ERP systems is the current buzz word in the corporate world and is a requirement for any business -- large or small -- to survive in the competitive world. ERP is an acronym for Enterprise Resource Planning, but even its full name doesn't shed much light on what ERP is or what it does. Along with the advertisements hyping the need and advantages of ERP implementation, stories abound of the 'failures' of their implementation and hard earned money gone down the drain. In such a scenario, it becomes necessary to understand the meaning of ERP, what do you get when you implement ERP, what care to be taken to be successful in implementation and what not to expect.
ERP systems initially focused on automating back office functions that did not directly affect customers and the general public. Front office functions such as customer relationship management (CRM) dealt directly with customers, or e--business systems such as e--commerce, e--government, e--telecom, and e--finance, or supplier relationship management (SRM) became integrated later, when the Internet simplified communicating with external parties. ERP software integrates these various functions into one complete system to streamline processes and information across the entire organization.
