to pay the legal services can come up to this firm for getting the legal services at free of cost. When the ERP system was implemented within the organization, the organization tries to appoint the lawyers according to their areas of specialization so that they can cater in a better manner towards the clients that are coming to avail the services. This will help the organization in presenting the legal advices in a better manner so that the clients can understand it better (Sherwin 2017).

ERP Structure

The application of this ERP structure will help the organization in presenting the system in a dispersed and distributed manner so that the clients who are from different locations can be handled within the entire organization. The implementation of this structure is that it will help in handing both the application and the duties that are present in handling the database as well. The clients of the organization are also responsible in presenting the datas to the organization so that it can be stored and studied in a proper manner whenever it is needed. This will help the clients in being connected with the organization in both ways, as they provide feedbacks to the organization about the proceedings of the court and vice versa (Omar and Gomez 2017).

The analysis has been divided in to three stages that are as follows:

Stage 1: The lawyers need to be trained in a proper manner so that they can provide the advices to the people at a better manner. They need to be trained in handling the clients in a proper manner so that they do not feel insecure in sharing the problems with them. When the lawyers are unsure in providing the advice to the clients, they need to tell that directly to the clients so that wrong advices can be avoided, which may create problems for the clients. The lawyers need to be provided with a blueprint carrying all the information that is followed within the organization so that they can work in an ethical manner. It will help the lawyers in working in an effective manner with the clients as well.

Stage 2: The training process will help the lawyers in following the ethics and the code of conducts that are followed within the organization. This helps the lawyers in becoming better consultants so that their advices can be of some value to the people.

Stage 3: The presentation of the proceedings needs to be done in a better manner so that the clients can have no problem in understanding it. This will help the company in solving the queries of the people so that they can be advised in a better manner (Mu, Kirsch and Butler 2015).   

The ERP software has to be used based on the requirement of the organization. It can be divided as follows:

Customer Relationship Management

The module that is present in CRM will help the organization in getting access to the type of accounts and the products that are being used within the organization. The effective use of the module will help in providing better access to the information about ERP in any devices at a particular point of time.

Accounts payable reporting

The ERP systems help in providing the teams with better and sufficient reporting methods so that the collections can be done in an efficient manner, which will help in handling the ledgers in a proper way.

Capacity Requirements Planning

The module that is present in CRP along with the use of ERP will help in determining the resources that needs to be used in the production so that it can be met in a proper manner (Omar and Gomez 2017).

Material Requirement Planning

Most of the organizations are in need of planning and scheduling their production so that the inventory can be controlled within the system. The use of ERP in this module will help in evaluating the materials so that the organization can keep a track of it.

Logistics management

The management of the logistics is essential for the planning and execution within the organization so that the integration of the materials can be done in a better manner. The software will help the organization in handling the transportation of the products in an efficient manner externally or internally (Khan and Faisal 2015).

The selection of the ERP needs to be done based on the following:

Technology

Most of the organizations use an advanced strategy in technology so that they can efficiently manage the production. The vendors in the ERP software uses their own systems that are open, which helps them in understanding the technology in a better way. It is mandatory for the organization to understand the technology platform so that the measurement of applying the technology can be done properly.

Function fit

The numbers of vendors that are present in the market help in the selection of the appropriate vendors, which will be beneficial for the organization. The key in selecting the best vendor is the practices that are done within the organization (Mu, Kirsch and Butler 2015).

Thus, it can be recommended that the legal firm can use the ERP systems for the customer relationship management so that it can help in dealing with the customers in a better manner. The use of SAP software will be helpful for the organization, as it can be handled in a easy manner by the authorities. Since the handling of the software can be done in an easy manner. It will be wise for the organization to take up the simple technology, as it will help them in learning the processes in a better way. The tags that will be provided to the customers will help in identifying the case proceedings that are related to them. This will help the organization in understanding the cases in a better manner. The clients of the organization does not need to visit the place on a regular manner, as the tags that will be provided to them will help in keeping a track of the legal services on a regular manner.

Conclusion and Recommendation

Therefore, it can be concluded that the use of these system will help in integrating the processes of business within the organization. It will also help in managing the employees in a better way by keeping a track of the clients that they are handling so that it can help in remunerating them according to their performances. The customers or the clients for the organization will also be benefitted, as the proceedings of the cases will be tracked and will be informed to them. This will help in maintaining a better relationship with the clients and the trust among them will increase, which will help the organization in serving them better.

References

Arachchi, S.M., Chong, S.C. and Gunawardana, K.D., 2015. Comprehensive Marketplace and Factors Affecting the Budget of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) in Sri Lanka.

Cohan, P.S., 2017. Introduction. In Disciplined Growth Strategies(pp. 1-20). Apress.

Eker, M. and Aytaç, A., 2016. Effects of interaction between ERP and advanced managerial accounting techniques on firm performance: Evidence From Turkey. Muhasebe ve Finansman Dergisi, (72).

Erturk, E. and Arora, J.K., 2017. An Exploratory Study on the Implementation and Adoption of ERP Solutions for Businesses. arXiv preprint arXiv:1701.08329.

Haddara, M., 2014. ERP selection: the SMART way. Procedia Technology, 16, pp.394-403.

Jagoda, K., Jagoda, K., Samaranayake, P. and Samaranayake, P., 2017. An integrated framework for ERP system implementation. International Journal of Accounting & Information Management, 25(1), pp.91-109.

Johansson, B., Alajbegovic, A., Alexopoulo, V. and Desalermos, A., 2015, January. Cloud ERP adoption opportunities and concerns: the role of organizational size. In System Sciences (HICSS), 2015 48th Hawaii International Conference on (pp. 4211-4219). IEEE.

Khaled, A. and Idrissi, M.A.J., 2015. Proposition of a new ex-ante evaluation method for adapting and selecting ERP solutions. Electronic J

Khan, H. and Faisal, M.N., 2015. A Grey-based approach for ERP vendor selection in small and medium enterprises in Qatar. International Journal of Business Information Systems, 19(4), pp.465-487.

Kim, H.K., 2014. A study on the determination of importance rankings of the ERP modules for effective overseas market entry(Doctoral dissertation, Master dissertation, Kookmin University, Seoul, Korea).

Mu, E., Kirsch, L.J. and Butler, B.S., 2015. The assimilation of enterprise information system: An interpretation systems perspective. Information & Management, 52(3), pp.359-370.

Omar, K. and Gómez, J.M., 2017, April. An investigation of the proliferation of mobile ERP apps and their usability. In Information and Communication Systems (ICICS), 2017 8th International Conference on (pp. 352-357). IEEE.

Peng, G.C.A. and Gala, C., 2014. Cloud ERP: a new dilemma to modern organisations?. Journal of Computer Information Systems, 54(4), pp.22-30.

Ram, J., Corkindale, D. and Wu, M.L., 2014. ERP adoption and the value creation: Examining the contributions of antecedents. Journal of Engineering and Technology Management, 33, pp.113-133.

Sherwin, P., 2017. Digitizing the Calibration Process. In 18th International Congress of Metrology (p. 01005). EDP Sciences.

Zach, O., Munkvold, B.E. and Olsen, D.H., 2014. ERP system implementation in SMEs: exploring the influences of the SME context. Enterprise Information Systems, 8(2), pp.309-335.