ERP system: business applications software a single global instance is running our entire enterprise and business
Only one ERP system: business applications software, a single global instance is running our entire enterprise and business unit that seamlessly integrates our customer relationship management (CRM), supply chain and business analysis applications, thereby enhancing efficiency and achieve integration, cost savings can also reduce the thorny issues.

This is the number of companies since 2000 and the CIO have a dream - can not wait for ERP developers are often boasted to them that dream. May wish to read the "CIO" in 2003, an excerpt of an article this text:

SAP's U.S. subsidiary, President and CEO through the tinted glass walls, overlooking the crowded hall, and then to attend the SAP Sapphire user conference, many managers begin sermon: "You have ERP, the next step is to extend it to CRM and supply chain "He said that the aim of using a single front-end part of a unified system, the back-end departments using a single data source, so companies can control all the data. McDermott has been to convey the week, SAP are hyped Subject: It is time to switch to a single instance of the. This statement of his marketing is even more to reach the climax.

In other words, he want to forget where the CIO who's now used in multiple systems, throw them, and replaced with a single ERP system - with a single data store (data store), to serve the entire company, regardless of company How high degree of diversity and distribution in a multi-scattered areas. He said that this can get the most return on IT investment.

For many companies, this dream has now disappeared. Even in the SAP internal as well. Say, said: "I think this concept is changing. Expressed quite openly admitted that across all functional departments of large multinational corporations to adopt the single instance is unrealistic. It is no longer a realistic goal. We live in such a world: more than a system must be networked with each other must be linked with each other openly, but also on adequate infrastructure, a complex and sophisticated, so enterprises can manage it. "

Say that "more perfect" idea is like this: the companies do not have to use a integrated system to manage the entire computing environment, we can ensure that the business process consistency and efficiency.

Atlas's Robin says that for many companies, but not all companies, the pursuit of a single instance is not a dream come true. He said: "Achieving a homogeneous environment is a dream, but dream like a lot of things and found that was not as large as hoped, so you have to adjust the dream." However, he emphasized that the company wants to obtain a single global instance is not impossible. He pointed out that Atlas's ERP system is to obtain a single global instance. However, he insisted that many companies would not return to the previous day: "code structure, scattered, heterogeneous systems, data is not synchronized, and thus have brought chaos."

So what are the solutions for the future then? Hays offers a "happy compromise", that make full use of middleware solutions the new progress, the major developers in order to facilitate the core database and infrastructure to provide the tools to integrate, as appropriate, to use SaaS applications. What he called the co-ordination.

All of these features in the future will become more important. First, as more and more twilight outdated ERP systems, many companies will soon face "or not to upgrade" question: is the stick with a corresponding lack of developer support for seeing PeopleSoft, R / 3,OracleeBusiness Suite, JD Edwards, or other aging ERP system? Still hesitate to use the new and different ERP packages, such as cloud-based suite or a suite of open source? Second, because of funding once again began to flow, increasing number of mergers and acquisitions activity; mergers and acquisitions parties to the transaction the company's ERP system must be "flexible to respond positively to changes in business environment."

Microsoft Dynamics ERP departments to target groups as a medium-sized enterprises, the sector Crispin Read, general manager of marketing, said that he called the "hub and spoke" (hub and spoke) deployment of a trend: Many companies use Oracle or SAP's ERP suite as a central recording system; this as a center, a subsidiary of large corporations, factories, and various business units were using relatively small application software packages, such as Dynamics. Read said: "This is nothing new, but we see more and more companies are doing." The idea is: with the forced small companies to install large-scale ERP software, compared to relatively small and low cost to deploy two systems were Multi-speed and faster; and very small companies may not need the power-related features or complicated problems.

Read said: "ERP is concerned, can not be readily available. Assuming that there is an annual income of billions of dollars in business, the company headquarters and regional offices as far away as Australia, have completely different requirements. If you try to SAP or Oracle's ERP system deployment to every place, in fact, the enterprise-class solution deployment to medium-sized enterprises, the cost will be dramatically increased. "

So, for the vertical business areas of "best-in" applications software strategy - regardless of software deployment in the customer environment, internal or hosted on a cloud - will stage a comeback? This strategy does not use the software integration problem once for all. AMR Research's Bruce Richardson, chief research officer will again consider that their popularity. He said: "take can be customized the way, the user can choose SaaS, the internal deployment of software or business process outsourcing (BPO), will force SAP, Oracle and Infor and other developers are very proactive in providing additional deployment model."