In recent years, ERP systems have become the standard in all areas of business. Today there is no clear, generally accepted definition of ERP. You can find different definitions of this class of solutions, as well as many synonyms: integrated enterprise management systems (EMS), automated enterprise management systems (EMS).

Let's try to answer the question: “ERP - what is it and what is it for?”

What is an ERP system

ERP stands for Enterprise Resources Planning, that is, “ enterprise resource planning" The Russian translation of the abbreviation does not help to immediately understand the essence of the term, so let’s turn to history.

The spread of personal computers in the 80-90s of the last century opened up wide automation opportunities for businesses. Software solutions have replaced manual labor and paper in accounting tasks, warehouse accounting, document flow, and monitoring the operation of technological equipment.

Important features of the new approach were not only the transfer of data into digital data, new opportunities for transmitting and analyzing information, but also the integration of data flows of different nature. Now top management and heads of departments received a complete picture of the enterprise’s work, the ability to analyze production load, warehouse stocks and financial flows. Based on this data, more informed decisions were made, and it became possible to effectively plan resources.

This approach to organization information systems at the enterprise it was called ERP, and application solutions for its implementation began to be called EPR systems. Perhaps this is the simplest and most comprehensive answer to the frequently asked question: “CRM, ERP - what is it?”

You will be surprised, but automation programs accounting, project management, HR applications - all these are components of the ERP system, its basic functions. Customer relationship management systems, or CRM (customer relationship management systems), are also part of ERP.

However, today the listed functional systems are rarely classified as ERP. This is because accounting, project management, CRM and some other functions have become popular as independent software modules. Indeed, many companies use only electronic accounting, and the remaining data is simply entered into Excel.

Arguing about whether accounting and CRM should be classified as ERP or considered as separate solutions is a thankless task. Let's leave it to market analysts. It is obvious that the trend towards automation is increasing every year. The listed systems will only gain popularity: sales of licenses and the volume of implementation services will increase.

Why implement ERP?

ERP systems help solve monitoring and planning problems. In addition, they speed up the work of each department and specific employees. Here are the results of some ERP implementations:

• top management can at any time get an idea of ​​the current situation or analyze the company’s activities for a selected period;
• the time spent on routine operations has been reduced by an order of magnitude, and the risks associated with the human factor have also been reduced;
• the company received a logical and transparent document flow;
• every employee and manager has information (and only what is really necessary).

ERP systems immediately reduce the cost of servicing production and business processes. In the long term, a positive effect is achieved due to the fact that strategic decisions are made more carefully. A business without an ERP system can be compared to a driver who drives a car with his eyes closed.

The enterprise resource management system is not only the driver’s vision, but also the summary data of all devices, recorded and taken into account in a single system. ERP is the control of the interaction of engine mechanisms and systems over time, thanks to which the driver can easily determine when to slow down and where to accelerate to achieve maximum results.

The feasibility of implementing ERP systems

If ERP systems are so good, then the natural question is: why today have not all enterprises carried out total informatization, and many are generally limited to only electronic accounting?

The reason is this. For an ERP system to be effective, it must take into account the business processes of the enterprise as clearly as possible. Some companies simply cannot formalize their business processes due to poor business culture. Others find it difficult to decide to make any changes in their activities, especially if “everything is working the way it is.”

In any case, the process of implementing custom ERPs is neither quick nor cheap. In addition to money, it also requires the time of key managers. And if the wrong logic is built into the system, then automation can negatively affect both the company’s performance and employee morale. That is, during implementation it is important to attract experienced and competent specialists. It may actually make more sense for some companies to continue working in Excel.

Types and components of an ERP system

ERP systems as large integrated systems can be classified according to the following criteria:

1. Universal platforms and industry systems. Industry systems are focused on specific business processes. This means that they either have special modules (for example, for calculating orders in printing houses), or standard functions in them have their own characteristics (for example, at distilleries, parallel warehouse accounting of products converted into alcohol is maintained). Universal platforms are rarely sold “as is” because there are no typical businesses. And they, as a rule, are also customized for a specific client and his business processes.
2. Systems for managing holdings and individual enterprises. Everything is simple here. There are solutions for one business entity and complex systems that combine and transmit data across a network of enterprises. Regardless of the type of ERP, the characteristic delivery components include software modules that implement the functions of financial, accounting, customer relationship management (CRM), human resources (HR), sales, supply chain, production and production assets, and planning. A common ERP functionality is project management. At the top level, modules are created for the company's top management that aggregate information from lower levels and from individual departments. Here, management reporting is generated, which helps make the right decisions. In conclusion, we note that optimization and control of business processes are an urgent need when conducting any commercial activity. The best proof the need and effectiveness of ERP systems is the positive dynamics that companies that have gone through the path of successful implementation begin to demonstrate.

Our clients in the field of creation and implementation of ERP systems are such large companies as: Federal State Unitary Enterprise Research Institute "Voskhod", LLC "Transstroymekhanizatsiya", NGK "ITERA", subsidiaries of the holding "Itera", LLC "MDK", and many others. In total, our services are used by over 300 medium and large businesses in Moscow and the Moscow region, as well as more than 10 large enterprises in the regions of Russia. Our corporate information systems development department has over 50 highly professional employees (programmers, managers, developers, etc.). The department, in turn, is divided into divisions (departments and groups) depending on the platform for the IS architecture (Oracle, 1C, Microsoft, and others) and the purpose of the information system (CRM, ERP, Cloud Technologies, document management systems, ITSM, SaaS, and others ). Thus, we are ready to offer our clients not only a wide selection of different platforms for creating ERP systems, but also many different system approaches to solving the company’s IT problems.

For a start-up business we recommend ERP solutions atOpen-Source platforms, the implementation and price of this kind of solution is acceptable for any level of business; due to the open source code, the functionality of the program can be improved even on your own. We do not indicate platforms, since there are a huge number of them, and downloading an ERP module for free from the Internet will not be difficult, however, every “shareware” solution on the Open Source platform cannot be instantly integrated into the workflow; it requires modification of the program code, and Ideally, for normal performance, ERP should be created from scratch based on the database that the customer has.

For small and medium-sized enterprises and companies we recommend staying at platform 1C for the integration of ERP applications - the functionality is quite wide, implementation is relatively fast, the platform is “Russified” (more precisely, created by domestic developers, due to which the main language is Russian) and integrates perfectly with other solutions from 1C.

For large enterprises we recommend platformOracle for the development of ERP systems, as it allows you to create complex personalized solutions, ranging from basic ERP functions to the construction of complex models and processes. At the same time, the Oracle platform, with the right choice of hardware, allows you to achieve the best performance today. ITERANET is also ready to act as an integrator (supplier) of technical solutions when implementing an ERP system. Read more about Oracle ERP implementation in the following sections.

You can also leave a preliminary application with your comments and wishes regarding the ERP system, you will be assigned a personal manager who will contact you as soon as possible.

What is ERP?

ERP stands for Enterprise Resource Planning, in Russian “enterprise resource planning”. This is a fairly broad concept, and a fairly wide range of programs that can be classified as such systems. However, a distinctive feature of all ERP systems from other systems is their focus on the integrated organizational component of the system, which allows not only to manage financial management, assets, labor resources, production operations in one software solution, but also to keep records and optimize all business processes of the company, create models of processes and their solutions. ERP is a general definition, while an ERP system is a finished product that allows you to solve all the problems described above.

It is worth understanding that there are no ready-made ERP systems; the specifics are that even companies from the same industry have different staff, different financial transactions, different approaches to sales and purchasing, supply chains and solutions. The theory and practice of ERP originated in 1990, and appeared on the basis of two other methods: MRP II and CIM.

MRPII is the “second” version of the materials requirements planning system. MRP ("first version") stands for Material Requirements Planning, in Russian translation “materials requirements planning”. The entire logistics industry is based primarily on the MRP concept, while this concept appeared back in 1950, and within 20-30 years it became outdated, since it did not contain a very important point, namely “reducing the cost” of supply chains. This “theory” reached Russia too late, so there are no software solutions in domestic business based on material requirements planning. The main task MRP is planning the supply of materials, creating chains of transportation and transition of one task to another, transferring the production schedule into the so-called “chain of requirements”, planning requirements, synchronizing the company’s actions over time. MRP 2 (MRP II) is actually the same as “planning”, except for the first and second words - in the second version, material was replaced by manafucturing, and requirements was replaced by “resource”. Even in the very concept of the two concepts, the difference is visible: the first MRP involved only planning of material requirements, while the second MRP required planning of production resources. MRP II is a planning strategy that includes both financial and operational planning. The main foundation here is monetary planning. MRP II includes the following stages (they should also be present in ERP practice):

• Sales and Operation Planning (SOP);
• demand management (Demand Management - DM);
• modeling (English version - Simulation);
• input/output control (I/OC);
• level management production workshop(Shop Floor Control - SFC);
• distribution resource planning (Distribution Resource Planning - DRP);
• product specification (Bill of Materials - BM);
• drawing up a production plan (Master Production Scheduling - MPS);
• performance measurement (PM);
• planning of material requirements (Material Requirement Planning - MRS);
• warehouse management (Inventory Transaction Subsystem - ITS);
• scheduled deliveries (Scheduled Receipts Subsystem - SRS);
• capacity planning (Capacity Requirement Planning - CRP);
• logistics or MTS (English version - Purchasing);
• planning and control of production operations (Tooling Planning and Control - TPC);
• financial management (Financial Planning - FP).

Concept of ERP and ERP systems

ERP(English abbreviation of the words EnterpriseResourcePlanning, translated as “enterprise resource planning”) is a systemic and organizational strategy for combining various areas of the production process and its management, such as asset management of production and financial operations, human resources management, organization of financial management, and at the same time this process is focused on constant balancing and maximum optimization of all available resources of a given enterprise using a specially developed general package of application software programs that can create and display a general data model and maintain all necessary processes for all areas of activity of the enterprise where this system is used. An ERP system is a specific software package that optimizes and helps implement the overall strategy ERP.

History of ERP development

This ERP system and concept was proposed and formulated by analyst Gartner in the 90th year of the 20th century. It represented a vision of the evolution of the MRP II and CIM techniques. (from the beginning to the mid-90s of the 20th century, a small number of successfully sold ERP systems appeared on the information products market), which were actively in demand by large organizations and business structures. Among such information packages, the most famous were the developments of the Dutch company Baan, also companies SAP, Oracle, JDEdwards(part of Oracle), PeopleSoft. Thus, a market for services for the implementation of ERP systems into business systems began to form. The bulk of information packages were offered by Big Four companies. But already in the first years of the 21st century, there was a merger of suppliers of these products, which produced a significant number of ERP systems for all forms of ownership for both small and medium-sized businesses. Today, the most famous manufacturers of this software are companies SageGroup And Microsoft .
To date the implementation of an ERP system is a necessary condition for the activities of any public company. In this regard, since the late 90s of the last century, ERP systems have been a prerequisite for the successful operation of any industrial enterprise, and today these software systems are used by almost all large organizations, regardless of their form of ownership, in all countries of the world, and in all industries.

History of the development and creation of ERP systems

Abbreviation ERP was introduced at one time by a famous analyst Gartner LeeWiley in 1990, in the process of researching the development of production resource planning for large enterprises. Wiley, on the basis of logical conclusions, came to the conclusion that it is necessary to create multi-user systems that can be produced in large quantities, that can ensure optimal management of all available resources of the enterprise, and also cover the entire field of activity of a given organization, which relates to both the main activities aimed at release of the final product, as well as coordinating the process of purchasing raw materials, marketing the final product, moving the finances of the enterprise, and of course the personnel involved in the production cycle.

At the very beginning of the 90s, this concept became widely known with the support of large manufacturers of application software systems. These were software systems SAPR/3, which were released in 1992. An expanded enterprise materials management package was also released SAPR/2. Company OracleApplications, creates in these years, based on a software package of its own development in the late 80s, its own product based on the integration and reengineering of previously released applications.

Already closer to the mid-90s of the 20th century, a market for the implementation of ERP systems was practically formed. At the same time, both the manufacturers of this software and numerous consulting companies provided consulting services and further promotion of the systems. For comparison in the company AndersenConsulting in 1996, more than three thousand consultants were involved in the implementation of the system R/3, in company SAP- about 2800 consultants worked in PricewaterhouseCoopers there were 1800 of them, and the company Deloitte& Touche 1,400 people are involved in promoting this information product. If we take the figures from the late 90s, then from 50 thousand R/3-10% of consultants worked in SAP.

By the end of '98 the company PricewaterhouseCoopers, describing the picture of the ERP systems market, used a new lexical phrase to more accurately characterize the process - BOPSE, which determined the main suppliers ERP. These were Oracle, SAP, Baan, Peoplesoft, and company JDEdwards. Of course, there were other players in the market for the provision and implementation of ERP systems, such as QAD, Lawson, RossandSolomon, GreatPlains, but at the same time they were non-BOPSE.

According to the state of affairs, by 1998, approximately 60% of all transnational corporations to systematize and optimize your activities implementedSAPR/3.

At the very beginning of the 90s, ERP systems were mainly implemented in industry by machine-building enterprises as systems that implement MRPII component, but already starting Since the second half of the 90s, the implementation of ERP systems has become widespread. It (implementation) has become especially noticeable in the service sector, also by numerous energy sales companies, as well as telecommunications enterprises. ERP systems began to be implemented non-profit organizations, as well as government authorities.
At the same time, due to a significant increase in the number of modules and applications in ERP systems, as well as the expansion of their functionality, the attitude towards ERP systems as global software for organizations of all types of activities began to change. At the same time, this information product begins to replace other application programs aimed at solving similar problems, but not having all the capabilities of ERP.

By the beginning of 2000 in the packageERPadditional functions are introducedCRMAndPLM. These applications can be considered as standalone and universal systems for back-office processes and also as a resource management system. In addition, the capabilities of CRM systems allow you to manage external relationships between the enterprise and the front office, and the PLM software package allows you to manage the intellectual property of the enterprise or other person who established it.

With the global expansion of the Internet and the practical development of the functionality of Internet resources and web browsers at the turn of the 90s and early 00s, all major Manufacturers have re-equipped ERP systems with the ability to connect to the Internet. One of the first to make this innovation was the company SAPin '96. These were attempts to implement the implementation of some functionality, and the first to fully organize global Internet access to the system in 1998 was the company Oracle. And already in 2000, a web interface for the package appeared Peoplesoft.
At the end of 1999, the development and implementation of the first ERP system, which was freely distributed on the Internet, began - this Compiere. Following it, other free ERP packages appeared. Perhaps the most famous and widespread among them are OpenERP, ADempiere,ERP5,Openbravo(forksCompiere) .

Already in the early 2000s, the integration of ERP system software providers took place. For example, we can note the facts - the beginning of 2000, companyMicrosoftintegrated the company into its structuresGreat Plains. The result of the merger can be considered the release of a software package MicrosoftDynamicsG.P.. It is also necessary to note the integration of companies Damgaard And Navision. The result of the merger can be considered software development MicrosoftDynamicsAX, as well as the package MicrosoftDynamicsNAV. Then the merger of companies proceeded at a faster pace, so at the beginning of 2003 the company Peoplesoft buys a company JDEdwards for $1.7 billion, thereby taking second place in the ERP market. The share of this holding became almost 12%. Considering that The market volume of this software package in 2004 was $23.6 billion, then one can imagine the effectiveness of such transactions. This step allowed Peoplesoft get ahead Oracle, and just give in a little SAP. But the market is a market, and at the end of 2004 the company Oracle carried out the takeover PeopleSoft, acquiring it for $10.3 billion.

The ERP system market is growing steadily; already in 2006, licenses for the right to use this software were sold worth $28 billion. It should be noted that the increase in just one year was 18%. In 2005, the market was segmented by ERP system manufacturers as follows: company SAP occupied 42% of the market, Oracle- 25%, company SageGroup just over 7%, company Microsoft less than 7%, Infor approximately 6%, however, market dynamics had already reduced by 2010 leading leadSAPAndOracleup to market coverage rates of 24% and 18%, and the share Microsoft, at the same time, increased significantly and amounted to 11%. Since the second half of the first decade of the 21st century, ERP systems have been equipped with support functions service-oriented architecture. This enabled most major systems to automatically call virtually any function using a standardized method. This made it possible to reduce system costs for overcoming inter-system inconsistencies for organizations that used systems from several manufacturers. New platforms and ready-made proposals for implementing composite applications have also appeared on the market. In addition, since the mid-2000s, many ERP systems have appeared that are provided by subscription (for example, this NetSuite And Plex), and then the main suppliers made it possible for customers to use their systems on a subscription basis.

Basic principles of ERP

If we take the main characteristic feature of the ERP strategy, then it is necessary, first of all, to note the possibility of a fundamental approach to the use of a single model of a transactional system, which can be applied to the main number of operations and all current business processes occurring in the organization. Moreover, these systems can be applicable for any functional and territorial separation of processes occurring in a production or other process, regardless of the reason for their occurrence and origin, the system will make it possible to integrate information from all operations performed into a common information base for subsequent system processing and obtaining results in real time , as well as highlighting balanced plans.

Another one distinguishing feature ERP systems are replicable. This principle makes it possible to use one software package for any enterprise and organization, while for each of them it is possible to apply different settings and set the necessary extensions. This distinctive feature is one of the main conditions for the implementation of ERP systems. Also, another reason for the global use of replicated ERP systems, instead of individual software development, is the opportunity to apply the best established practices using methodreengineeringbusiness processes according to the solutions used in the ERP system. Of course, a customer can request an individual ERP system, tailored only to the specifics of his production or organization, but such an approach is extremely rare today.

In connection with the global implementation of ERP systems, as well as their implementation in completely different territorial entities, in organizations and enterprises with completely different profiles, support for multiple currencies and languages ​​applicable in a single software system is required. In addition, there is a need to support many organizational units of a single process (this could be several legal entities, or several enterprises of one holding company, or disparate suppliers of one manufacturer, or geographically remote branches of one holding company), as well as the use of several charts of accounts, and fundamentally different ones, so these can be various schemes for tax deductions, accounting - all this is a necessary condition for the use of ERP systems in transnational holdings and corporations.

System of modular implementation of ERP systems

The convenience of implementing ERP systems is that they can be integrated into the production support process in stages. You can put into operation one or several modules with different functionality one at a time. Moreover, this process can be carried out at any stage of activity, while installing not all software (modules), but only those packages that are relevant for the organization or production today. The modularity of using ERP systems makes it possible to obtain solutions based on the use of several ERP systems at once, and you can select the best for yourself from each system. Today, there is approximately a common differentiation by modules for all manufacturers, as well as their grouping - this is usually: personnel, finance, operations.

Already since the 90s, system add-ons have been introduced as modules for all major ERP systems without exception. customer service, opportunity personnel management, various projects, as well as the opportunity production cycle management. But then all these modules began to be delivered as separately supplied information products within the framework of ERP systems, but at the same time maintaining the basic requirements of continuity within the framework of existing business application packages. However, this did not in any way affect the efficiency of using the ERP system as a whole.

The universality and global applicability of ERP systems in completely different areas of activity imposes on them the requirement to be as universal as possible, and at the same time organize support for industry-specific requirements. Of course, all large systems already include in their software ready-made modules and extensions “tailored” for various industries, and the buyer only has to order a ready-made additional update package. Among such packages we can highlight systems for mining industry enterprises, public administration sector organizations, engineering and manufacturing industries, retail, education and medicine, distribution, financial organizations and banks, insurance companies, telecommunications and energy enterprises, and many other industries.

Finance

Loadable financial modules, such as the general ledger, can clearly be considered the main component of an ERP system. At the same time, there is a module that allows you to generate periodic financial statements, as well as create due diligence (official integrity) using the financial modules of the ERP system.

Today, the number of additional financial modules and ERP blocks is huge. But, nevertheless, they can be systematized and the main four directions can be identified. This is, first of all:

• accounting: general ledger, current accounts for both receipt (accounts receivable) and accounts for payment (accounts payable), consolidated budget;
• accounting and management, controlling: accounts for accounting costs and income of enterprises and organizations, for accounting for production or consumption products, for ongoing projects, as well as a system for calculating the cost of manufactured or consumed products;
• treasury: system for managing the liquidity of the enterprise and its products, cash management. It includes the ability to control bank accounts and cash management, a system of interaction with banks in which the accounts of an enterprise or organization and all existing divisions and branches are located, management of loans and other borrowings;
• financial and managerial: management of fixed assets of the production process, investment management management system, management of financial control and management of possible risks of the enterprise.

At the customer's request, it can be included in the ERP system module financial planning , as well as managing key production efficiency indicators.

ERP Module – Personnel

The main difference between ERP, as a strategy for the development of an enterprise or organization, from various applications for MRP II or automation programs for determining employee income is the integration of information about the enterprise’s labor resources for effective planning and management of all economic operations, taking into account information about the potential capabilities of the personnel involved. The second distinctive feature is the ability to most accurately determine and identify costs as they arise and combine them with information about the necessary compensation of the working personnel involved in them.

It is this module that guides the development strategy of the enterprise, taking into account the method of managing the personnel of the organization and the enterprise as human capital, and already within the framework of this concept it is possible to determine and implement the functional features of these modules. They display specifics of personnel management, maintaining information about the possible professional skills of each employee, it is possible to plan training in connection with changes in the production cycle, career building etc. Based on all this information, which is systematically processed in these modules and strategic management of the entire organization is built, financial management is calculated, as well as key performance indicators.

The main HR management modules are:

• Personnel selection system;
• Personnel accounting system;
• Accounting for total working time;
• System of remuneration, payment of bonuses;
• Work order management system;
• Compensation and payroll system;
• Personnel assessment system;
• Organization of calculations of the productivity of the enterprise's labor resources;
• Organization of pension accounting for employees;
• Management system for employee training.

ERP Module - Operations

These built-in modules help to adjust the activities of enterprises in creating and selling products and services offered. Plus they have everything necessary functions to optimize these processes. Despite the specific disunity of various areas of business, several areas of operational modules can be distinguished:

• Logistics: these modules coordinate supplies, regulate relationships with various suppliers, manage all deliveries and transportation of goods, coordinate warehouse work and inventory management, track the inventory of fixed assets;
• Production: these modules carry out production planning, accounting of manufactured and sold products, system management of all production programs of this organization;
• Providing: these modules carry out management of technical maintenance of production complexes, planned and routine repairs of equipment, planning of capacity development, management of transport potential;
• Sales: these modules coordinate the pricing policy, configure and process incoming orders, build a sales system, product promotion and organization of after-sales service.

In addition to these blocks, there are some modules that are offered as separate software, but at the same time they are easily integrated into the overall package of the ERP system (the following blocks can be distinguished - E.A.M. For maintenance and repair, PLM For specifications management, CRM for sale APS And MES For production management, product distribution).

Modern Market of ERP Systems

According to the company PanoramaConsulting, which conducted an analysis based on accounting data for ERP systems for 2010, all ERP system manufacturers can be divided into three groups:

1. SAP (24%), Oracle (18%), Microsoft (11%);
2. Epicor, Sage, Infor, IFS, QAD, Lawson, Ross - 11% for all;
3. ABAS, Activant Solutions, Baan, Bowen and Groves, Compiere, Exact, Netsuite, Visibility, Blue Cherry, HansaWorld, Intuitive, Syspro.

Total cost of ERP systems

The situation in the Russian market differs from the global one (2010):

• SAP - 50.5%,
• 1C - 26%,
• Oracle - 8.2%,
• Microsoft - 7.4%,
• Galaxy - 2.4%

The total cost of the software implemented was $650 million.
On the Ukrainian market for this software:

• SAP - 43.4%,
• “Information technologies” - 15.7%,
• 1C - 13.9%,
• Oracle - 11.7%,
• Microsoft - 6.1%

The total cost of the software sold was $46.64 million.

Oracle ERP

Oracle has taken the path of developing various modules designed to solve specific problems. Many modular Oracle systems are combined into specific business packages, which in turn are further integrated and “adjusted” to suit the customer’s needs.

To solve your needsERP systems module “Oracle E-Business Suite” was created. The ITERANET company was the first company in the CIS when it implemented the Oracle system for the needs of the ITERA holding in 2000. Every year (since 2000) ITERANET employees attend over 5-10 events of Oracle partner events, are sponsors and partners of the events, and at each conference ITERANET specialists are the leading speakers of the events. We are a certified partner in the field of sales and implementation of Oracle E-Business Suite systems; our CIS department has established work in the field of integration/implementation, construction, and automation of processes based on Oracle E-Business Suite in order to create ERP systemsOracle.

The system developed on Oracle is used by such institutions as the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, the FSB of the Russian Federation, Sberbank of Russia, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation (CBRF), FSNP ( federal Service tax police), Beeline (VimpelCom), Promstroibank, Comstar, Bank of Moscow, and many others. As we already wrote, Oracle occupies about 18% of the market for integrated enterprise systems.

Oracle E-Business Suite (abbreviatedOEBS) beforehadNameOracle Applications. OEBS is one of the few solutions that includes all the necessary functionality for managing logistics, distribution and sales, marketing, customer service, personnel (HR), production, finance, interaction with suppliers, and many other modules.

Oracle E-Business Suite integrates perfectly with other Oracle solutions, due to which you can very quickly expand the functionality of the ERP system within the company, thus your company gains mobility and independence when expanding production. Distinctive feature Oracle provides full coverage of both specific life cycles and processes at the lowest level of action, as well as a powerful reporting system for directors and managers, which allows you to see the full picture of the business. When implementing Oracle ERP on the customer's premises, it is necessary to determine the current corporate information system, determine the ways of development of the information system, it is necessary to draw up a complete map of business processes, it is necessary to draw up the customer's business requirements for the information system and determine in which places the corporate information system can automate processes.

All these actions are carried out by ITERANET together with representatives of the customer. Based on the diagnosis of existing business processes and the customer’s business requirements, technical documentation is compiled, which is based on the Oracle AIM (Application Implementation Method) methodology. Based on this methodology and the final documentation, the customer will be able to make his own changes and give recommendations for modernizing the project before starting work on the implementation of OEBS.

Subsequently, the stage of implementation of Oracle E-Business Suite begins together with customer representatives. All work is agreed upon in advance, has a clear schedule, all stages have a specific deadline and performers, and during implementation the risks of delay are taken into account. During the implementation stage of Oracle ERP, and in the future, ITERANET specialists train customer personnel to work with solutions, conduct seminars and lectures to improve the qualifications of customer employees.

Main modular sectors of Oracle E-Business Suite

• Manufacturing control
• Finance
• Lifecycle management
• Logistics management
• Project management
• Maintenance and Repair Department
• Business Performance Management (CPM)
• Materials management
• Customer Relationship Management
• Personnel management system
• Financial service

Oracle E-Business Suite software

Managing relationships and interaction with the client base

The module is responsible for relationship management Customer Relationship Management (CRM), it includes the following solutions:

• Oracle Channel Revenue Management
• Oracle Marketing
• Oracle Order Management
• Oracle Service

Service management

To manage services, there is a Service solution, which is responsible for providing customer information services via telephone, email, contact center, “smart support”, etc. It includes the following solutions:

• Advanced Inbound Telephony
• Advanced Outbound Telephony
• Advanced Scheduler
• Spares Management
• TeleService
• Depot Repair
• Interaction Center
• iSupport
• Mobile Field Service
• Scripting
• Service Contracts
• Email Center
• Field Service

Financial management

This is one of the most interesting modules of the OEBS system. Oracle E-Business Suite Financials is fully responsible for the financial part of your company, taking full responsibility for all cash flow inside and outside the company (financial analytics, reports, lending, salaries, asset management, management of “treasury” or valuable items, financial life cycle assets, etc.) The following modules are included in Oracle E-Business Suite Financials:

• Financial Control & Reporting
• Asset Lifecycle Management
• Procure-To-Pay
• Cash & Treasury Management
• Governance, Risk and Compliance
• Credit-To-Cash
• Financial Analytics
• Lease and Finance Management
• Travel and Expense Management

Human asset management or human capital management (Human Capital Management)

The HCM module includes solutions that allow you to establish contact within the company, the so-called Team Building. There are modules for the personnel service (HR department), and human resource management, reporting, modeling processes of load on human resources, and Talent Management. The following programs are included in HCM:

• Workforce Service Delivery
• Global Core Human Capital Management
• Talent Management Applications
• Workforce Management
• HR Analytics

Project Portfolio Management

This solution allows you to fully manage projects, interaction within the company to resolve projects, assign responsible persons, build reports and analytics on the success of the project, manage the purchase of goods/materials within the project, there is monitoring and preparation of project documentation. Full list of applications inside PPM:

• iProcurement
• Supplier Lifecycle Management
• Oracle Contract Lifecycle Management for Public Sector
• iSupplier Portal
• Oracle Procurement & Spend Analytics
• Services Procurement
• Sourcing
• Oracle Spend Classification
• Oracle Supplier Network
• Procurement Contracts
• Purchasing
• Oracle Supplier Hub
• Landed Cost Management

Supply chain management

ITERANET company is the strongest player in the domestic market in the field of supply chain management (Supply Chain Management). This solution integrates modules into the company that allow you to establish a supply chain and delivery processes, processes for managing logistics steps, and optimize planning and purchasing. SCM (Supply Chain Management) includes the following Oracle solutions:

• Advanced Procurement
• Business Intelligence and Analytics
• Value Chain Execution
• Value Chain Planning
• Order Orchestration and Fulfillment
• Manufacturing
• Asset Lifecycle Management
• Product Value Chain Management

Value chain planning

This Value Chain Planning solution is intended to optimize business processes in order to reduce the cost of the final product, or to reduce production costs. VCP integrates well with other solutions, as well as with JD Edwards EnterpriseOne. Value Chain Planning includes the following modules:

• Advanced Planning Command Center
• Value Chain Planning for JD Edwards EnterpriseOne customers (PDF)
• Advanced Supply Chain Planning
• Strategic Network Optimization
• Collaborative Planning
• Service Parts Planning
• Demand Management
• Real-Time Sales and Operations Planning
• Demand Signal Repository
• Global Order Promising
• Rapid Planning
• Inventory Optimization
• Production Scheduling
• Predictive Trade Planning and Optimization

Creating value

Value Chain Execution is an additional solution similar to value chain planning, but differs from it in the software component. VCE (Value Chain Execution) allows you to manage inventory, transportation, company mobility, and inventory accounting. Value Chain Execution includes the following software solutions:

• Transportation Management
• Inventory Management
• Landed Cost Management
• Mobile Supply Chain
• Global Trade Management
• Warehouse Management

1C ERP

It is worth understanding that despite the fact that the 1C company has PPM (manufacturing enterprise management) and 1C: Enterprise solutions, they do not completely solve ERP problems. However, the cost of the license and technical hardware is much cheaper than that of competitors from Oracle or SAP. At the same time, the 1C program code is mastered faster and is more understandable in domestic specifics, which makes it possible to integrate various 1C solutions within the company much faster. At the same time, the insufficient functionality of SPP or 1C Enterprise is compensated by many other programs that can form one ERP cluster. The ITERANET company is one of the oldest “players” in the 1C solutions market. Since we are a system integrator, we did not follow the “franchisee” path, but along the path of integrating technical equipment, and in addition we can integrate and modernize 1C modules, since we have a large staff of programmers. Our main difference is an integrated approach to solving problems, while our opponents have to use the services of contractors to solve non-traditional issues. We can afford to solve absolutely any issue on our own when implementing ERP systems based on 1C for the customer.

From June 8 to June 16, 2013, a conference was held in the Dominican Republic, at which the proposals of the undisputed leader in the field of workplace automation, the 1C company, were discussed in detail. This time, developments were proposed to help corporate clients. In particular, the latest solution was presented " 1C: Enterprise Management (ERP) 2.0 ". The release of the beta version of this program is planned for the summer of 2013, but conference participants have already been familiarized in detail with the possibilities and prospects for implementing this solution.

A new solution has been implemented on the currently sensational platform “ 1C:Enterprise 8.3" In fact, it is a unique and newest improvement of the software, which is currently used everywhere not only in Russia, but also in the CIS countries. Representatives of almost all major organizations work with these programs. And the scale and number of projects whose goal is to improve work and automate a huge number of jobs is simply amazing. The ability to evaluate years of experience using past versions of the program allowed programmers to create software that not only makes working with it even easier, but also allows you to achieve the desired results even in very large projects.

Let us dwell on the fact that all the developments that are produced by the 1C company invariably enjoy well-deserved popularity among consumers, including the ERP solutions of this company. After all, they serve as the personification of reliability, ease of use, availability and quality. Various modifications of systems and solutions for various industries offered for enterprise management are widely used in Russian Federation, Kazakhstan, Belarus and Ukraine. Half a million client licenses have been sold to work with these products. And the total number of people whose activities were automated using " 1C: Manufacturing Enterprise Management", on this moment numbers more than six million. Company representatives regularly conduct monitoring to determine customer satisfaction with the use of their company's software products. And according to the results of this monitoring, more than ninety percent of all users rate the program as “good” and “excellent.”

More than a hundred of the most famous specialists worked on the improvement and development of the software solution "1C: Enterprise Management (ERP) 2.0", and a special expert committee was created to assess the quality; it included the largest partners of the 1C company, as well as numerous heads of departments of the largest Russian concerns and industrial enterprises.

The attention of the developers, among other things, was focused on solving those functionality that is most needed by large enterprises, despite the difference in areas of activity and the technical complexity of implementing individual production processes.

It was this fundamental and detailed approach that made it possible to provide even greater capabilities to the new ERP solution and open the way to use in more and more new areas of application compared to previous versions of the program.

Functional features of 1C ERP

In relation to the management of production processes, previously the quality of planning depended entirely on the accuracy of regulations; the current accounting system will eliminate this dependence. And for planning production processes it will be possible to use the information presented in resource specifications.

There are two levels in production management using software. The first level is the level of the logistician, that is, the chief dispatcher of the enterprise. The second level is the shop level, that is, the local management level.

At the first level, where planning is carried out by the chief dispatcher, a production schedule is developed. All production orders are queued according to priority and deadlines. They are then entered into a production schedule, which in turn takes into account the availability of production capacity and the availability of material resources required for a specific order. After this, each order is divided into stages and planning intervals. Then each of the intervals is assigned to a separate fulfillment department that will work on this order.
At the second level of production process management, the production schedule is monitored by shop floor dispatchers, the purpose of which is to create a schedule for the work center in a dedicated department. Local dispatchers also manage deviations. Divisions have the right to choose one, the most acceptable management model. Thus, depending on it, a schedule can be drawn up for all centers that ensure the operation of the enterprise or for bottlenecks in the production process, according to the TOC methodology (when the maintenance of an option is ensured in which a number of work centers are automatically determined by determining the type of total load on equipment). In the third version of the work, a schedule may not be drawn up at all, then a simplified scheme for calculating the load on equipment is in effect and control is carried out for the total duration of the production stage.

At individual stages of production, the manufacturer monitors compliance with standards through route sheets.

A “semaphore” warning system is being introduced in production. It allows the dispatcher to determine the production control zone, which will reduce labor costs. Unfavorable and problematic areas of production will be identified. Thus, this tool allows specialists providing control of the production process to make a forecast of unfavorable developments of the situation. Thus, the number of unpleasant situations regarding delays in production, delays in batches of products, and production disruptions will be reduced.

Equipment maintenance and repair also requires control automation.
All operating objects are divided into certain classes, depending on specific characteristics, similarity of composition, passport data, operating hours, the need for repair work, and similar operating conditions. The state in which the object is located, its location in a certain period of time and its affiliation are taken into account. Maintenance of these objects can be carried out with detail down to the repair unit.

The introduced system makes it possible to constantly monitor objects, taking into account their condition, identify defects and developments, which makes it possible to plan in advance measures aimed at proper and timely repair of equipment.
It is also possible to link controlled operating objects to a production workshop. In this case, repair work must be taken into account in production planning, since during the repair work, individual work centers become unavailable for production purposes. In turn, it is possible to attract any production resources to carry out repairs. Moreover, production can be involved in meeting the needs of personnel involved in equipment repair.

As a result, it is obvious that when combining the subsystem involved in managing repair work and the production subsystem, the user receives the ability to create a unified system for meeting the needs of the enterprise. Moreover, that system will include the activities of the entire enterprise, on the basis of which the final cost of servicing operating facilities will be derived.

Monitoring and analyzing performance indicators

What can a new solution bring to this area of ​​the enterprise’s activity? It contains unique mechanisms that will allow you to easily build a hierarchy of goals and indicators, monitor individual indicators, deciphering the source data, and also analyze financial results in each area of ​​the enterprise’s activities.

The advantage of using the 1C:Enterprise 8.3 platform is that users will have quick access to all indicators from any mobile device running on the Android system.

Financial flow management

The program also provides new opportunities for financiers of large enterprises. The system has introduced the ability to maintain tabular data entry, as well as their subsequent correction, while maintaining the history of changes made. Various tools have been introduced that allow you to automatically calculate all budget items, as well as decipher them to their original values. Moreover, each article uses up to 6 levels of analytics.
Now it is possible to use not one, but several sources when calculating each of the indicators. You can calculate them in the on-screen version of maintaining and editing the budget. This improved structure makes it possible to generate financial forecasts and analyze the implementation of planned indicators.

The software solution increases the functionality of keeping records of all company operations, in particular the issuance of loans and borrowings; operations carried out using plastic cards. It is also possible to maintain a payment calendar and establish full control over ongoing operations. Tools have been added to the system that allow the formation of payment agreements for future dates, coordination of the expenditure of monetary assets, and conducting a planned inventory of the company's current accounts and cash registers.

The settlement management system also compares favorably with other versions of the program.
The program allows you to maintain separate management and regulated accounting. Also exercise control over debt limits, and it is carried out automatically. It makes it easier to carry out inventory, including regarding mutual settlements. As a result of its activities, this part of the program displays several types of reporting, in particular statics and analysis of the status of mutual settlements with all contacting enterprises.
Regarding carrying out activities within the framework of regulated accounting, it should be noted that the solution allows you to conduct automated accounting without additional time and effort. When reporting, a version of the unified chart of accounts is used. The rules that underlie the reflection of company operations are set up independently. Those facts of economic accounting that are reflected in the operational accounting block are detailed in terms of significance and relevance in accordance with the primary documents, and then recorded in regulated accounting. Various reporting forms are automatically updated using Internet resources. It is also possible to record the activities of those enterprises that have brought some of their divisions to an independent balance sheet.
The program is equipped with a customized methodological model that allows you to conduct reporting according to IFRS without any extra effort. It includes posting templates, charts of accounts, and financial reports. It makes it possible to reflect transactions in accounting, create separate documents for standard transactions, and register financial and non-financial indicators.

Thanks to the latest software developments, it is possible to maintain a certain warehouse structure, hierarchy. Even in large warehouses it is possible to carry out a systematic inventory without the need to stop their work even for a short period of time. It is possible to organize mobile workplaces for warehouse workers. Additional ability to reserve material assets within orders.
Regarding procurement, it is noted that it is possible to select suppliers based on the results of an in-depth analysis of the proposed terms of cooperation. You can also control emerging needs and the quality of their satisfaction.
It is possible to increase the level of sales through analysis of ongoing events, competent formation of prices and price lists.

There is also a function for constantly monitoring the level and composition of sales and customer orders.

The user in relations with clients can conduct dossier of each regular customer, enter loyalty cards. And also carry out constant analysis of the work of managers and sales representatives.

As for calculating the cost of manufactured products, constant monitoring is carried out over the amount of resources spent, based on operational accounting data. Cost estimation is carried out in several currencies, which are initially set by the user. Costs for all types of activities are taken into account.
The proposed software has a number of important technological advantages.
It provides the user with reliability, scale and performance of systems, organization of work with staff and clients in real time, the ability to log into the system using communication devices running on Android, and the ability to configure a customized interface. The user can enable individual parts of the solution without changing the configuration.

Despite the obvious advantages of the new version of the program developed by 1C, there are no plans to remove previous versions of the program from service, since they are successfully used by many enterprises. The company claims that if a decision is made to completely migrate to a new version of the program, all users will be notified of this at least 3 years before the termination of service.

SAP ERP

Characteristics of the SAP ERP (production resource management) system

SAP ERP system and automation of production management strategy

The abbreviation ERP stands for Enterprise Resource Planning is an integrated package that includes many functions of management and planning systems for all resources of organizations and enterprises in whose systems this software package is installed. The ERP system, in its essence, is fundamentally different from conventional accounting systems, which make it possible to conduct only a narrow focus of activity, as for example with numerous accounting programs, the ERP system allows you to provide full information support for the enterprise development strategy.

In order for you to have a complete understanding of all the business processes occurring in the company, you need an ERP system that has the ability to most accurately and clearly display the real picture of everything that happens within the production process. It can clearly show the vector of direction of the enterprise's movement. This is very convenient, as for a manager he sees all the problems that arise and ways to overcome them, while he absolutely needs to keep all the information in his head, the ERP system summarizes and systematizes all incoming information and issues it as requests are generated.
The head of a company can monitor the activities of the entire company he manages in real time. Moreover, the scale of the organization in which this system is installed is completely unimportant; its capabilities of covering incoming information are almost limitless. The ERP system allows you to make forecasts both for the overall activity of the enterprise and to obtain information on the most insignificant nuances of the activity of each link of the enterprise. The efficiency of processing information and its in-depth study allows the company's management to significantly free up time for streamlining their activities, time management, determining a development strategy, or simply relaxing.

By implementing ERP systems, you can get the following benefits:

• The required amount of work is significantly reduced, due to the fact that the system does not require additional and repeated entry of the same type of information into the computer’s memory;
• The control system for all processes occurring at the enterprise is significantly improved;
• When using an ERP system, the quality of analytical research of incoming data increases, this significantly increases the efficiency of doing business in modern conditions conducting and developing business;

IN Lately Russian business has significantly increased its interest in ERP systems. Today, many enterprises in the Russian economy have reached the necessary stage of production development, when one of the dominant development factors is the introduction of a global information system into the production process. At the same time, the development of the entire business as a whole depends on its quality of work. If the management of a business tends to lag behind the speed of its development, and at the same time, the increase in the share of presence in the market has a negative trend due to the lack of well-established business processes - all this together will certainly lead to significant problems. Therefore, only an ERP system with a clearly structured company development strategy can become a reliable foundation for the company’s development.

In the development of any enterprise there are periods of intensive development. At this moment, the company's expenses are growing quite systematically and tend to constantly increase. Income in this development trend, after some time reaches its maximum level and then stabilizes for a long time. This macroeconomic model indicates that the production cycle, as it grows, tends to lose margins. It is at such a moment that the thin thread connecting the profitability and costs of the production process breaks. And in the end, a dynamically developing company with gigantic turnover, which has all the attributes of successful business, actually ends up in a deep minus at the end of the reporting period. Of course, when a business in the 90s of the 20th century had a liquidity indicator of 100, or even 200%, then with such indicators there was no need to control the entire production cycle. Today, every percentage of additional profit is given only through strict control and systematization of information, which only a specially developed computer program can provide.
Since the active implementation of ERP systems abroad in the 90s of the last century, statistics on the use of this information platform in relation to the time spent by company management to find the optimal algorithm of action in a given situation have been monitored. So, according to research, ERP systems can free up time by 20-80% compared to other methods of obtaining the necessary information. ERP brings the main direction of movement of the entire production process to the direction that makes it possible to extract the main income. That is, almost any operation that finds its justification in the system and is evaluated by the program in terms of its impact and efficiency.

In 1976, SAP GmbH released its first system that made it possible to plan and manage enterprise resources. This step seemed to mark the beginning new era conducting, systematizing and managing business. The release of this program became the starting point for the opening of the ERP systems market. Today, almost 63 years later, SAP continues to hold the leading position in the market for such software. At the same time, she created an almost new model of integrated solutions in matters of management and strategic business planning, and we can say that the words “ERP” and “SAP” have now become synonymous.

The SAP R/2 ERP system released at that time (the first generation of software in this area) made it possible to process and centralize processing of incoming data in real time. Already the second generation of this software - SAP R/3- made it possible to rely not only on the data received, but to focus on the analysis of ongoing business processes. The essence of the system was to constantly standardize ongoing business processes within the enterprise, and at the same time significantly increase their efficiency. Today, those systems have been replaced by a completely different business solution of a new generation with new capabilities - SAP ERP. These techniques are based on numerous developments from previous generations of programs, as well as the unlimited possibilities of the Internet. Business capabilities of SAP "Enterprise Resource Management" (SAP ERP) make it possible to cover all areas of the enterprise's activities - from financial to management accounting of the company's development activities. A new function has been introduced: personnel management, conducting operational activities and implementing corporate services. In addition, the software package includes powerful analytical tools that can significantly improve the efficiency of the analysis of the information received.
ERP systems of the first and second generations mainly solved the problems of increasing efficiency and optimizing internal processes taking place in the company, and the latest generation of ERP has significantly expanded its functionality and is designed to solve complex business scenarios that include not only internal processes occurring in the enterprise , but also the business processes of all business partners of a given company, from suppliers to buyers of the final product. This system allows you to significantly increase the productivity of all participants in the production process and at the same time organize the maximum return from all integration elements for a given business.

Assessing the possible risk of implementing SAP ERP software

Advantages

Using an ERP system makes it possible, using just one software shell instead more scattered At the same time, this software can easily manage all areas of the enterprise’s activities - finances, personnel, operations. At the same time, the ability to load additional modules that complement the operating capabilities of the system leaves similar user programs aimed at solving narrow professional tasks out of competition. All areas of the enterprise's activities are covered by the ERP system.
ERP systems have the ability to both restrict access to information and completely isolate individual modules from general viewing. Such measures are aimed at countering emerging external threats, for example, the possibility of industrial espionage within the framework of the enterprise, as well as preventing and detecting internal threats, in particular theft.
Working in conjunction with a CRM system, a system for determining the level of quality control, the ERP system integrated into a single information space is aimed primarily at meeting the needs of the company that installed it, as a means of maximum automation in business management.

Flaws

Despite all the advantages of using this information package, there are significant difficulties in implementing ERP systems into the work system of business structures at various levels; the reasons for this phenomenon can be systematized and highlighted:

• Insufficient degree of trust of company owners in this species products, as a result of weak support on their part in support of this project;
• Resistance of certain departments and agencies in providing information relating to the activities of certain business entities and for this reason, significantly reduced confidential information reduces the effectiveness of the system;
• Insufficiently trained and qualified personnel, as well as poor policies for regularly updating and keeping the database system up to date in the ERP.
  Possible restrictions on the use of ERP systems:
• Today, due to the fairly high cost of the ERP system package, small and medium business cannot afford to buy this software. And also keep on your staff a qualified specialist who would be responsible for systematic work with ERP;
• Despite the fact that the program can be purchased in parts, its acquisition is nevertheless quite an expensive purchase for many businessmen;
• Like any program, an ERP system can produce inaccurate data or even fail if there is suddenly a “weak link” in the system - associated with a negligent partner or a certain department responsible for providing information;

I would especially like to note the limitations associated with the problem of compatibility of actions with previously installed systems.

There is a misconception that ERP systems are difficult, and sometimes impossible, to fit a company’s specific document flow or to take into account all existing business processes. In fact, before implementing an ERP system, there is first a long period of describing the company's unique business processes. And finally, after entering all the data, An ERP system is a created projection of a company in virtual space.

Software Applicability Analysis

SAP ERP Analysis

SAP ERP, after a detailed consideration, is a special ERP information system (Enterprise Resources Planning - which provides complete planning of all enterprise resources). This information shell is designed to fully automate all types of company activities:

• Maintaining management and accounting records;
• strategic planning taking into account business aspects;

In recent years, a new concept of ERP systems based on the platform has emerged Netweaver: “the system does not cover all areas of the enterprise’s activities, but must provide services based on processing data obtained from software from various manufacturers.

SAP today is busy developing and implementing automated systems that allow you to manage all internal processes of an enterprise.

• Among them are:
• Accounting analysis and control system;
• System of analysis and control of enterprise trade;
• Production cycle analysis and control system;
• System of analysis and control of financial activities;
• Personnel management analysis and control system;
• Analysis and control system, warehouse management, audit activities;
• and many other processes that optimize the operation of the enterprise as a whole.

Applications can be easily adapted to the legal framework of any country. In addition to selling software, SAP offers numerous and qualified services for its implementation in the real sector of the economy, while it uses its own methodology for promoting an information product ( At first the system was called ASAP - Accelerated SAP, today - ValueSAP).
Today, SAP's main ERP system is officially called SAP ERP ECC (Enterprise Core Component). The capabilities of the latest generation Enterprise Resource Management (SAP ERP) software make it possible to cover all areas of the enterprise. Among these areas we can highlight: financial and management accounting, an automated personnel management system, an information module responsible for the operational activities of the enterprise, as well as analytical reports on the activities of corporate service departments. But the main area of ​​applicability of this software can be considered the generation and provision of detailed analytical reports. For the formation of which special tools have been introduced. As of today, the latest version The current version of the SAP ERP system, which is officially sold by distributors and supported by the company, bears the index - 6.0.

SAP ERP system in Russia

The SAP ERP system includes a certain set of functional elements presented in different modules, which are adapted to Russian conditions of applicability and implemented in accordance with Russian legislation. The software structure includes all kinds of interactive reports:

Balance sheet for creating reports in material accounting;

Various printed forms are built in:

• Form-Template - “invoice”;
• Form-Template - invoice TORG-12;
• Form-Template - “a package of standard forms of material accounting (form M-4 “Receipt Order”);
• Form-Template - M-11 "Limit-fence card";
• Form-Template - M-15 "Invoice for the release of materials to the side";
• and many other “Form-Templates” for the economic activities of the enterprise.

In addition, the Russian version includes elements of dialog transactions; they are not present in the regular version of the program released for Germany. IN previous versions ERPs released before the program with index 6.0, with the integrated Russian Add-On package (Russian localization), had to be installed additionally, and already from version 6.0 the Russian Add-On package was included in the general package as “Functionality specific to the Russian Federation”. The software package for Russia is developed by SAP CIS.

Functional Software Model - SAP ERP

The SAP ERP system consists entirely of a set of modules that can be integrated into one common package and that support almost all business processes occurring in the production or other cycle, while all modules are integrated with each other and can exchange information in real time.
The SAP Transaction module is an application program that performs a certain business process in the enterprise management system (this could be posting funds to current accounts, or posting an invoice, generating a certain report, etc.) This module carries out operational supervision of data, and performs a logically complete and defined set of actions. (from a technical point of view, this is a kind of “shortcut” necessary to call a utility program in ABAP/4).

The entire System is divided into separate modules, and each module also consists of a certain number of transactions that should cover a certain part of the operation of the enterprise. The boundaries of the modules are essentially very arbitrary; data is continuously exchanged between them; in addition, individual program modules may well have common settings, work tables with integrated data, and the option of sharing an ABAP/4 program is quite possible.

Module - Finance (FI)

This part of the software is intended for organizing the financial statements of an enterprise organization or other form of activity. It includes:

• Functions for generating reports on debtors, creditors and auxiliary accounting;
• Functions for generating reports and entering into the General Ledger (ledger);
• Functions for generating accounts receivable accounts;
• Functions for generating reports “Accounting for Creditors”;
• Functions for generating financial management reports;
• Functions for generating reports “Special Register”;
• Functions for generating reports “Consolidation”;
• Integrated information system for accounting and reporting on financial activities.

Controlling (CO) module

This Module makes it possible to keep track of the costs and profits of the enterprise as a whole, and for each individual link of the production cycle.

It includes:

• Possibility of generating a report “Accounting for costs by places of their occurrence (cost centers)”,
• Possibility of generating a report “Cost accounting for orders”;
• Possibility of generating a report “Cost Accounting for Projects”;
• Carry out “Cost calculation”;
• Carry out “Profitability (results) control”;
• Possibility of generating a report “Control of profit centers (profit centers)”;
• Possibility of generating the report “Accounting for production, Controlling the activities of the enterprise.”

Module - Asset Management (AM)

In fact, this module is necessary for accounting for fixed assets of an enterprise and methods for managing them.
The main elements of this module:

• Block " Technical management basic means of production";
• Block “Maintenance and repair of production equipment”;
• Block “Investment Controlling and Asset Sales”;
• Block “Traditional fixed asset accounting”;
• Block “Replacement of fixed assets and depreciation of equipment and fixed assets”;
• Block “Company Investment Management”.

Module - Project Management (PS)

This module has an applied focus. The PS module supports structural planning, management of all production cycles, tracking and coordination of long-term projects with any level of complexity.
Main elements of the PS module:

• Possibility of coordinating the direction “Control of financial resources and resources”;
• Possibility of coordination of the “Quality Control” direction;
• Possibility of coordination of the direction “Management of temporary data”;
• Project Management Information System,
• General modules.

Module - Production Planning (PP).

This Module is mainly used to organize long-term planning and set control functions for all activities of the enterprise as a whole. The main elements of this module:

• Production orders,
• Technological maps,
• Specifications (BOM),
• Material Requirements Planning (MRP),
• Product costing,
• Work centers (places),
• Continuous production planning.
• Sales Planning (SOP),
• Production Planning (MPS),
• Production Control (SFC),
• Kanban (Just in time),
• Cost accounting by processes,
• Mass production.

Module - Materials Management (MM).

This module supports supply and inventory management operations in the organization of enterprise activities, and this module is also applicable in various business operations carried out by the enterprise. Main elements of the module:

• Organization of materials acquisition;
• Organization of inventory management;
• Organization of warehouse management;
• Systematization of control of enterprise accounts;
• Organization of stock assessment of necessary materials;
• Organization of certification of supplier services and goods;
• Processing of data on work and services performed;
• Creation of a database for an enterprise inventory management information system;

Module - Sales (SD).

This module is very important; it brings clarity to the policy for implementing the final product of the enterprise; in addition, it solves the problems of distributing the final product, organizing sales, and determining the systematics of deliveries and final invoicing.
Main elements of the module:

• Organization of pre-sales support in production,
• Ability to generate a “Query Processing” report;
• Possibility of generating a report “Processing of proposals”;
• Possibility of generating the “Order Processing” report;
• Possibility of generating the report “Processing of deliveries;
• Organization of invoicing (invoicing);
• Block “Sales Information System”.

Module - Quality Management (QM).

This module integrates the entire company information system and also controls the quality management system. In addition, it has built-in functions that provide activities aimed at planning the quality of goods and services of a given company, checking and monitoring the quality of products at all stages of their production, as well as during their procurement.

Main elements of the module:

• carrying out quality checks;
• organization of quality planning;
• information support for product quality control (QMIS).

Module Maintenance and repair of enterprise equipment (PM).

This module is indispensable in the process of cost accounting and at the stage of planning resource consumption for routine maintenance and scheduled repairs of fixed assets.

Main elements of the module:

• generating a request for “Unplanned repairs”;
• generating a “Service Management” request;
• generating a request for “Planned preventive maintenance”;
• creating a report “Maintaining specifications”;
• Organization of an information system for maintenance and repair of fixed assets.

Module - Human Resource Management (HR).

This is a fully integrated system that is designed to plan and manage the work of all personnel involved in the company’s activity cycle. Main elements of the module:

• Administration of personnel activities;
• Analysis and calculation of employee salaries;
• Personnel temporary data management system;
• System for calculating employee travel expenses;
• Definition of benefits;
• System of invitation and recruitment of new personnel;
• Organization of work to improve the qualifications of working personnel;
• Organization of the process of optimal use of the enterprise’s workforce;
• Organization and holding of seminars and training events;
• Organizational and time management;
• block for processing information about personnel taxonomy.

Module - Information Flow Management (WF).

This module, as an integrated unit, in its role connects application modules with the built-in technologies of the ERP system, as well as all service tools and tools of this information product. The ability to manage the entire flow of operations (workflow) with the ability to automatically control all business processes using a pre-defined analysis algorithm according to predetermined and prescribed procedures and rules. In addition, this module has an office system with its own built-in e-mail, as well as a company document management system, a loaded universal classifier, and the ability to integrate with any CAD system. If a specific event occurs in the system, then at the same time the protocol of this event is launched and the corresponding process is turned on. The module includes a flow manager for the operations performed by the system and at the same time initiates an incoming Workflow Item. The system then combines the incoming data, then the documents are merged, and the information is processed according to a certain built-in logic circuit.

Module - Industry Solutions (IS).

This module integrates built-in application modules SAP, SAP R/3, as well as additional specific programs specifically for each industry. Today they have been developed and can easily be integrated into a single modular package industry-specific business support solutions:

• Package of industry applications “aviation and space”;
• Package of industry applications “defense industry”;
• Package of industry applications "automotive industry";
• Package of industry applications “oil and gas industry”;
• Package of industry applications "chemical industry";
• Package of industry applications “pharmaceutical industry”;
• Package of industry applications “engineering industry”;
• Package of industry applications “consumer goods”;

electronic and non-production sphere:

• Package of industry applications "banking";
• Package of industry applications “insurance”;
• Package of industry applications “state and municipal management”;
• Package of industry applications “telecommunication technologies”
• Package of industry applications “utilities”;
• Package of industry applications “healthcare”;
• Package of industry applications “retail trade”.

Module - Basic system.

This module serves as the basis for the SAP R/3 information system. It properly guarantees full integration of all application modules and complete independence from the hardware platform on which the software is installed. Also, the basic system makes it possible to organize work in a multi-level architecture distribution system - “client-server”. The SAP R/3 software shell can fully operate on the following servers:

• Windows NT
• UNIX,
• AS/400
• S/390

In addition, SAP R/3 can easily integrate with other DBMSs, such as:

• Oracle,
• Informix,
• Microsoft SQL Server

Users can work in the OS:

• Macintosh
• Windows
• OSF/Motif

A basis is a special module. Its functionality is much broader than the information provided. The performance of the system as a whole depends on its functioning. Core module administrators are solely responsible for the overall functioning of SAP.

Basic module tasks:

• Initial registration of all settings and configuration of all built-in performance parameters of the system as a whole;
• Building an administration system for all built-in databases;
• As necessary, updating the system software and installing the necessary module update packages and corrections;
• Organization and implementation of transfers to the productive system;
• The main administration of the project is the main input and assignment of all roles to users participating in the organization of work on this project;
• Organization of the process Reserve copy intermediate and final data on ongoing operations;
• basic setup of the interaction of individual systems involved in the process of data analysis and processing;
• Organization of system control, with a description of the software task - to identify and identify emerging problems in advance and take all necessary measures to eliminate them;
• Organizing access to integrated modules and systems for SAP support services;
• Analysis of generated errors and their elimination;

Today, the SAP ERP system is the most extensive software shell among similar information packages. Therefore, almost all leaders of the world economy have chosen it as their corporate production management system. At the same time, according to statistics, approximately 30% of all companies purchasing the SAP R/3 system are not economic giants at all, but firms with a turnover of less than $200 million per year. And the whole point is that the SAP ERP system has the ability to configure the entire system specifically for the enterprise or company that acquired it. Each client who purchased this software will have the impression that by purchasing it, he will work with the most individualized version, which is configured with his production cycle parameters.

SAP ERP - configurable system

Indicators of a certain level of a system include the way it is configured; the wider the offered configuration options, as well as the implementation of all general system settings without further rewriting it, the higher the overall technical level of this system is rated, of course. Based on this defining parameter, the SAP ERP system constantly occupies one of the leading places in the world. In addition, in each specific case, the user practically does not change the initial settings of the system, and this is done by the developers; they configure SAP for the client, taking into account all the features of the production cycle of his business. (Abaper is a specialist programmable system in the ABAP/4 language).

In today's situation in the global economy, for dynamic development it is necessary to move away from outdated methods of company management. It is necessary to move from analytics using a pencil and notepad to modern systems analysis and strategic development. This transition can be made using tool technology - for SAP ERP business engineering Business Engineer. The capabilities of this module allow you to develop a competent disposition, balance of power and possible actions aimed at achieving the goal of dynamic development of the enterprise. Intelligent settings of the SAP ERP system and the open user interface Business-Engineer allow you to create economically literate industry solutions based on data on the state of affairs in the enterprise. The system allows you to develop several action templates, calculate intermediate results and calculate the final result.

The Business-Engineer Package includes three modules:

• SAP ERP business configurator, a system that supports certain technologies for creating and automatically maintaining models in the dynamics of enterprise development with an individual configuration function;
• SAP ERP reference model – contains an organizational model, a process generation model, a data processing model, a model for applying and distributing functions, and a model for creating business objects;
• The SAP ERP repository is a dynamic bank of incoming data for reference model requests, a bank of industry models and a database of created enterprise development models.

A very professionally developed Business-Engineer package operating in interactive mode significantly improves the quality of modeled enterprise business processes and simplifies the process of configuring the SAPERP system.

SAP ERP work flow diagram

Let's look at the conceptual apparatus of this system.

• The system (central authority) is a common server with all kinds of application development for connected modules, as well as a DBMS.
• A client (client) is an independent part of the R/3 system. Each client has its own data model (including master and dynamic data, created charts of accounts and certain settings). The system usually has from one to several clients.

In fact, for each client, you can lay down every element of production - be it a workshop, a branch, or a separate production. In this case, ABAP/4 programs and reporting forms will necessarily be common to the entire client system.

Business Engineering in SAP ERP

Repository– a data bank of all built-in ABAP programs, with a detailed description of the structure of all entered data, diagrams and tables that are periodically accessed by programs. The repository is common to all clients in the system.

Transport protocol– a program service that allows you to transfer data between all clients of the system.

Released request– this is a certain number of files with certain information.

Release– this is an internal term in SAP that defines “approval”, sending data to work.

Landscape- this is a collection of a certain number of systems, between which it is possible to transfer basic settings and necessary programs. Typically SAP sets up the following landscape:

1 - development system. This system includes 3 clients;

300 – a landscape in which you can change current settings and load programs. All changes are included in the transfer creation request schema.

400 is a landscape in which nothing can be changed. Scheme of use - preliminary testing of programs and general system settings.

200 - landscape - sandbox (Sandbox). Test mode for experimenting with variable settings. Allows you to track the dynamics of transactions, works without requests.

2 - quality control landscape. Only two clients are used:

500 - user training and working out illustrative examples;

600 - verification, reconciliation, correctness of actions and settings.

3 - productive system (a system that works to produce the final and desired result)

A server is a specialized, fairly powerful and at the same time reliable computer, which is designed for long-term storage and systematic processing of data dynamically transmitted over the network from all end users.

A Database Management System (DBMS) is installed here - a comprehensive program that provides storage of all data in the form of tables, with the ability to dynamically replenish and process, organizing user requests for all kinds of initial combinations. Work inside the DBMS is carried out at the level of the SQL programming language (StructuredQuery Language). Also, the DBMS stores business data and all final system settings, a repository and full texts of programs in the ABAP/4 programming language are installed.

SAP is an Application Server - this is a program that runs on the server, and which carries out all the necessary and requested actions to work on the data of all registered users.

It is better to explain it with this diagram - the logic of working with SAP ERP:

General organizational structure and user composition

• Role (separate) – determines the capabilities and list of actions of a given user in the system.
• Role (group) – includes all individual roles.

All Roles in the system are mandant-dependent; they must be created and registered.

The role contains:

• all prescribed additions to the general user menu;
• all objects of authority are indicated - all valid user operations are specified;

One user can have several assigned roles, but the settings are specified for each (at the level of the logical operation “OR”). If there are inconsistencies in the commands, the system may display a message stating that the user has “Insufficient authority.”
An authority profile is a written and compiled role. The entire system works only with user profiles.

All “User Groups” groups are divided into corresponding subgroups:

• “User groups by functionality/applications” defined
• User groups by system use status: administrators, developers and users.
• Groups of users with certain restrictions on access to database systems;

Economic feasibility of efficiency when using an automated SAP ERP system

Knowing, forecasting, defining a strategy - these are the three pillars for every business leader. With their help, all business models are built. The time has come when it is impossible to develop a competent development strategy without using ERP systems. Speed, accuracy, validity - three words that most accurately characterize the effect of strategic development from the use of these systems.

The overall benefit of the project from the implementation of ERP systems is clear. There is a full-scale streamlining of all information about all processes of the enterprise, all its divisions and branch network. Moreover, it does not matter at all where the branch is located (even on the other side of the Earth), all information issued upon the corresponding request will arrive in real time and change following the dynamics of changes in the entire system. ERP systems can work better than many analysts; the only condition for the success of their work is professionally trained service personnel and the full amount of information entered into the system.

Ease of transformation, the ability to connect and remove information modules following changes in the specifics of actions - this is the competitive advantage of these systems. In addition, full coverage of the enterprise’s activities makes it possible to more accurately monitor the situation and more quickly respond to it. At the same time, the time of the company’s employees is significantly freed up, which in turn is a potential for overall development, and therefore potential for the growth of the company. Employees can save up to 20% of their time when using ERP systems.

However, the fairly high cost of these application information packages stops business owners from purchasing them. At the same time, annual support of programs also costs some money, and not small ones at that. It is also necessary to include in the expense item the creation of the necessary infrastructure that would ensure the functionality of the entire system.
Despite this, those companies that have already installed ERP systems note that there has been a fundamental change in the development of production. All processes of the enterprise’s economic activity are constantly adjusted or completely rebuilt, and at the same time, costs are reduced, against the backdrop of a significant increase in profitability.

For smaller companies, SAP GmbH has launched other information products on the market with a lower and fixed price. Of course, no one will tell you the details of the transactions and the prices for installing SAP ERP at large production complexes, but according to many analysts, the costs of installing, maintaining and upgrading them pay off very quickly, which is due to the truly working models of business offers issued by the system from the processed data of the systems of these companies.

SAP ERP Implementation Summary

The main benefit of implementing SAP ERP in many business projects is that this action leads to a re-evaluation of all existing business processes.

Analysis of ongoing business processes provides an invaluable opportunity to rethink and change established rules and procedures for doing business. Sometimes such movement is carried out due to the fulfillment of the initial conditions that are necessary for the initial implementation of the system. However, as experience shows, successful use of this system is possible only if the company’s employees understand the need for change and actively support the ongoing update process. Therefore, it is recommended, as part of this project, to involve the majority of employees in both the development and methods of planning processes that will significantly improve the management process at the enterprise.

A very important clarification - the implementation of the system improves discipline and increases accuracy in the execution of business processes. Of course, these processes improve many indicators of production processes, but there is a downside - this is excessive formalization. Analysis and modeling of business processes do not in themselves bring any economic benefits. Therefore, it is important not just to carry out an analysis and develop a certain business model, but to bring it to at least one client or manufacturer who would benefit from it. And from the implementation of which he would receive invaluable benefits. Once the system is operational, then we can note the fact that a standardized business process development system can be applied. This will significantly save time and material resources for the development of the enterprise as a whole, and therefore material benefits for each employee.

Other systems, programs and platforms for creating and implementing ERP

• 1C:Enterprise 8.0
• CIS "Flagman"
• System21 Aurora (Business/400)
• MFG/PRO
• BSManager CRM/ERP
• Complex "BUKHTA"
• OrganicERP
• iRenaissance
• Infor SyteLine ERP
• Microsoft Dynamics AX
• Microsoft Dynamics NAV
• Oracle E-Business Suite
• SAP Business Suite
• IFS Applications
• SAP Business One
• Ultima ERP
• IT Enterprise
• ERP AVA
• SAP R3
• SIKE ERP
• Compass
• Microsoft XAL
• Millennium B.S.A.
• MONOLITH SQL
• Scala
• Galaxy
• HansaWorld Enterprise
• AVARDA.ERP
• Spectrum:ERP
• Comtec for Business
• ASTOR
• Business Control
• Global ERP
• Oracle JD Edwards EnterpriseOne
• CIS Lexeme
• Sage ERP X3
• Virtuoso
• PayDox
• info:COM
• Smart Retail Suite
• Technoclass
• OPTiMA-WorkFlow
• NOTEMATRIX
• Accounting. Analysis. Control
• Business Suite
• Lawson M3 ERP
• CIS "ILADA"
• proLOG software package
• INTALEV: Corporate management
• LITTER
• ALTIUS – Construction Management
• TRONIX
• DeloPro
• MACONOMY

Top five leaders in the global ERP market:

Microsoft Business Solutions

Russian ERP systems:

"BOSS" system

Galaxy system

System "MAGNAT"

System "Kh3"

System "1C:Enterprise"

System "Parus8".

Problems of implementing Western solutions:

Lack of enterprise readiness for implementation;

Poor implementation project management;

A shortage of funds revealed during the implementation process due to the initial vague pricing policy for software and services.

Benefits of implementationERP-systems:

Reduced operating and management costs by 15%

Working capital savings 2%

Reduction of implementation cycle 25%

Reduced business costs 35%

Reduction of insurance level of warehouse stocks by 20%

Reduction of accounts receivable 12%

Increase in turnover of funds in calculations by 25%

Increase in inventory turnover 30%

Improved utilization of fixed assets 30%

Integration of various activities of the company;

Using the best methodologies;

Possibility of organizational standardization;

Elimination of information asymmetry;

Access to information in real time;

Providing simultaneous access to data for planning and control purposes;

Possibility of interaction and cooperation within the organization;

Ensuring interaction and cooperation between organizations.

Implementation problems:

IT staff need time to plan and evaluate the project's scope, costs, and schedule for completing the plan. It is important to make sure that the process is managed by a specialist who is well versed not only in computer technology, but also in business processes, and who is also able to see the project as a whole, and not its components.

It is important to understand that the ERP system must be somehow connected with the primary business process software, which is engaged in preliminary data processing. Otherwise, transferring information will take too much time and be very ineffective.

Hidden costs tend to appear during the initial processing of real data by the system. This is due to the fact that existing information needs to be converted into the format of the new system. However, during the conversion process, data may become outdated, requiring additional effort to update it. To minimize such costs, it is worthwhile to allocate personnel in advance, whose responsibilities will include checking the efficiency of the entered information, and, if necessary, updating it.

The system should be tested before it is launched. It is best if, before implementation, the head of the project works for some time with a demo version of this product, used in a narrow, not particularly important area of ​​​​work.

Employees serving specific business processes should also conduct their testing, since after the system is implemented, it will be quite difficult to completely change its functionality in any of the specialized areas.

A very important aspect is staff training. It is wrong to think that personnel only need to be taught how to use the new system. People need to be prepared for the changes that global adoption brings, motivated to give back, and accept new forms of control. No matter how much money is invested in automation, it will not achieve its goal if it is rejected by staff.

You should not assume that it is possible to cope with such a voluminous array of work using only your own assets. Even the most intelligent specialists may encounter unfamiliar conditions and issues that will require an outside expert to resolve. Therefore, another cost item will be consulting fees.

Main stages of implementationERP-systems:

origin, initiation, leadership persuasion;

Diagnosis of project problems. Formulation of system requirements (with a consultant);

organizing and conducting a tender for the selection of a system, selection of a consultant.

conclusion of a contract, project organization, team selection, development of project documentation.

team training.

preparing and entering BOM and ROU etc. into the system;

business modeling, in parallel with paragraph 6

testing of the design solution (system). Corrections and improvements.

launch of the system into operation, stabilization period.

An ERP system (Enterprise Resource Planning) is a company's resource management system. Read how to choose it, what are its advantages and disadvantages, how much does it cost and what to consider for successful implementation.

What is an ERP system and why is it needed?

ERP system stands for Enterprise Resource Planning. An ERP system, in simple words, is a company’s resource management system. They are usually implemented at large enterprises with complex production, an extensive branch network, a large range of products, and an increased volume of warehouse operations. Their main advantage is that they allow you to combine several tasks: you can simultaneously account for and plan funds, as well as track their movement; and evaluate labor productivity at the enterprise. In addition, all processes become transparent.

ERP provides:

1. Integration of all business processes according to uniform rules within one system;
2. Prompt receipt by management of information about all aspects of the enterprise’s activities;
3. Planning and control of the organization’s activities (short-term and long-term plans of various departments are linked to each other).

As a result, the efficiency of business management and its competitiveness increase.

The ERP system is also convenient in that it can be implemented in parts (modules), automating, for example, first production and then work with personnel. The set of modules covers all areas of activity, which allows you to automate almost all business processes.

The experience of enterprises that have been successfully implemented shows that as a result, warehouse inventories are reduced (by an average of 21.5%), labor productivity increases (by 17.5%), and the number of timely completed orders increases (by 14.5%). In addition, the investment attractiveness of a business increases, especially for foreign investors who always want it to be transparent.

Pros and cons of an ERP system

Resource management systems have two serious disadvantages: they are usually expensive and time-consuming to implement.

Expenses should be considered by company management as strategic investments that will not immediately bring additional profit. Typically, payback comes only after a few years.

The high cost consists of several components:

• the price of one license, that is, in fact, the price of one workplace, ranges from $1,500 to $8,000;
• the price for consulting services, implementation and support ranges from 100–500% of the cost;
• user training price – from $1000 per week.

A long and complex ERP implementation is usually due to the need for a major overhaul of the company's operations. It cannot be implemented in an enterprise where business processes are not streamlined (see also about). That is why a preliminary independent study of the enterprise by a consulting company is required. This will make it possible to understand whether it is possible to implement any system at a given enterprise or whether business processes must first be adjusted. If this stage is skipped, the company risks losing huge amounts of money if the system installation is unsuccessful or delayed.

If the study reveals that the organization is ready for installation (that is, all business processes are sufficiently streamlined), you can begin to draw up a work plan. At the same time, management must determine which functional areas and which types of production need to be covered, and which reports to prepare.

It is advisable to draw up a document “Requirements for an ERP system” for use primarily within the enterprise. It must formalize and describe all its essential characteristics. Only after this should you start making a choice.

According to statistics, only 30% of all implementations are successful, that is, the costs are recouped. However, your company has a chance to improve these disappointing statistics. To do this, you need to take into account other people's experience. Let's talk about everything in order.

Implementation methods

There are several methods for implementing the ERP system.

1. Phased implementation – only a few related business processes are automated. With this option, the risk of failure is relatively low.
2. "Big Bang" - installation entirely and immediately. This is a very risky option, which is preferable for relatively uncomplicated production. This method requires an intensive testing phase, since it is necessary to carefully check how error-free all business processes are automated.
3. Deployment - putting it into effect in one area of ​​production (in a department, branch, etc.), and then spreading to other areas. The deployment itself at each site can be carried out as a phased implementation or as a “big bang”. The risk in this case is usually insignificant (if you do not overdo it with “big bangs”).

It is necessary to carefully analyze which of the indicated ERP implementation methods is most optimal for your company (take into account the costs and experience of other companies), and only then proceed with the choice.

Choosing an ERP system

Today on the Russian market there are several automated enterprise management systems from both Western and domestic manufacturers. Which ERP is better - Western or domestic? Opinions on this issue are very contradictory. Let's highlight the strengths and weaknesses of both options.

Of course, the strength of Western platforms is a clearly defined sequence of actions during production planning. The main drawback is the need for modification taking into account national characteristics. For example, in order to maintain accounting records and prepare reports in accordance with Russian rules, it is necessary to modify the settings of the “Finance” module.

In addition, Russian enterprises where production is carried out according to design and technological documentation (for example, machine-building and instrument-making plants) are required to use the ESKD (Unified System of Design Documentation) and ESTD (Unified System of Technological Documentation) standards. Western automated control systems do not support these standards. Therefore, improvements are needed at the software level. This requires additional costs that should be considered in advance.

Russian systems and their implementation are much cheaper than Western ones. And, of course, domestic specialists take into account Russian specifics.

When choosing an integrator - a company that carries out installation, you need to take into account two factors: its competence and experience in automating enterprises in similar industries or specific business processes. You should also pay attention to what professional services the integrator provides (consulting, business process optimization, project management, performance assessment, staff training

Installation costs

When forming a preliminary project budget, it is necessary to take into account that the costs include not only the cost of the program itself (shell, user licenses, etc.) and the services of a system integrator. The estimate will also include the cost of customization taking into account existing business processes, the cost of user training services (and for large companies also a training center and support service), the cost of purchasing or renting additional equipment, as well as possible costs of attracting third-party consultants. And finally, it is worth taking into account the costs of the motivational part (including deductions) for project participants.

The project budget should include possible cost overruns. Both customers and representatives of consulting companies, as a rule, consider it quite normal if actual costs exceed the planned ones by 10–15 percent, but in practice these discrepancies are larger.

When installing ERP, companies face necessary, but sometimes unexpected, costs. For many, this is the cost of staff training, which is often comparable to the cost of the system. However, workers almost always have to learn a new set of processes rather than just a different software interface, which increases costs.

Another surprise may await the enterprise when checking connections between modules and other programs. Organizations, as a rule, already have software packages for procurement, production planning, barcoding, etc. If additional configuration of the ERP system is required to ensure compatibility with these programs, a sharp increase in costs for integration, testing and maintenance of the software is inevitable.

Consulting fees are also a major expense, but to avoid unexpectedly high costs, the consultant's responsibilities should be clearly stated in the consultant's contract.

Reasons for unsuccessful implementation of ERP systems

Many enterprises, in order to save money, rely only on their own information service or invite temporary work third-party specialists, trying to save on consultant services. Unfortunately, this often leads to work dragging on for several years, and the company losing time and resources. The fact is that the introduction of resource management systems involves the reorganization of all business processes, and such a task is often beyond the capabilities of internal and freelance specialists.

However, if company management decides to completely entrust the ERP installation to a system integrator, another mistake is possible. All functions are transferred to consultants. The experts themselves take a distant position - they say, they will do it, and we’ll see. But even the most qualified consultants cannot see and know the entire state of affairs in the company, and in the end it will be the company’s personnel who will have to work with the system. The success of the project depends equally on the consultants and on the company itself. Therefore, it is better when both parties are responsible for the results.

Problems may arise if a large organization installs the entire system (the “big bang” method). Experience shows that failure in this case is almost guaranteed. A sudden change in operating principles is stressful for the entire enterprise, so the process should under no circumstances be artificially accelerated. Staff must gradually become accustomed to the changes that ERP brings. Therefore, it is better to first choose phased implementation or deployment methods.

You must be prepared for employee resistance. This is one of the main problems that management faces. It is due to the fact that employees have significantly more worries for a long time. In addition, their mistakes, thanks to innovations, become noticeable to all participants in business processes and, above all, to management (see. ).

And lastly, after installation, do not expect a quick and “miraculous” transformation of the company. As we have already noted, the effect of ERP implementation is a matter of time. The main positive result of the first stage of the system’s operation is that it will force you to debug and improve all business processes. And this is already a lot.

User support and motivation

It is worth mentioning two separately important aspects automation: user training and support, as well as motivation. It is logical to train the implementation team first to work with the new IT system, and then organize a user training center (if the company is large) or hold a series of face-to-face meetings if there are not many employees. You can also teach remotely, using webinars, recorded courses and other opportunities.

After implementation has taken place, it is necessary to provide users with a constantly updated library of instructions, for example, on a corporate portal.

You also need to remember about motivation. The implementation of any ERP system requires enormous labor costs from participants, so unmotivated personnel, including in ordinary positions, will significantly increase staff turnover.

Top 10: Online ERP systems

A solution on the 1C:Enterprise platform for building complex information systems for managing the activities of multi-industry enterprises, taking into account the best global and domestic practices in the automation of large and medium-sized businesses.

Multifunctional ERP system (actually several similar systems, including AX, Nav) from Microsoft for medium and large companies. Covers all areas of management: production and distribution, supply chains and projects, finance and business analysis tools, customer and employee relations. Provides a portal for web access based on Windows Sharepoint Services.

ERP system for production management, e-commerce, service automation, customer relationships (CRM). Online access. Possibility of renting

Open ERP/CRM system with web interface. Includes modules for managing distribution, warehouses, e-commerce, finance, and document flow. The Compiere server part is built on the JBoss application server. There is a desktop client in Java. There is Russian localization and a support community

SaaS business management system based on 1C. The functionality of the system includes financial management, budgeting, personnel management, CRM, document management, project management, service management, reporting and analytics. It is possible to work from mobile devices.

A comprehensive ERP/CRM/E-commerce solution for large businesses with a modular structure. More than 40 modules. Advanced integration capabilities. Mobile access and web access via portal. Contains the functionality of email, intranet, sed, online store, internet services.

SaaS service based on the open-source OpenERP system. Hundreds of modules are available, incl. CRM, warehouse management, purchasing management, Project management, Online Store, POS, etc.

A CRM/ERP program that can work on its own, in the background, without requiring human attention. This is a robot guarding your business, which helps you do routine or complex operations that are frankly boring you, but need to be done. We have a list of things OneBox can do itself. But you can come up with any perversion of your own, and we will try to bring it to life in a robot.

Comprehensive SaaS ERP/CRM/e-commerce solution. Extensive integration capabilities, customization of business processes, business intelligence. Provides a mobile client, platform for developers.

SaaS solution for budgeting, allows you from anywhere globe access financial reports and participate in the company's financial planning and forecasting processes. Integration with Netsuite. Available in Russian.

Cloud version of the ERP system Compass. All modules are available. A small client part is installed on users' computers

An ERP system for medium-sized businesses that allows you to manage production processes, logistics, finance, and customer relationships. It provides a full-fledged Web interface. It has a completely Russian-language interface and meets all the requirements of our legislation regarding accounting and tax accounting.

Web-based system that allows you to automate enterprises in such key areas as enterprise resource planning (ERP), fixed asset management (EAM) and service management (ESM)

A modular ERP system based on Odoo is designed to automate the management of company resources. Optimizes enterprise costs, employee work and automates document flow. Additional integration is available with the services of Nova Poshta, PrivatBank, Prom.ua, Binotel.

The IT-Enterprise system fully complies with the standards and concepts of MRPII, MES, APS and ERP. There is a cloud version. Thin client.

Cloud solution for financial and operational planning, sales and human resources management.

Integrated cloud-based application suite for managing finances, procurement and project portfolio for small/medium businesses

Integrated SaaS ERP solution for small/medium businesses. Contains modules: CRM, financial management, project management, supply chain management, HRM, Service desk, financial management.

A set of business systems for large companies. Many systems have a cloud version