Various Enterprise Systems And Software For CRLS Essay.

Write a report on various enterprise systems and software that can be adopted by the CRLS with the selection of a single most important software.

Discussion

Enterprise resource planning is generation of software that is currently used in the business organization as information system management with the capability to manage various resources within an organization. ERP software remains some of the most important tools that currently help the business management to organize, plan and manage various resources within the organization. High court judge Chris and Richard need to manage its organization that offers legal services to clients with increasing number of client prompting enlargement of human resource. In order to plan and manage various elements such as employees, clients, and resources the company intend to use computerized system design to manage all these resources. Therefore, ERP offers the best solution to Chris and Richard Legal’s support (CRLS) especially cloud-based ERP with few maintenance requirements. The organization decides to consider many different ERP software that will assist the organization performs the operation management functions for the business. The evaluation criteria for the organization are financial management, human resource management, and client management. The following report explores various enterprise systems and software that can be adopted by the CRLS with the selection of a single most important software.

The business requirement for the ERP includes financial management, client management, and human resource management. Firstly, the CRLS need to manage both donations and accounts records and this will be offered by the ERP that the organization that wants to perform. Secondly, there are increasing clients that need to be managed including customer’s record, service delivery and customer’s relation (Gunawan & Surendro 2014, pp. 57-62). The ERP should have CRM module that will help manage the client’s records and feedbacks. Thirdly, managing employees that will include lawyers and administrative officials are also need to be part of the ERP. Therefore, the software should have HR module for managing human resources. Lastly, Business Intelligence is another business requirement that enables the organization utilizes its accounting records to draw good report and decision making (Loh & Lenny 2004, pp 3433–3455). A typical infrastructure for the organization is similar to the below architecture.

Challenges that remain in the selection of software based on business requirement include resources available, infrastructure and technical skills. Firstly, infrastructure remains one of the critical features when adopting ERP for the organization as there is the need for technological machines that can be used to host and maintain the computerized enterprise planning.  Secondly, human resource is another resource challenge that is needed for application of ERP in the organization as the business must employ or hires technical staffs to maintain the computer system. The financial resource is another resource that is needed to purchase the machines that are needed for the organization. These challenges make the organization to opt for cloud-based ERP due to its low maintenance cost and infrastructure requirement (Grant, Richard, Nick & Christopher 2006, pp 2–15).    

The marketplace for ERP consists of many vendors that deals in many categories of ERP that range from small business to large business organizations. In addition, the software works for accounting, human resource, warehousing management, engineering, architect and industries among many other businesses. For instance, the marketplace for ERP offers varieties of software depending on size, shape, and type. This implies that marketplace for software has software for both large and small organizations (Khosrow–Puor 2006, p. 865). Moreover, some software such as Microsoft ERPs works mostly in the large organization though some are designed to meet the needs of small and medium organizations. Software vendors in the marketplace provide ERPs that can be evaluated based on the business requirements and the cost of software. In addition, ERP is designed based on the size of the organization and the financial capabilities of the organization or customer (Kraemmerand et al. 2003, pp 228–248).  Another marketplace that is currently trending is the mobile application platforms. This has contributed to the ERP development since software currently is designed to fit on any device including mobile devices.    

Business Requirement

When identifying software vendor it is important to consider the friendliness of the system that will make the software usable. Some of the software vendors are Microsoft Dynamics provides Microsoft Dynamics ERP, Oracle provides Oracle e-Business, SAGE provides SAGE Line 500 and 1000, Infor Global Solutions provides Infor ERP, NetSuite provides NetERP, Lawson software provides Lawson S3 and M3, Odoo provides OpenERP software and SAP provides (Yusuf, Gunasekaran & Abthorpe 2004). Microsoft Corporation offers a variety of ERP software coming for different business requirement and size, for example, Microsoft Dynamics X GP. Sage Group as software vendor provides 100, 200, 300, 500 and 1000 version with the different feature but retaining features from the Sage 100 version. Odoo S.A, on the other hand, provides Odoo ERP that is open source software. Oracle provides a variety of software that includes Oracle E-business, Oracle Fusion Application, Siebel, Hyperion and PeopleSoft Enterprise among many others (Shaul & Tauber 2012, pp 360–384).

ERP software is mostly built on UNIX system especially large EPR systems and most operation system that is used for EPR system are Linux or Windows NT. EPR systems are built to use other operating system and this makes the system to be unquestionable (Rubina, Paula & Alta 2011, p. 229 – 238). The EPR system that CRLS can be built or can be purchased that is already built. The system will use a database that can be Oracle 10Gr2, Oracle 12c, Oracle 11Rr2, and SQL Server. Based on the system requirement three best software for the organizations are SAGE, Odoo and Microsoft Dynamics. The best ERP will be cloud-based ERP and offers both small to medium enterprise business solution (Fryling 2010, pp 391–421). Some other forms of ERP such as Oracle are good for a very large organization that is also paged to high cost, infrastructure, and maintenance requirement for running or using the software. The organization further require a cloud-based ERP that will have low maintenance cost as most of the data management is maintained by the data center offering the cloud hosting for the business (Kovacs & Paganelli 2003, pp165–165).

The software is developed by SAGE Group with business solutions ranging from small business to medium or large organization. The philosophy of the vendor lies on making a smarter decision faster. This is based on gaining productivity and reducing operating cost thereby increasing revenue. In addition, the philosophy seeks to serve customers with satisfaction priority (Firra 2013). Software specifications include various components that depend on package purchase by the customer. This implies that SAGE software is categorized into Sage 100, 500 and 1000 depending on modules in package and pricing plan. Hardware requirement for the Sage software includes Window server 2012 R2 Essentials that mostly fits Sage 300. Another version of Sage ERP Accpac Version 6.0 uses Windows 2008 R2 and Microsoft SQL 2008R2.  Software release has been progressive as the vendor initially consists of Sage 100, 500 and 100. The need to add some more specification to the software prompted the vendor to release another version that was Sage 300 (Duke 2010). The general architecture of SAGE ERP can be described as consisting of three interfaces and this is database hosted at SAGE Group, cloud server and ERP linked to staffs via browsers.

The Marketplace

Gap or fit analysis for the SAGE reveals some gaps in the implementation of software in managing the business process in CRLS. SAGE ERP shows minimal adaptability for the business changing environment. The software is advantageous in its ability to work at different levels of the business depending on various versions. Since the software has proved good on-premise operations, moving or implementing the online version of the software proves to be difficult.  This is evidenced by its minimal online versions showing the software inability to work under cloud-based environment. Secondly, though the software has scalability features its characteristics of allowing business size to count remains important; the software shows little expansion features that can assist in the event the number of clients increases and lawyers number also increase. In addition, SAGE software especially SAGE 100 and 500 has few modules as compared to 1000, this gives the software for a smaller organization little feature that is also connected pricing of software.

Odoo software is a management software that composed many different management tools all incorporated to form a single EPR software. The vendor for the software is Odoo SA and is written in Python, JavaScript, and XML platform. The software works in Linux, Unix-like, Windows, Android, and iOS. The software various components or types include ERP, CRM, CMS and accounting though some have all these components joined to form a single ERP software (Jaikumar 2010). The software architecture lies on the Python scripting with Postgres database that is developed on GitHub. The main software module is an OpenObject framework with 30 core modules and over 3000 community modules. The release strategy that the company uses is based on the end of life strategy for older version when a new version is released into the marketplace. Moreover, the company releases software under various license plans such as GNU, AGL and LGPL license. Odoo software is multicurrency with the ability to change different foreign currencies that allows various transactions and accounting activities (Mader 2015). The general architecture of the Odoo ERP consist of two main layers interconnected via clouds and these are server and database. In between the server and database is connected by cloud yet on the other side between server and browsers are also interfaced by clouds.

Gap analysis of the software shows that Odoo EPR especially online version is cloud-based and good for the business though it has some few weaknesses. The software supports small to medium organizations and this also is true with CRLS (Reis 2015). In addition, the software has types such as CRM for customer relationship management, HR for human resource management and accounting. As an organization, CRLS wanted EPR with the ability to manage increasing lawyers, clients and accounting records. The software is cloud-based ERP that allows little management of infrastructure within the organization as most maintenance are offered by data center (Nowak & Kurbel 2016, pp. 135-146). These business requirements are readily provided by Odoo ERP software. The only weakness of the software remains on the software’s simplicity. The software is simple and with increasing users the software has limited capability to expand and adapt to the larger size of the organization.

Identification of Software Vendor

Microsoft Dynamics is another ERP that also offers cloud-based or premise-based ERP solution that allows management, planning, and organizing of various resources within an organization. Microsoft Dynamics come in many different ERP with different functions or components depending on the business need. The vendor for the software is Microsoft Corporation with financial position reaching over $16.79 billion and $193.69 billion assets. The vendor has the philosophy of the empowering all individuals throughout the world to achieve their aspirations in the corporate world. Microsoft ERP works for a range of business ranging from small business to larger international organizations (Dynamics Lifecycle Services Communication 2016). Microsoft ERP is multi-currency ERP that allows the user to change to their desired currency when performing transaction or accounting records management. Hardware requirement for the software includes Runtime SQL License also provided by the Microsoft Corporation. The ERP module can be described Starter Pack that consists of all the modules that are offered by the software vendor. Each Starter Pack contains various components of the software for managing different aspects such as Financial Management Human Resource Management and Business Intelligence & Reporting (Yudin 2010).  Microsoft as a vendor offers many support systems that range from general support to software updates that are essential for both optimizations of processes and security. The general architecture of the Microsoft ERP consists of three layers or interfaces and this is server, cloud, and browser. The server has various component attached to it that are hosted within the cloud hence can be accessed from any place by clients, staff, and administrators.

Gap or fit analysis of the Microsoft Dynamics ERP shows some matching with the business requirement for the CRLS organization. Firstly, the ERP software is able to work for both small and larger organization presenting the possibility of expansion in future. This gives the software ability to manage all the elements of the organization without any future expansion limitation as in many ERPs. Secondly, Microsoft ERP is good for the organization since it is cloud-based though it is also premise-based ERP.  One of the requirements for the organization is the online ERP or cloud-based ERP with minimal infrastructure maintenance capability. Thirdly, the software has all the required components that are linked together to form a good resource planning tool for the organization. Some of these components are CRM, HR, accounting and Business Intelligence (Sheilds 2005, p. 9). The business requirement includes client or customer record management, employee management for lawyers and administrative employee and accounting management that give a clear record for both donations and organization financial records.

The evaluation criteria for the organization include the infrastructure requirement, financial position of the organization that allows it purchase and flexibility and modules. When evaluating the three ERP software business match is very important as it points to the ability of the software to do the required task and this includes the ability to keep records and Report (Ebrahim & Irani 2005, pp 589–611). The flexibility aspects allow the future expansion and adaptation of the software to the ever-changing business environment. Modules are the various components of the business that should be supported by the software. The cost of installing and maintain the software is another criteria that are used to evaluate the ERP software. Some software such as Oracle ERPs requires high infrastructure and maintenance that also come along with software technical skills or manpower. Infrastructure limitation that makes some maintenance difficult is also another criterion as it mostly focuses on software hardware and software requirements (Almajali 2016, pp 549).

ERP Systems Requirements

One of the best ERP software from the above mention software is Microsoft Dynamics software. Microsoft Dynamics software offers ERP solution with a range of elements that are good for CRLS. These aspects of Microsoft Dynamics include HR, Payroll, CRM and Business Intelligence (Costa, Ferreira, Bento & Aparicio 2016, pp 659–671). The beauty part of Microsoft Dynamics GP software remains cloud-based ERP with the capability to access from any browser. Firstly, Microsoft Dynamics ERP offers both small and medium enterprise planning solutions with the capability to expand to larger business. Secondly, the software is good for both business and human resources with the ability to manage the human resource for the business. Thirdly, software is good for accounting which enables the organization to organize, plan and manage financial resources for the organization. Finally, the ERP software that is good for CRLS and will also manage other business processes that include Business Intelligence incorporated with customer support module (Vilpola 2008, pp 47–76). Microsoft Dynamics matches the range of hardware requirement owing to its well-established software support system that is always available for the business.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Enterprise Resource Planning remains critical operational, planning and reporting tool in the current business environment. Chris and Richard Legal’s support (CRLS) has seen an increase in a number of clients coming for legal advice. This has also lead to increase in the number of lawyers that are hired for the organization. In order to manage clients, employees and financial resources there is the need for a good managerial tool that is computerized hence the need for Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). There are many vendors for ERP software in the marketplace that include, Microsoft, Oracle, SAGE, Infor Global Solutions, SAP, Lawson, Odoo S.A and  NetSuite among many more vendors. Among these software three which include SAGE, Odoo and Microsoft Dynamics are selected owing to various business requirement and gap/fit analysis.

Based on the analysis of the ERPs and the business requirement I would recommend Microsoft Dynamic ERP. Microsoft come with some advantages that include flexibility as it can be used both in small, medium and large organization. The ERP is cloud based and this also increases flexibility, limited space and infrastructure requirement. The software comes in various versions, and types that you select based on the size of the business and type of the business hence good for CRLS. For larger organizations, oracle remains one of the best ERPs for the business. Another alternative to Microsoft is SAGE ERP though it require to purchase specific version depending on size of organization.

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