ERP Software Can Revolutionize Your Business

1. ERP Software Can Revolutionize Your Business ERP is a software package through which an industry achieves an integrated system of data and processes. An ERP software system combines all the elementary functions of an organization irrespective of its business or charter. Techlene ERP software system undertakes to unify all departments and processes in a company onto a single computer system that serves the specific needs of all those departments. The full functionality of an organization is enclosed in a single package that two or more systems would cover. An example of such software could be accounting software which offers both Payroll and Analysis functions. The entire company runs well efficiently with a single software program performing for the requirements of those in human resources and finance and the storehouse. Generally, each department in a company is embellished with computer systems, which are optimized in such a way to carry out typical functions of a department. However, all of them are weaved jointly into a single software program that runs a single database with ERP. With ERP this enables all the departments to share the information and communicate. Implementing of ERP The implementation of ERP software does not involve any "in-house" skills. This is because the cost of smaller projects can be reduced if specialist ERP implementation consultants are hired. The time required for ERP implementation essentially depends on the size of the business and other factors such as the ambit of changes and clients consenting to take the approval of the project. While a small project (like less staff) may take three months to plan and deliver, a multi-site or multi-country execution may take years to complete. An interesting feature of ERP implementation is that the company that buys the ERP product takes over the ownership of the project. The companies go for an ERP dealer or third-party consulting enterprises for implementation. There are three areas of professional services offered by ERP firms - consulting, asset and customization.

2. Consulting Services The consulting team handles the responsibility for initial ERP implementation. It also guides the delivery of work until it goes live. Usually, their work includes product training; creation of process triggers and workflow; optimization of the system; enhancement of reports, complex data extracts, or implementation of Business Intelligence; and specialist advice to enhance the way ERP can grow the business. The team likewise embarks on the most critical part of the task - planning and together testing the implementation. In the larger ERP projects, consulting is done on three levels: systems architecture (the overall dataflow), business process consulting (mainly re-engineering), and technical consulting (basically programming and tool configuration). Generally, the cost of ERP implementation in most mid-sized companies ranges from the list price of the ERP user licenses to double that amount, which depends on the level of customization. However, the large companies spend much more on the implementation than on the cost of the user licenses.

3. Customization Services The process of Customization concerns extending or changing the way the system works using new user interfaces and application code. Customization normally reflects the work practices, which are not present in the core routines of the ERP system software. For instance, the code may include early adopter features like the mobility interfaces, which were rarely used earlier. Other examples include interfacing to third-party applications (it is easy to customize for larger implementations as there are typically dozens of ancillary systems with which core ERP software interacts). During the ERP up-gradation, an experienced service team is also involved in determining whether Customizations are compatible with the new release.

4. One of the major considerations in the ERP package is that it can be very costly and complex. So most companies use the top practices embedded in the acquired ERP system. Customization work is usually undertaken as tailored software development on a time and material basis. There are many cases where the work delivered for Customization does not include the ERP dealer's Maintenance Agreement. Thus, there is no commitment from the ERP vendor to certify that the code works with the next upgrade of the core product. However, if there were no description on how to use the Customization, the effort would be a sheer waste as it is quite difficult to train new staff in the work practice that the Customization delivers. Support Services After building the system, the ERP consulting company enters into a Support Agreement, ensuring that the staff can optimally run ERP software. This is conducted by a committee headed by the consultant through a participative administration approach, already decided during the design stage with the client's leaders of departments.