Introduction
Integration has become the only way to go as many companies are now seeking ways through which their functions can be tailored under one system for easy management and control. Organizations have been able to invest heavily in making sure that systems in place are up to date and their departments are connected to one system that is fed with data from various sources. The keyword here is integration and how the same can positively transform how different organizations are going about their functions.
Customers and suppliers must be tackled from different perspectives but this must be done in a way that promotes the organization towards achieving goals that have been set. It, therefore, means that resource planning is part of the organization’s processes and the way in which it is done is likely to determine whether organizational objectives will be achieved or not.
There are challenges that might emerge along the way and as a result of that, there must be mechanisms through which the organization handles the problem that comes up when planning for resources within the organization. Enterprises are going to face several challenges when it comes to computing because systems have their own advantages and disadvantages. The focus of this paper will be on enterprise resource planning and various challenges that come with enterprise computing.
There are so many benefits that computing has brought to businesses but there are also challenges that have come up especially in terms of data security and the manner in which systems work. There is the likelihood that these systems are going to fail when least expected. The rationale behind the choice of the topic will be discussed as well as learning outcomes that accompany it.
Rationale
The main reason for choosing enterprise resource planning and challenges when it comes to enterprise computing is the manner in which the two are interconnected. Computing has become part and parcel of the modern-day to day running of different enterprises and as a result of that, the planning phase factors in so many things that are associated with computing. There must be a way through which the organization deals with the challenges of enterprise computing at its enterprise resource planning stage, and this is why understanding it is critical. The focus of this particular topic is on how different enterprise computing challenges can be identified and tackled through effective enterprise resource planning and the way in which this can lead to the achievement of organizational goals.
Discussion and learning Outcomes
There must be an enterprise resource plan that is already in place so as to guarantee effective implementation through different steps. It is a process of re-engineering systems that are being used within an organization as a way of promoting their effectiveness when it comes to the delivery of results. Critical planning and extensive change in the management style that is adopted by the company are important for better use of resources to take form within the organization. Enterprise Resource Planning software has been used in the past to make sure that desired results have been achieved through shaping systems in a manner that will increase the success of the entire organization. There are several benefits that are drawn from this particular approach and this is part of the learning outcome expected in the chapter.
Information systems have a key role to play in the manner in which an organization operates and as a result of that, enterprise resource planning tools must be ones that yield accurate data that can be used when it comes to making informed decisions (Frankel, 2013). Human resource, customer, and financial information should be obtained at one point and inventories reduced when an Enterprise Resource Planning tool is brought into use. There are several benefits that this is likely to lead to and one main one is the manner in which different systems will be integrated together for easy access to information that is relevant when it comes to decision-making. There is also a common layout in the manner in which data is produced from the system and this makes it easy for information users to be able to make sense out of it.
Improved internal communication within an organization is something that is important and as a result of that, there will be a need to ensure that this has been achieved. Enterprise Resource Planning tools can be used when it comes to coordinating communication systems within the organization because of the manner in which they have been centralized (Martin & Leben, 2005). This is the proper foundation for future improvements because organization dynamics are likely to change from time to time as a result of the nature of the business environment.
The movement of information from one channel to the other must be swift and effective as a way of making sure that decisions that are made are timely and as part of the learning outcome in this chapter, the role that integration plays in making this possible has been discussed. Improved customer relationship is also a benefit as a result of the implementation of this strategy.
There are challenges that are associated with enterprise computing and one of them is the lack of technical capabilities when it comes to making sure that desired objectives have been achieved. Enterprise computing requires heavy investment in resources such as hardware and training and it is important that all enterprises have the capability to make this possible (Shan & Earle, 2008). There is also a problem of inconsistencies with the current business processes and this is because they have not been tailored to suit the needs of different businesses as far as their goals are concerned. They are therefore supposed to ensure that they have customized them to meet their demands and sometimes this might be wrongly done. Processes within an organization must be clearly understood before customizing and this is the reason why enterprise computing can be sometimes challenging.
The other challenge has to do with the cost involved when it comes to making sure that everything is up and running in system development (Simon, 2012). There are so many things that have to be budgeted for and as a result of that, information systems become expensive to acquire and maintain due to the cost involved. A change in employee responsibility is also felt within the organization and this is because of the way in which the impact of implementing this system is felt within the organization.
Proper training has to be undertaken so that employees become acquainted with the new system and this takes time before it is fully operational. There have also been problems with the flexibility of the system and the manner in which it accepts changes that occur from time to time. It becomes hard when new processes have to be factored into this system and the same cannot happen because of the manner in which it has been tailored.
Enterprise computing is something that has taken shape in the past two decades as a result of the need to computerize systems so as to make work easier. Decision-making processes within any given organization heavily rely on information that has been gathered from different sub-systems within the organization (Schur, 2004). Enterprise Resource Planning is a tool that can be used by different organization to make sure that decisions that are made as far as company resource planning is effective.
There are several benefits that are associated with the use of this particular tool such as the integration of information from different sources and the way it promotes effective communication within a given organization. There are also challenges that come with the use of these systems as well as the cost that is involved in the process of acquiring and maintaining them.
In conclusion, Enterprise Resource Planning tools are effective in the decision-making process because of the manner in which they make work easier but at the same time present a big challenge to organizations especially when it comes to decision making. Enterprise computing itself in general looks appealing and because of the competition that has characterized the world of business today, each organization is in the process of adopting better systems that might promote efficiency in the way data is being handled. There are also issues with the security of data stored and transmitted within these systems and how it can be compromised at any given point thus presenting a greater risk to the entire enterprise.
References
Frankel, D. (2013). Model-driven architecture applying MDA to enterprise computing. Indianapolis, Ind.: Wiley.
Martin, J., & Leben, J. (2005). Client/server databases: enterprise computing. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall PTR.
Schur, S. G. (2004). The database factory: active database for enterprise computing. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Shan, Y., & Earle, R. H. (2008). Enterprise computing with objects: from client/server environments to the Internet. Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley.
Simon, A. R. (2012). Enterprise computing. New York: Bantam Books.