Data gathering and analysis In the Traditional method - the one most companies were using till the advent of packaged software solutions (or ERP solutions) - Orgnizations made software according to their need the organizations used to develop computerized systems that were specifically made for them. So the applications that were used in one company could not be used in another, because they were made specifically for .that company and there was no in-built capability for customization. This kind of software development was very costly and was in one sense, re-inventing the wheel. The core or fundamental business practices are the same for all organizations, or at least for all organizations in the same business sector. So when companies developed their own information systems, they were developing same or similar systems - making and correcting the same mistakes - and spending huge amounts ot, money in that process.
Another drawback of these systems was that they did not have an integrated approach. There would be an accounting system for the Finance department, a production planning system for the manufacturing department, an inventory management system for the stores department and so on. All these systems would perform in isolation. If a person wanted some information, which had to be derived from any of these two systems, he has to get the necessary reports from both systems and the correlate and combine the data. But in reality, an organization cannot function as islands of different departments. The production planning data is required for the purchasing department. The purchasing details are required for the finance department and so on. If,all the information islands, which were functioning in isolation, were integrated into .a single system, then the impact of that would be dramatic. For example, if the purchase department can see the production planning details, then it can make the purchasing schedule. If the finance department can see the details of the purchasing schedule as soon as it is entered in the system, it can plan for the cash flow that will be necessary for the purchases.
Because the systems work in isolation, collecting and ,analyzing the data needed for their departments' functioning, especially getting. :information about some aspect that is dependent, on more than one departl1'1ent, is a difficult task. No business executive or decision-maker can take good ~ecisions with the isolated data that he gets from the various reports produced by,.,~ach department. Even if he collates the data and produces the information tt;lat he requires, he would have lost valuable time that could have been better sp~nt in decision making for that process.
What is needed therefore, is a system that treats thS organization as a single entity and caters to the information needs of the whole organization. If this is possible, and if the information that is generated is accurate, timely and relevant, then these systems will go a long way in helping the organization in realizing its goals.
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