When he turned 21, he started spending time with a new crowd. They encouraged him to join an exercise program, helping him increase his strength and flexibility.
And as he spent more time with them, he began taking his studies far more seriously, especially as it related to analytics.
But first, there was the party – attended by top industry executives.
We are talking above about not a person, but a process – Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) – and I apologize for choosing to personify it as a ‘he’ – rather than as ‘he or she.’
This week marks ERP’s 21st birthday – and ERP software vendors (those who have helped to raise this process from the beginning) – are celebrating with a mix of pride and apprehension.
Let’s explore why by establishing who this ‘new crowd’ is with whom our process is spending time. A recent article published to ZDNet Asia indicates that it’s midsized manufacturing organizations – companies whose very livelihood depends on real-time operational efficiency.
“Midsize companies are no longer as interested in pursuing major ERP brands as part of their growth strategy,” comments John Brand, vice president of research, Springboard Research, in the same ZDNet article cited above. “Vendors that are more nimble and flexible are now favored by this market segment, as are integration strategies that revolve around business intelligence (BI), reporting and analytics.”
The pride we ERP software vendors feel is vast – as our products are now being trusted to take on a much larger role in the aggressive economic growth of manufacturing organizations. The natural apprehension we may feel is that these organizations will be drawn more predominantly to software capabilities, rather than the name or reputation of the vendor. And while this offers far greater benefit to manufacturing organizations, it means that we must always dedicate ourselves to improving and evolving our offerings.
In a previous post discussing ERP legacy software, I detail recent improvements to Enterprise Resource Planning software that the solution I represent – Microsoft Dynamics - is committed to – including:
- Growing status as both a System of Record and a System of Engagement
- Enhanced ability to integrate with Product Lifecycle Management (PLM)
- Assimilation and analysis of data from consumer-oriented technologies, including social media
(Note – thanks to Jeff Moad of Manufacturing Executive, for a recent article that helped to illustrate and further define the importance of the points above.)
If you are part of the new crowd that will be attending ERP’s 21st, I encourage you to learn more about our commitment to providing you with software that will not just support – but help boost – your economic growth.
At the form to the right, you may download an article I contributed recently to Prime Magazine on the concept of PLM / ERP integration. And of course, if you’re ready to get started with a Microsoft Dynamics demo, please feel free to contact me directly via the STAEDEAN website.
Luciano Cunha
