subject: Get to Know About ERP? [print this page] What is ERP? ERP is the abbreviation of Enterprise Resource Planning, a computer software that when integrated, can help stream and distribute information within an organization. The information can be scattered all over in different units of the organization, however, the software is designed to be able to house them all into its system so that everyone within the organization is able to have an updated database of information. This way, the management will be able to make decisions based on the complete and updated data available at hand from the organization.
Before ERP was introduced, individual departments would have to update the data within their departments, report their data to the upper-level management, who would probably have to compile information from various departments to come up with the overall organization's decision on matters. At times, there would also be some exchange of data that does not meet the required standards, or is not synchronized, so lots of additional work will need to be done just to meet the common idea. In the end, the compiling and distributing process can take some time, which decreases productivity as other department's work would depend on the results of one department. Hence, performance and speed would be affected.
However, with the presence of ERP, these problems can be overcome. By centralizing all the data so that they can be accessed by other departments, efficiency and productivity is definitely increased. There is no need to fuss over formats because the format for the data is standardized across the organization with the system. All the data is structured in a way so that anyone can access to required information without going through the hassles of going department to department to attain it.
So, what is ERP to an organization? It is a life and time saver.
