I've spent the last 10 years supporting Software Systems used by large companies. I started working with ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) systems that run all aspects of the company - Sales, Procurement, to Finance. ERP systems do a good job - but they don't provide businesses with a competitive advantage. The company I worked for installed an ERP system but quickly realized specialized systems were needed in addition to the ERP system. Best of Breed systems were designed to specialize in a specific area i.e. Warehouse Management Systems (WMS) were designed to provide exceptional distribution processes.
My first experience integrating a "bolt on" WMS wasn't very impressive. We linked the two systems through flat files. While this improved the performance within the warehouse walls, it left a lot of room for improvement. The Sales department did not have visibility into the order once it was transmitted to the warehouse. Even worst, the order could not be changed once it was downloaded into the warehouse. Customer's weren't satisfied with sales reps suggesting that they accept the order as is and simply return items that they didn't want. The order hadn't even shipped yet but they couldn't change it!
Clearly flat file integration was not the ideal solution.
In future blogs, I will explain the learning curve experienced as we gradually improved our integration between the host ERP system and several bolt on best of breed systems.
KA
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Integrated Systems Vs Best of Breed:
ReplyDeleteBest of Breed(BOB) means using a specific program for specific application.
Integrated Systems is a software package in order to satisfy the requirements of wide range of functions.
BOB and Integrated systems can be distingushed on the basis of the following terms: Time, cost, leverage , human resources,degree of fit,simplicity of use, support, Data sharing, functionality, etc.
So, A company should consider all the above factors in order to buy a system.Also, the decision depends on the size of the organization, management style,complexity of sub-entities,decision making stategies,etc
These days,many organizations are beginning to adopt an integrated systems strategy and are filling in the gaps with best of breed systems.
References for the above post:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.olcsoft.com/select_0800.htm
http://www.bpic.co.uk/articles/bobvfis.htm