B. How Do Conventional Application Packages Differ From ERP Packages?
B. How Do Conventional Application Packages Differ From ERP Packages?
B. How Do Conventional Application Packages Differ From ERP Packages?
Ans. Installing an ERP system has many advantages – both direct and indirect.
The direct advantages include improved efficiency, information integration for better
decision making, faster response time to customer queries, etc. The indirect benefits
include better corporate image, improved customer Goodwill, customer satisfaction, and
so on. The following are some of the direct benefits of an ERP system:
• Business Integration
• Flexibility
• Better Analysis and Planning Capabilities
• Use of Latest Technology
Ans. The first answer to this question is that ERP packages cannot only handle
individual business functions such as accounts and inventory, but also the entire range of
business functions necessary for the company's operations. The second difference is that
ERP packages are targeted at everything from small businesses to the largest
organizations, and that they can be composed of a highly flexible decentralized database
and an information system cluster linked by a network. The third difference is global
adaptation, represented by ERP packages' multilingual and multi-currency capacity. In
the present day, when companies, irrespective of their size and market share, are
manufacturing and selling in various areas of the world, the globalisation of management
platforms is being hastened, along with the global adaptation of enterprise information
systems.
2. What are the limitations of ERP systems? What are the technologies used to overcome
these limitations. Explain each one of them in brief.
2. ERP systems provide current status only, such as open orders. Managers often need to
look past the current status to find trends and patterns that aid better decision-making.
3. The data in the ERP application is not integrated with other enterprise or division
systems and does not include external intelligence. There are many technologies that help
to overcome these limitations. These technologies, when used in conjunction with the
ROLL-NO-510286414 CENTRE-01976
NAME:-AHUJA PRAKASH DHANRAJ
MBAN-SEM-IV MI0029- SETI
ERP package, help in overcoming the limitations of a standalone ERP system and thus,
help the employees to make better decisions. Some of these technologies are:
• Business Process Reengineering (BPR)
• Management Information System (MIS)
• Decision Support Systems (DSS)
• Executive Information Systems (EIS)
• Data Warehousing
• Data Mining
• On-line Analytical Processing (OLAP)
• Supply Chain Management
• MIS caters to the information needs of all levels of management whereas data
processing systems focus on departmental-level support.
• Management's information needs are supported on a more timely basis with the
MIS (with its on-line query capability) than with a data processing system.
ROLL-NO-510286414 CENTRE-01976
NAME:-AHUJA PRAKASH DHANRAJ
MBAN-SEM-IV MI0029- SETI
.
Decision Support System (DSS)
Managers spend a lot of time and effort in gathering and analyzing information before
making decisions. Decision support systems were created to assist managers in this task.
Decision support systems are interactive information systems', that rely on an integrated
set of user friendly software and hardware tools, to produce and present information
targeted to support management in the decision-making process. On many occasions,
decision-makers can rely on their experience to make quality decisions. However,
decision-makers, especially at the top management levels, are often confronted with
complex decisions. The analysis of such complex decisions which involve many factors
can be difficult for a human being. These types of decisions, and the need for complex
information
analysis required for such decision-making, led to the evolution of decision support
systems. A DSS can help close the information gap and allow managers to improve the
quality 6f their decisions. To do this, the DSS hardware and software employ the latest
technological innovations, planning and forecasting models, 4th generation languages
and even artificial intelligence. In many cases, DSS facilitates the decision-making
process, helping the decision makers to choose between alternatives. Some decision
support systems can automatically rank the alternatives, based on the criteria given by the
decision-maker. DSS also help in removing the monotony and tedium of gathering and
analyzing data.
Data Warehousing
If operational data is kept in the databases of the ERP system, it can create a lot of
problems. As time passes, the amount of data will increase and this will affect the
performance of the ERP system. So it is better to archive the operational data once its use
is over. When I say 'the use is over', it does not mean that the archived data is useless. On
the contrary, it is one of the most valuable resources of the organization. However once
the operational use of the data is over, it should be removed from the operational
databases. For example, once the financial year is over, the daily transactional data can be
archived.
ROLL-NO-510286414 CENTRE-01976
NAME:-AHUJA PRAKASH DHANRAJ
MBAN-SEM-IV MI0029- SETI
Data Mining
We are living in the information age. The importance of collecting data that reflects ones
business, or of activities that achieve competitive advantage, are widely recognized now.
Powerful systems for collecting data and managing it in large databases are available in
most organizations. However, the major bottleneck of converting this data into effective
information is the difficulty faced in extracting knowledge about the system from the
collected data. Modeling the investigated system discovering relations that connect
variables in a database are the subjects of data mining. Data mining is the process of
identifying valid, novel, potentially useful and ultimately comprehensible information
from databases that is used to make crucial business decisions. Modern data mining
systems self learn from the previous history of the investigated system, formulating and
testing hypotheses about the rules, which the system obeys. When concise and valuable
knowledge about the system of interest has been discovered, it can and should be
incorporated into some decision support system which helps the manager make wise and
informed business decisions. The main reason for needing automated computer systems
for intelligent data analysis is the enormous volume of existing and newly appearing data
that require processing. The amount of data accumulated each day by various businesses,
scientific and governmental organizations around the world is daunting. Research
organizations, academic institutions and commercial organizations create and store huge
amounts of data each day. It becomes impossible for human analysts to cope with such
overwhelming amounts of data.
ROLL-NO-510286414 CENTRE-01976
NAME:-AHUJA PRAKASH DHANRAJ
MBAN-SEM-IV MI0029- SETI
ROLL-NO-510286414 CENTRE-01976
NAME:-AHUJA PRAKASH DHANRAJ