How the categories fit together.
WHAT ENTERPRISE RESOURCE PLANNING COVERS
Finance, inventory, purchasing, manufacturing and related operations, in one system.
WHAT CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT COVERS
Prospects, customers, sales activity and service.
WHAT HUMAN RESOURCE SYSTEMS COVER
Employee records, payroll, leave, recruitment and performance.
WHAT OTHER COMMON CATEGORIES ARE
Point of sale and retail Warehouse management Project and professional services management Field service Procurement Business intelligence
WHERE THE BOUNDARIES BLUR
Larger suites include several categories, and specialist products overlap at the edges.
WHY THAT CAUSES CONFUSION
The same word describes very different products.
WHAT DETERMINES WHAT YOU NEED
The processes that actually consume effort or cause errors.
WHAT NOT TO START FROM
A category name.
WHY
Buying an enterprise system because others have one produces expensive shelfware.
WHAT THE INTEGRATION QUESTION IS
Whether one suite covering several areas beats specialists connected together.
WHAT SUITES PROVIDE
Data shared without integration work.
WHAT SPECIALISTS PROVIDE
Better capability in their area.
WHAT TO DECIDE
Where depth matters, and where adequate is sufficient.
