It’s Time to Transform ERP into a Systems of Engagement

Given the slow rate of change in the usability and reach of ERP systems over the years, I’d now argue that we’re not going to see a major improvement in the design of ERP systems themselves. Instead, I now see that enterprises, which have invested enormous amounts in their existing enterprise systems, have little choice from most of the leading vendors. Instead, the typical ERP system should instead be augmented with the capabilities that will provide the full measure of value creation that was originally hoped for.

This illustrates a relatively common perspective on the usability of ERP software systems.  They are powerful, but hard to customize to suit new needs. The proposed solution here is to build your own customizable solutions right on top of what the ERP already offers.

Not every enterprise is beholden to massive systems such as these, but the need for customization and usability is universal.

Regardless of whether you are building on top of an expensive system or skipping the ERP altogether and just starting from scratch, the recommendations in this white paper by the same author provide some pretty good guidelines.

• Leverage mobile-enablement
• Focus on critical and repeatable tasks
• Simplify workflows
• Extend to the edges of the enterprise
• Predictive apps
• Leverage existing security and governance protocols