Enterprise Resource Planning
Interested in implementing a new enterprise resource planning (ERP) system for your business? Want to customize it for your human resources, finance, sales and business processes? GCG provides ERP consulting, customization and implementation services. Call 877-708-8900 to speak with an ERP expert.
ERP, or enterprise resource planning, is a modular software system designed to integrate the main functional areas of an organization’s business processes into a unified system.
An ERP system includes core software components, often called modules, that focus on essential business areas such as finance and accounting, HR, production and materials management, customer relationship management (CRM), and supply chain management. Organizations choose which core modules to use based on which are most important to their particular business.
ERP implementation options include on-premises, cloud and a mix of the two, called hybrid, such as with platform as a service and infrastructure as a service. Although ERP has historically been associated with expensive, end-to-end implementations, cloud versions now enable easier deployments, which SMBs are taking advantage of in greater numbers.
Some ERP systems also offer next-generation capabilities, such as AI, IoT and advanced analytics, to foster digital transformation. Businesses typically turn to an ERP system when they outgrow spreadsheets and disparate, often siloed software systems and need the unifying capabilities of an ERP system to enable growth. As with many technology products, the specific definition of what constitutes ERP can vary widely from vendor to vendor.
Benefits of ERP Systems
ERP offers a number of benefits, most of which come from information sharing and standardization. Because ERP components can share data more easily than disparate systems, they can make cross-departmental business processes easier to manage on a daily basis.
They can also enable better insights from data, especially with the newer technologies that many ERP systems are including, such as powerful analytics, machine learning, and industrial IoT capabilities.
Many consider ERP software to be a requirement for enterprises — especially for core business functions such as finance — and the same is arguably true for growing SMBs.
The sheer volume of data that companies generate, along with the complexity of the global business landscape and modern consumer demands, has made streamlining business processes and managing and optimizing data increasingly critical. An ERP software system is typically at the core of such capabilities.