Page 196 - DCAP302_ENTERPRISE_RESOURCE_PLANNING

Enterprise Resource Planning

notes 11.3 What the future Holds for erp?

Before speaking about the future of ERP it is important to remember the history of ERP in order
to keep a track on the developments that happened gradually. ERP evolved from manufacturing
resource planning (which originated from material resource planning).The functioning of ERP
has gained much prominence and utility with the intervention of web enabled and open source
technologies.
ERP II the latest advancement in ERP software deserves special mention. In this context it becomes
important to analyze the direction in which ERP is geared to progress or will ERP diminish in
the future etc…

Some of the points requiring attention are as follows:
1. Current Level: ERP has undoubtedly become an important business application to all
industries. It has almost become a must for all organizations irrespective of the type of
business manufacturing or service. If companies feel that coordination and enterprise
communication are their only problems they don’t have any other alternative but to go for
ERP, provided they want to make profits and remove the existing setbacks.
Needles to say ERP has helped companies in monetary and non-monetary aspects if they
are keen in utilizing it to the core and take the necessary steps to overcome the setbacks.
However ERP needs lot of improvement (this statement included the latest versions also).
ERP is an effective application. It will be great if one can bring an ERP system that id
devoid of the drawbacks from the existing ones. The latest intrusions namely open source
and web enabled technologies has increased the effectiveness of the application. However
they are not enough (technically speaking). ERP applications should be designed to make
the maximum use of internet so that the user can access data from any part of the world just
by a click of the mouse. This has further deepened the future of ERP. ERP’s future is yet to
reach saturation.
2. Market Forecasting: Formerly ERP was purely restricted to fortune 500 companies, in the
sense only they could afford to invest on them. This put the small and Medium Industries
at a large disadvantage. They were not able to make use of the application to gain the
necessary benefits. ERP’s future seemed to be dooming on them.
However this drawback has been removed after the intervention of open source facilities.
The concept of outsourcing has helped in removing the difficulties faced by small and
medium enterprises. Hence a large potential for ERP still exists in the S.M.E. market.
The ERP vendors can target this market effectively. However both the vendor and the
companies in this segment have to remember that there are lot of competition in this sector
and one is not likely to succeed unless he serves the best product.
3. The International Scenario, Employment and Education: ERP has thrown open
opportunities for many companies to trade with foreign counter parts in the name of
outsourcing, implementation and deployment of the existing ones. It has contributed lot to
the economy .Academics also boast its own share of ERP relations.

It has promoted lot of employment and educational opportunities. India happens to be a key
beneficiary in this aspect.

Conclusion

The future of ERP holds an undisputed demand not only in the national level but also at the
global level. If the technology can be improvised to the desired ext

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