December 2011 - erpandmore.com

ERP Social Media Trends

An interesting discussion on ERP social media was raised on a webinar the other day. The topic of the discussion was how companies are building out their knowledge bases for their constituent communities. Specifically, how do you share captured knowledge to people external to an organization?

This lead to a discussion of the methods of communication that people use now. These methods, as you know, are typically through portals, email, and more-and-more are focusing on social media, such as Facebook and Twitter.

Most 18-year-olds today do not use the phone. Rather the prefer to only use text or Instant Message (IM) as their way of communicating. Customer service and help desks need to accomidate these new technologies. ERP and CRM tools needs to evolve to support the move towards social media as a communication channel. There is suddenly a wave to move towards a socialization of business communication, as well as business to consumer messaging.

ERP Social Media is happening now

There are now cases where entire companies are losing their email system in support of a social media style of communication. It is instant, open, secure, and adds value beyond traditional email. Can you imagine email being called a legacy application? Well it is becoming one.

Software such as Salesforce.com (a cloud based CRM) is now focusing heavily in social media as the conduit for business communications. Their Chatter tool is a secure, internally facing, twitter-like application that provides instant user communication and notification on key business events from data updates. Users can choose who and what to follow.

Businesses are moving to ERP Social Media tools. Companies such as Bank of America are using twitter as a support desk tool, with twitter feeding their case management solution and replies posted on the case show up as direct messages to the twitter user. This is one example of how public and ERP social media tools are merging together.

With the use of open APIs (interfaces), Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, and other types of ERP based applications can be merged with ERP Social Media.

For example, an HR department could use Linkedin as a direct source for their candidate recruitment efforts and pull date directly into their HRMIS solution.

Moving from Legacy to ERP Social Media

With most mainstream ERP software solutions, the source of the data is human data input. EDI, once the method of electronic communications to a Purchasing system are so out of date, yet persistently remain. Eventually we may likely see it evolve to some sort of XML SOAP message initiated by a user perhaps even in the form of a Tweet.

Most output is in the forms of reports or perhaps an email to a user. ERP business systems will need to be udpated to include posting a tweet or a similar ERP Social Media message to notify users of business events.

ERP solutions need to quickly move to this new messaging format. Most traditional ERP systems do not use text messages as a data source, much less even a Twitter post.

This needs to change quickly to support the next generation of students and users. Kids entering college will graduate in four short years. When they enter the workplace, they will find creative ways to make ERP Social Media work for them, with or without the support of the ERP software vendors.

We welcome your comments on this topic as it will soon become a real issue in enterprise business software.

Open Source ERP or Managed Services? Finding the right solution for your business needs

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software is an essential component for any businesses, irrespective of the size or industry. An ERP solution enables a business to automate, integrate, and streamline business processes, thereby making operations more efficient. A business may choose to implement either an Open Source ERP or go with a managed services provider, depending on the resources that are at their disposal.

Below is a brief comparison showing the pros and cons of the two options.

The Pros of Open Source ERP vs. Managed ERP Services

Accessibility:

Open Source ERP software is easily accessible, since you can download from the internet, at no cost. For this reason, even the small and medium sized business that had no access previously, have a chance to try out ERP software.

Commercial ERP software must be purchased from the vendor. The vendor will then issue licenses and terms for its use, normally forbidding any form of distribution. For this reason, the software is only made available to those companies that are able to pay, in order to use it.

Cost:

Open source ERP software is available online, free of charge. Therefore, no acquisition, implementation, or licensing costs are necessary. In addition, the developers or third parties make every effort to have documentation and training tutorials, which users can download and use for implementing the system, as well as training their employees. However, third parties may charge a small fee, in order to access their documentation and tutorials.

On the other hand, managed ERP services are quite costly, thus making them out of reach for most small and medium-sized enterprises. Some of these costs include the software acquisition costs, licensing costs, employee training costs, and professional fees.

Scalability:

Open Source ERP is scalable. For this reason, the solution caters for the needs of both small and medium businesses, as well as large enterprises.

Commercial ERP solutions, on the other hand, are designed with the large businesses in mind. Therefore, they will tend to be more complex and have features that cannot be implemented or be applicable for the small business.

Flexibility:

With Open Source software, everyone has access to the source code. In addition, anyone has the right to modify or tamper with the code, provided it is done in accordance with the software agreement. As such, a business has the opportunity to implement some features, or customize the system to meet individual needs of the business.

Commercial ERP software does not allow for any modifications. The license agreement strictly prohibits tampering with the code, and gives all the rights to the respective vendors. Therefore, the vendor must be contacted to undertake any modifications that may be required.

The Cons of Open Source ERP vs. Managed ERP Services

Support:

The greatest disadvantage of using Open Source ERP is the fact that the business has to independently, manage its ERP system. Therefore, no technical or professional support is available. As such, a business is forced to manage, backup, and even troubleshoot their system. In extreme cases, a business might need to hire the services of a competent professional to manage the system internally.

With managed services, the business gets to enjoy various additional services from the vendor. These services may include hosting, backup and recovery, troubleshooting, and regular updates.

Features:

In as much as the developers of Open Source ERP will make every effort to include all the major features that are found in the commercial ERP systems, it is common to find some important features missing. Usually, Open Source software is developed, as a result team effort, relying on the input of volunteers with specialized skill in the various areas involved. Therefore, lack of such skilled personnel results in certain features being left out. Apart from this, the funds that are required to develop and test some the features may lack.

On the other hand, companies that have sufficient resources, in terms of funds and skilled manpower, develop the commercially managed systems. This ensures that all the required features are included.

Overall, the Open Source ERP system has its advantages and disadvantages over the managed service. However, the fact that the commercial solution is out of reach for many small and medium-sized businesses makes the Open Source ERP a viable solution to streamline their business processes.

Made2Manage ERP Software Review

For many years we have run across Made2Manage ERP software. Its longevity is a testimonial to its ability to deliver value in many manufacturing companies. Manufacturers around the world use this program. It is ideal in a small to mid-sized organization. Let’s look a little deeper how Made2Manage ERP Software.

Developed to help optimize business processes for companies within mixed mode environments, Made2Manage ERP is a very best fit intended for small and medium-sized firms engaged in industrial machines, electronic devices, and manufacturing. The program can be deployed and leveraged by organizations working concurrently together with make-to-order, make-to-stock, and engineer-to-order procedures.

Made2Manage ERP Software Value

Scheduling and planning, actual costing, shop floor management and tracking features, and intergrated , with SolidWorks are all significant components of the system. Setup possibilities are abundant with Made2Manage at the same time, allowing for strong versatility. Integration with SolidWorks and Microsoft Outlook is an additional benefit of Made2Manage. The system can ship from work in process and deliver complete business intelligence reports with the choice to drill down to specific situational data.

Made2Manage ERP is powerful, including various other benefit with it support for customer relationship management (CRM) and client communication, whiteboards for scheduling, the bill of material constructing abilities, and item master maintenance functions. Customers of Made2Manage can substantially increase the visibility they’ve got over enterprise operations by utilizing this software along with materials management, manufacturing management, and financial accounting.

Traditional workflow processes are also provided, such as job orders, General Ledger, quality control, and shipping/receiving. Made2Manage has been used by companies to maximize profits, increase agility, and maintain customer satisfaction for approximately 20 years. The program is meant to coordinate all business functions within the firm. Made2Manage is continually being enhanced regarding customer feedback and requests. Various consulting, IT and business services are offered to customers of Made2Manage.

Getting More information on Made2Manage ERP Software

If you would like more information on the Made2Manage ERP Software, please visit Software Advice to learn more and to arrange a no-obligation demo or get a price quote.

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