The Y2K problem threatened business organizations at the turn of the millennium in 1999. The technological disaster however never occurred and it was a relief to many organizations, some of which never took the initiative to back up their data in case of the system failure. 20 years later, it is still not too late for organizations to safeguard their systems using the latest software such as ERP solutions. ERP refers to Enterprise Resource Planning software that is used to integrate an organization’s data so as to provide easy communication between departments and better storage and retrieval of information (Glenn, 2008). My organization has in the past used basic database systems to store data such that each department uses its own private database. This has made it difficult to share data and pass information since the systems were not linked. We, therefore, require an ERP system to link data between the various departments since the organization has doubled in size.
There are four ERP vendors that are well known to provide reliable services globally. These include SAP, Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics ERP, Infor Global Solutions, and QAD (Robb, 2012). SAP is the largest ERP vendor followed by Oracle and then the rest follow. For this reason, it would be appropriate for the organization to consider buying an ERP solution package from either SAP or Oracle given that they are already well established in the market and easy to find support. Our organization requires a vendor who is readily available in case of any problems since it will be our first time to implement an ERP solution.
Comparing the two ERP vendors, SAP provides products for both large and small-sized businesses. In our case, we would go for the SAP Business One product which has already been implemented in over 35,500 companies (Robb, 2012). This product would be useful in the following areas in our organization: finance, operations, sales, and customer relationship management. This product would also be cost-effective since it costs as low as $4000 which includes licensing and implementation costs. The charges are also fixed and this would help our organization budget in advance and achieve a valuable return on investment.
On the other hand, Oracle products are geared towards handling the following organizational areas: finance, governance, customer relationship management, project management, risk, and compliance. Their products enable customers to benefit from the latest technological developments and so this would ensure that our organization is updated with the latest trends in ICT. Oracle provides the Oracle E-Business Suite which is an ERP solution tailor-made to suit business needs. With Oracle, we will be able to get a system that can suit the IT and business strategy of our organization.
Therefore, it makes business sense for our organization to purchase an ERP solution at this time because of its growth. The increased number of employees and revenue over the last twenty years is an indication of the need for better information handling systems. We are in need of faster, easier and more reliable software systems so as to enable us to serve our customers better and improve productivity. The current business environment is competitive and so the ERP solutions will give us a competitive advantage as opposed to our competitors. The ERP solutions will safeguard our database systems from the risks of loss, damage, or infringement by outsiders and so provide a return on investment in the long run.
References
Glenn, G. (2008). ERP 100 success secrets: enterprise resource planning 100 success secrets–100 most asked questions : the missing ERP software, systems, solutions, applications and implementations guide. Newstead, Emereo Publishing.
Robb, D. (2012). SMB ERP Buying Guide for Oracle, Microsoft and SAP. Web.