Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems were initially confined to the transactional and supply chain management levels of business, the two lowest levels in the IT equivalent of Maslow`s Hierarchy of Needs. The opportunity to add customer relationship management (CRM) and knowledge management (KM) tools was seized by specialist software companies filling the gap that had been neglected by the ERP vendors.
Companies such as Siebel in the CRM space and Cognos or Business Objects in the broadly defined business intelligence (BI) space adopted this `best of breed` approach. It worked reasonably well in the large enterprise space where companies not only had the IT budget, but also the expertise to develop and maintain the necessary links to the underlying transactional data sitting in the ERP systems.
Unfortunately, this approach was not successful in the mid-market space. These systems, if implemented, became ungainly add-ons that were difficult to maintain and almost impossible to keep up to date. In fact, what happened was that separate islands of information were created.
Within its evolution, ERP systems have overcome the challenges of providing bug-free transactional systems and have solved the complications of communication inherent in supply chain management, thus turning their talents to further enhance core systems. This was done by embracing both CRM and BI as natural extensions to an ERP system. Many vendors quick-started the process by acquiring existing products and then focusing on providing true "hands-free" integration to their ERP modules. ACCPAC International was one of the first through its acquisition of eWare - a Dublin-based company with an Internet-based CRM solution. We have also recently seen the ultimate demonstration of this trend in the acquisition of Siebel by Oracle.
Similar developments have taken place in the field of BI. In Accpac`s case it was through an OEM agreement to provide Accpac Insight, an Excel-based BI solution. Interestingly enough, the giants of the BI industry such as Business Objects, Cognos and SAS remain independent.
What these developments mean to the mid-market is significant. Companies now have access to "out of the box" CRM and knowledge management systems that are fully integrated to the underlying ERP system. The mid-market can not only afford to purchase these systems, but more importantly can easily maintain them going forward. Previously only the realms of large enterprises, mid-market companies now also have the luxury of a powerful CRM and BI solution that meets their specific needs.
Looking forward, the convergence of BI and enterprise reporting is another vital step towards the long-awaited widespread business software integration. Taking it a step further, BI will support the growth and success of business process management (BPM). Fairly new to South Africa, BPM is defined by Gartner as "a management practice that provides for governance of a business` process environment toward the goal of improving agility and operational performance".
BPM provides adequate visibility into a business, enabling it to rapidly respond to market opportunities. Underpinned by an organisation`s ERP, CRM, KM and BI systems, BPM is vital to the future success of an organisation and represents the next step in the evolution of business software.
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