Title
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Software Review
History
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is business process management software that enables an organization to use a system of integrated applications to manage and automate core business functions. This platform of applications typically focuses on automated workflows for financial processes. The Village’s present Harris Innoprise ERP does not to satisfy the five primary requirements that an ideal ERP provides.
First, it has to be functional and satisfy the requirements of the business units, end users and customers. This system would have an intuitive user interface that is easy to learn and requires little effort to input and retrieve information. Innoprise is cumbersome for the user to navigate. It requires staff to utilize third-party vendor software, Excel spreadsheets, and Access databases to provide the functionality Innoprise lacks. It also does not integrate with the Village’s Tyler EAM/311/EnerGov applications resulting in dual entry and other inefficiencies.
Second, the ideal ERP has to be sustainable. The ERP vendor must be an established company with sustained growth, a stable financial base, and a large customer base. A large public sector customer base is especially important due to its unique reporting, compliance, and records requirements. An ideal ERP is developed using current software code, platforms and architectures. A customer should not invest in an antiquated, soon to be end of life, platform. Harris is not adequately investing in the Innoprise ERP platform leaving customers with antiquated software and unreliable technical support.
Third, the ideal ERP has to be affordable. Regardless of how well an ERP satisfies the customer’s requirements; the customer needs to determine if it can sustain the cost of implementation, ongoing onsite and vendor support, and annual licensing costs. While the Innoprise licensing and support costs are $68,000 annually, the...
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