Saturday, July 7, 2012

Software Development Tips - Sanganak Technologies

Software Development Overview Processes & Tips:
Software development is the process of producing or creating a software. There could be several aims of developing a piece of software:

Usually the aim is to satisfy the specific needs of a client.
Secondly, to meet the needs of the potential users.
For personal use to meet the need of a scientist.

Mainly, it refers to the activities or processes of writing and maintaining the source code. Broadly, it includes the involvement of the conception of the desired software and the manifestation of the product. Software development may include research, new development, modification, reuse, re-engineering, maintenance, or any other activities that result in software products. Usually, it involves the inputs of the several departments like marketing, research and development, engineering and general management.

Most methodologies share some combination of the following stages of software development:
Market research
Gathering requirements for the proposed business solution
Analyzing the problem
Devising a plan or design for the software-based solution
Implementation (coding) of the software
Testing the software
Development
Maintenance and bug fixing

These stages are often referred to collectively as the software development lifecycle, or SDLC. Different approaches to software development may carry out these stages in different orders, or devote more or less time to different stages. The level of detail of the documentation produced at each stage of software development may also vary. These stages may also be carried out in turn (a “waterfall” based approach), or they may be repeated over various cycles or iterations (a more "extreme" approach). The more extreme approach usually involves less time spent on planning and documentation, and more time spent on coding and development of automated tests. More “extreme” approaches also promote continuous testing throughout the development lifecycle, as well as having a working (or bug-free) product at all times. More structured or “waterfall” based approaches attempt to assess the majority of risks and develop a detailed plan for the software before implementation (coding) begins, and avoid significant design changes and re-coding in later stages of the software development lifecycle.

Planning
The important task in creating a software product is extracting the requirements or requirements analysis.Customers typically have an abstract idea of what they want as an end result, but not what software should do. Incomplete, ambiguous, or even contradictory requirements are recognized by skilled and experienced software engineers at this point. Frequently demonstrating live code may help reduce the risk that the requirements are incorrect.

Once the general requirements are gathered from the client, an analysis of the scope of the development should be determined and clearly stated. This is often called a scope document.


Certain functionality may be out of scope of the project as a function of cost or as a result of unclear requirements at the start of development. If the development is done externally, this document can be considered a legal document so that if there are ever disputes, any ambiguity of what was promised to the client can be clarified.


Implementation, testing and documenting:
Implementation is the part of the process where software engineers actually program the code for the project.

Software testing is an integral and important part of the software development process. This part of the process ensures that defects are recognized as early as possible.


Documenting the internal design of software for the purpose of future maintenance and enhancement is done throughout development. This may also include the authoring of an API, be it external or internal.


Deployment and maintenance:
Deployment starts after the code is appropriately tested, is approved for release and sold or otherwise distributed into a production environment.

Software Training and Support is important and a lot of developers fail to realize that. It would not matter how much time and planning a development team puts into creating software if nobody in an organization ends up using it. People are often resistant to change and avoid venturing into an unfamiliar area, so as a part of the deployment phase, it is very important to have training classes for new clients of your software.


Maintaining and enhancing software to cope with newly discovered problems or new requirements can take far more time than the initial development of the software. It may be necessary to add code that does not fit the original design to correct an unforeseen problem or it may be that a customer is requesting more functionality and code can be added to accommodate their requests. If the labor cost of the maintenance phase exceeds 25% of the prior-phases' labor cost, then it is likely that the overall quality of at least one prior phase is poor. In that case, management should consider the option of rebuilding the system (or portions) before maintenance cost is out of control.


Bug Tracking System tools are often deployed at this stage of the process to allow development teams to interface with customer/field teams testing the software to identify any real or perceived issues. These software tools, both open source and commercially licensed, provide a customizable process to acquire, review, acknowledge, and respond to reported issues.

Anil Bhat
Cell :  +91 – 9911 720 780


HR Management Software



HR Management System
Human Resource Management System is a software that automates the human resource system of an organization. Human Resource is the most essential and most important resource in case of any organization. Managing human resource can be a difficult task especially when in case of very large organizations, PSU and Multinational Companies. Human Resource Management System has become an essential need for small and large organizations alike. Human Resource Management has many risks associated with it and automation of this process generally the reduce the associated risks and also proved to be cost effective as compared to traditional methods of human resource management. What is needed is an effective software solution that would fulfill the HR needs of your organization and provide you with a system effective enough to handle all employees and other employee related factors. The main modules of Human Resource Management System are payroll system and appraisal system. One of the effective methods of Human Resource Management System nowadays is the ERP System.

ERP is one of the best ways of managing human resources or any kind of resources. If you are specifically looking for a software to manage resources as in human resources then you should definitely go for ERP System. ERP stands for Enterprise Resource Planning. As the name suggests it deals with management of resources of an organization and as employees are the most important resources of an organization therefore use of ERP in such a case will be highly effective.

Another important aspect about Human Resource Management System is use of a CRM System. Human Resources in some cases also include the clients, customers and vendors of the organization. In that case an automated CRM system can also be a module for Human Resource Management System. CRM as we all know stands for Customer Relationship Management. CRM plays an important part of any business and organization as it deals with customers, their problems, their issues, their views and their feedbacks. Customers are the integral part of any business without customers and their need for products and services any business will be worthless and totally useless. With automated CRM you can utilize your customer resources and information in such a way that take your business to new heights. Automation of CRM is also termed as “Business Intelligence”. Business intelligence refers to processing of internal information of the organization and the business in such a way that it retrieves intelligent business information which makes perfect sense to the purpose of the business.

The main job of the HR department is carrying out of Administrative activities. What Human Resource Management System does is that it reduces the work load of HR managers. When they have a software that integrates are the information about each and every kind if human resource utilized in the organization, it become very easy for them to manage the full length human resource of the organization.

Anil Bhat
Cell : +91 – 9911 720 780


Software Architects Interior Designers


Project Management Software for Interior Designers
The main task of a Project Management Software for Interior Designers is to keep track of all the projects and documentation related to each project. Interior designing projects have become quite big these days. People buy properties spread over many acres of land and give the job of decorating it to Interior Designers. A software solution of an Interior Designing project will not only help to keep track of the whole projects but will also manage the designs, requirements and materials required in the process.

Material management is the most important aspect of Project Management Software for Interior Designers. When it comes to interior designing then even a small candle holder or lamp holds great value to the aesthetic value or theme of the room or the building or the house. Most people love to have theme based houses and symmetry is required in some way or other meaning you will be needing lightings, fans, lamps, furniture, tables, and carpets of similar or same types and that too in a particular number. Keeping manual records especially in case of a big project is close to impossible this is where a Project Management Software for Interior Designers and helps interior designers to manage and record everything in an orderly manager which makes sense. Software solution for interior designing adds a professional touch to the whole idea and basic concept of interior designing. Automation is viewed as a tool in every field nowadays; there is no reason for interior designing to be left behind.

Project Management Software for Interior Designers also helps in better designing and understanding of the whole project. It becomes easier to carry out changes and give better presentation to your clients or customers. It creates a good image among customers and increases the confidence in your clients. The main features that an ideal a Project Management Software for Interior Designers should have include a central database to cover information of the whole project, project tracking and logistics facilities, payment details and financial management of the whole project quick calculators that would help in measuring various aspects of a room or a hall to decide the length say of a carpet or a some furniture or decide what kind of lighting would be appropriate. A software for project management for interior designers would customize and standardize the whole process of interior designing. It will take the business of interior designing to new levels. It will also provide require backup and portability features for handling an interior designing project.

Anil Bhat
Cell : +91 – 9911 720 780


Payroll Software


Payroll Management Software
Payroll Software is the most efficient and effective means of managing the financial accounts of an organization. The Payroll Software is basically a tool which handles, salary, bonuses, rewards, expenses, withholdings, deductions and wages of all the employees in an organization. It keeps records of weekly, monthly and annual wages and taxes of all employees. This is a fair system of distributing salary to all employees. No one can say that unfair or unjust deductions or bonuses have been granted out of spite of favor as in this case software that is the Payroll Software is taking all these payroll decisions. A Payroll Software can be customized or made to use your existing applications and systems to take its decision and manage your financial accounting. The major plus points of using an effective payroll system include convenience, easy usability, flexibility, reliability and savings. By savings we mean that it saves a lot of money of the organization by automating the payroll system. Its ease of use is another factor which makes highly important for all the organizations. The funny thing about a Payroll Software is that it is being used by all kind of companies, from Multi National Companies to small businesses to Non Profit Organizations to BPOs; everyone is using a Payroll Software to manage the salary of all their employees.

The major working criterion for Payroll Software is that you have to enter all the initial information and details and the software will produce the slip by automatically calculating the values. They are quick and accurate and the best part of them is that they are highly user friendly and do not require any extra effort or skill to use them. Manual processes took so long and were so lengthy and in most of the cases led to numerous errors which also caused discontent among the employees. Payroll Software ensures that situations like that never occur. From environment point of view, Payroll Software are good because they reduce a lot of paper and some small business houses only adopted the Payroll Software to save  paper.

Moreover, the capability of Payroll Software is much more than the traditional manual payroll system. With automated payroll systems you can effectively store all kind of information related to an employee, helps on tracking of all kind information for salary, it enables electronic transfer of funds, online banking and accounting can be easily enabled with the help of a Payroll Software.  The basic most advantage of using a Payroll Software is that reduces cost and saves a lot of money on part of the organization. It also handles complex issues better like the concept of overtime pay and part time pay can be easily customized according to the rules and regulations of the organization. The major components or modules that can be included in a Payroll Software are human resources systems, general ledger, bill of material, billing timing, etc. Therefore, Payroll Software is the most efficient and effective means of managing the financial accounts of an organization.

Anil Bhat
Cell : +91 – 9911 720 780


Outsourcing Advantages


Outsourcing Advantages
The concept of Outsourcing is a highly famous among the IT based companies located all over the globe, which are quite the cost and quality conscious. They now believe in outsourcing their non-core business projects. There are lot of advantages of outsourcing your work rather than depending on your in-house employee. Even the pioneers of IT industry believes in the fact that IT outsourcing can really helps companies in saving money and growing further if done for the right reasons. Outsourcing of work always help in reducing the efforts one have to do to hire people and pay them a justified cost.
Some of the most commonly observed business outsourced streams comprise of information technology, web-design, content development, recruitment and logistics. Outsourcing is one of the best options available with the companies who want to save their money and time and at the same time get their work done without any risk. Let say if you have come up with the new product and want to promote that product in the competitive market then it is always better to search for outsourcing services in order to fulfill your that requirements. Gone are those days when people use to have wrong mind set about the various IT outsourcing services that are easily available in the market. Now mind set of people are changing with the growing popularity of IT outsourcing services due to its exclusive advantages.
Now a days, business professionals are finding more new and unique means of making proper utilization of outsourcing services and getting maximum benefits out of it. Outsourcing not only helps in saving money but also help in reducing the tensions of finding right person for the job and relaying blindly on them. With the rising completion in the market, companies are opting to outsource various activities such as promoting new products, doing market research and other such work for the growth and expansion of the business and finding new business opportunities. The best thing about outsourcing such activities is that it helps companies to promote their brand and products within a short span of time. Doing the same work by own can take much more time as compare to time consume through outsourcing it.
Note that although IT outsourcing services have lot of advantages that business owners can easily avail but it can be worse if the business owners does not monitor the work progress themselves. Many a times it is observed that business owners usually neglect to monitor weather the project instructions are followed by the outsourcing companies or not. It is the main reason behind the delay in the outsourcing work that at times the companies face because of their own negligence. Just make sure that your work is being done according to your needs and specifications so that at the end of the day you don’t need to panic for it. In today’s cutthroat one need to depend of IT outsourcing to cut cost and get work done more efficiently.

Anil Bhat
Cell :  +91 – 9911 720 780


Website Designing


Web Designing Tips
Website designing is a skill of displaying the combination of images and text to grab the interest and attention of huge crowd. It is a most commonly known as an online presentation of company or business. It is also known as a technique of promoting one’s business, company, products and services. The idea of designing a website comprise of arranging various things with perfection. An ideal website is the one that reflect the creative ability with various advance techniques. It must be a user friendly and have all those bonding elements that the visitors must feel like visiting the website again and again after visiting for the first time.
The people who design a website are by profession known as website designer. It is up to their skill, ideology and creativity that how they fascinate lot of visitors with their innovative and unique website designs. His or her ability of understanding is what determine how the website will appear and what impact it will create in the online web market. If a designed website is visited by large number of customers and especially create a special place in the heart of the target audience then there is no doubt in the fact that your returns will tough the sky soon. Website designing is not a onetime developed process, it needs to be updated with the time. One must put all sort of information that must help customers in coming across with the information they might be looking forward for. The magic of website designing is incomplete without the magic of the text written on it. Content written of the designed website must match up with it perfectly in order turn up more target audience at the site.
It is very important to understand that the design of the website is a first impression of the company and its online presentation and therefore, it must be designed in accordance to the preferences and actions of the audience. Website designing will become quite simple for the website designer if they have a deep understanding about the human behaviour and nature. Further, the advancement in technology has opened the wings of website designers and allows them to think beyond their limitation. They cannot only show their expert mind but also explore their fascinating ideas to show the world how different they can think and do.
Over a period of time, a drastic change in the techniques of website designing has been seen. Amazing improvement in website designs has been witnessed time to time. Earlier website designing is all about presenting a black text in best possible manner whereas these days, it is all about flash, animation, java, php and other advance version which are used for enhancing the beauty of designed website. Website design has undergone tremendous changes especially after the era of 1990's. Now you can have a colourful text, pictures, videos and many other interesting applications that add a few more stars in the glory of the professionally designed website.

Anil Bhat
Cell :  +91 – 9911 720 780

ERP Software Enterprise Resource Planning


Enterprise Resource Planning:
ERP is a platform that facilitates the database control in a company. The working mechanism of ERP is simple and easy to understand. ERP aims to unite the data processed in various departments and division of a company. The central unit referred as the platform controls the entire system. It aims at providing connectivity in order to access the information from all faculties. The benefit of ERP is largely felt nowadays when operations are becoming global in the true sense.

With the intervention of ERP it becomes equally easy for the other departments of the company to check the information regarding the order. Similarly it is not necessary for departments to keep working on it all through to know their chance or in other words discharging their respective area of work in the whole process. On the contrary ERP intimates them as soon as it is their chance. ERP software solution is the one step answer. Implementing ERP in an organization depends upon that whether it could yield necessary benefits rather than the troublemaker.

Enterprise resource planning (ERP)
is an integrated computer-based system used to manage internal and external resources including tangible assets, financial resources, materials, and human resources. It is a software architecture whose purpose is to facilitate the flow of information between all business functions inside the boundaries of the organization and manage the connections to outside stakeholders. Built on a centralized database and normally utilizing a common computing platform, ERP systems consolidate all business operations into a uniform and enterprise wide system environment.

An ERP system can either reside on a centralized server or be distributed across modular hardware and software units that provide "services" and communicate on a local area network. The distributed design allows a business to assemble modules from different vendors without the need for the placement of multiple copies of complex, expensive computer systems in areas which will not use their full capacity.

Origin of the term
The initialism ERP was first employed by research and analysis firm Gartner Group in 1990 as an extension of MRP (Material Requirements Planning; later manufacturing resource planning) and CIM (Computer Integrated Manufacturing), and while not supplanting these terms, it has come to represent a larger whole. It came into use as makers of MRP software started to develop software applications beyond the manufacturing arena. ERP systems now attempt to cover all core functions of an enterprise, regardless of the organization's business or charter. These systems can now be found in non-manufacturing businesses, non-profit organizations and governments.

To be considered an ERP system, a software package should have the following traits:
• It should be integrated and operate in real-time with no periodic batch updates.
• All applications should access one database to prevent redundant data and multiple data definitions.
• All modules should have the same look and feel.
• Users should be able to access any information in the system without needed integration work on the part of the IS department

ERP Components
Transactional Backbone
• Financials
• Distribution
• Human Resources
• Product lifecycle management
Advanced Applications
• Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
• Supply chain management
o Purchasing
o Manufacturing
o Distribution
• Warehouse Management System
Management Portal/Dashboard
• Decision Support System
These modules can exist in a complete system or utilized in an ad-hoc fashion.

Commercial Applications
Manufacturing
Engineering, bills of material, scheduling, capacity, workflow management, quality control, cost management, manufacturing process, manufacturing projects, manufacturing flow
Supply chain management
Order to cash, inventory, order entry, purchasing, product configurator, supply chain planning, supplier scheduling, inspection of goods, claim processing, commission calculation
Financials
General ledger, cash management, accounts payable, accounts receivable, fixed assets
Project management
Costing, billing, time and expense, performance units, activity management
Human resources
Human resources, payroll, training, time and attendance, rostering, benefits
Customer relationship management
Sales and marketing, commissions, service, customer contact and call center support
Data services
Various "self-service" interfaces for customers, suppliers, and/or employees
Access control
Management of user privileges for various processes

Implementation
Businesses have a wide scope of applications and processes throughout their functional units; producing ERP software systems that are typically complex and usually impose significant changes on staff work practices. Implementing ERP software is typically too complex for "in-house" skill, so it is desirable and highly advised to hire outside consultants who are professionally trained to implement these systems. This is typically the most cost effective way. There are three types of services that may be employed for - Consulting, Customization, Support. The length of time to implement an ERP system depends on the size of the business, the number of modules, the extent of customization, the scope of the change and the willingness of the customer to take ownership for the project. ERP systems are modular, so they don't all need be implemented at once. It can be divided into various stages, or phase-ins. The typical project is about 14 months and requires around 150 consultants. A small project (e.g., a company of less than 100 staff) can be planned and delivered within 3–9 months; however, a large, multi-site or multi-country implementation can take years. The length of the implementations is closely tied to the amount of customization desired.

To implement ERP systems, companies often seek the help of an ERP vendor or of third-party consulting companies. These firms typically provide three areas of professional services: consulting; customization; and support. The client organization can also employ independent program management, business analysis, change management, and UAT specialists to ensure their business requirements remain a priority during implementation.

Data migration is one of the most important activities in determining the success of an ERP implementation. Since many decisions must be made before migration, a significant amount of planning must occur. Unfortunately, data migration is the last activity before the production phase of an ERP implementation, and therefore receives minimal attention due to time constraints. The following are steps of a data migration strategy that can help with the success of an ERP implementation

1. Identifying the data to be migrated
2. Determining the timing of data migration
3. Generating the data templates
4. Freezing the tools for data migration
5. Deciding on migration related setups
6. Deciding on data archiving

Process preparation
ERP vendors have designed their systems around standard business processes, based upon best business practices. Different vendor(s) have different types of processes but they are all of a standard, modular nature. Firms that want to implement ERP systems are consequently forced to adapt their organizations to standardized processes as opposed to adapting the ERP package to the existing processes neglecting to map current business processes prior to starting ERP implementation is a main reason for failure of ERP projects. It is therefore crucial that organizations perform a thorough business process analysis before selecting an ERP vendor and setting off on the implementation track. This analysis should map out all present operational processes, enabling selection of an ERP vendor whose standard modules are most closely aligned with the established organization. Redesign can then be implemented to achieve further process congruence. Research indicates that the risk of business process mismatch is decreased by:

• linking each current organizational process to the organization's strategy;
• analyzing the effectiveness of each process in light of its current related business capability;
• understanding the automated solutions currently implemented.

ERP implementation is considerably more difficult (and politically charged) in organizations structured into nearly independent business units, each responsible for their own profit and loss, because they will each have different processes, business rules, data semantics, authorization hierarchies and decision centers. Solutions include requirements coordination negotiated by local change management professionals or, if this is not possible, federated implementation using loosely integrated instances (e.g. linked via Master Data Management) specifically configured and/or customized to meet local needs.]

A disadvantage usually attributed to ERP is that business process redesign to fit the standardized ERP modules can lead to a loss of competitive advantage. While documented cases exist where this has indeed materialized, other cases show that following thorough process preparation ERP systems can actually increase sustainable competitive advantage.

Configuration
Configuring an ERP system is largely a matter of balancing the way you want the system to work with the way the system lets you work. Begin by deciding which modules to install, then adjust the system using configuration tables to achieve the best possible fit in working with your company’s processes

Modules — Most systems are modular simply for the flexibility of implementing some functions but not others. Some common modules, such as finance and accounting are adopted by nearly all companies implementing enterprise systems; others however such as human resource management are not needed by some companies and therefore not adopted. A service company for example will not likely need a module for manufacturing. Other times companies will not adopt a module because they already have their own proprietary system they believe to be superior. Generally speaking the greater number of modules selected, the greater the integration benefits, but also the increase in costs, risks and changes involved

Configuration Tables – A configuration table enables a company to tailor a particular aspect of the system to the way it chooses to do business. For example, an organization can select the type of inventory accounting – FIFO or LIFO – it will employ or whether it wants to recognize revenue by geographical unit, product line, or distribution channel.

So what happens when the options the system allows just aren't good enough? At this point a company has two choices, both of which are not ideal. It can re-write some of the enterprise system’s code, or it can continue to use an existing system and build interfaces between it and the new enterprise system. Both options will add time and cost to the implementation process. Additionally they can dilute the system’s integration benefits. The more customized the system becomes the less possible seamless communication between suppliers and customers

Consulting services
Many organizations do not have sufficient internal skills to implement an ERP project. This results in many organizations offering consulting services for ERP implementation. Typically, a consulting team is responsible for the entire ERP implementation including
1. selecting
2. planning
3. training
4. testing
5. implementation
6. delivery
of any customized modules. Examples of customization includes creating processes and reports for compliance, additional product training; creation of process triggers and workflow; specialist advice to improve how the ERP is used in the business; system optimization; and assistance writing reports, complex data extracts or implementing Business Intelligence

For most mid-sized companies, the cost of the implementation will range from around the list price of the ERP user licenses to up to twice this amount (depending on the level of customization required). Large companies, and especially those with multiple sites or countries, will often spend considerably more on the implementation than the cost of the user licenses—three to five times more is not uncommon for a multi-site implementation

Unlike most single-purpose applications, ERP packages have historically included full source code and shipped with vendor-supported team IDEs for customizing and extending the delivered code. During the early years of ERP the guarantee of mature tools and support for extensive customization was an important sales argument when a potential customer was considering developing their own unique solution in-house, or assembling a cross-functional solution by integrating multiple "best of breed" applications

"Core system" customization vs configuration
Increasingly, ERP vendors have tried to reduce the need for customization by providing built-in "configuration" tools to address most customers' needs for changing how the out-of-the-box core system works. Key differences between customization and configuration include

• Customization is always optional, whereas some degree of configuration (e.g., setting up cost/profit centre structures, organisational trees, purchase approval rules, etc.) may be needed before the software will work at all.
• Configuration is available to all customers, whereas customization allows individual customer to implement proprietary "market-beating" processes.
• Configuration changes tend to be recorded as entries in vendor-supplied data tables, whereas customization usually requires some element of programming and/or changes to table structures or views.
• The effect of configuration changes on the performance of the system is relatively predictable and is largely the responsibility of the ERP vendor. The effect of customization is unpredictable and may require time-consuming stress testing by the implementation team.
• Configuration changes are almost always guaranteed to survive upgrades to new software versions. Some customizations (e.g. code that uses pre-defined "hooks" that are called before/after displaying data screens) will survive upgrades, though they will still need to be re-tested. More extensive customizations (e.g. those involving changes to fundamental data structures) will be overwritten during upgrades and must be re-implemented manually.

By this analysis, customizing an ERP package can be unexpectedly expensive and complicated, and tends to delay delivery of the obvious benefits of an integrated system. Nevertheless, customizing an ERP suite gives the scope to implement secret recipes for excellence in specific areas while ensuring that industry best practices are achieved in less sensitive areas.

Extensions
In this context, "Extensions" refers to ways that an ERP environment can be "extended" (supplemented) with third-party programs. It is technically easy to expose most ERP transactions to outside programs that do other things, e.g:

• archiving, reporting and republishing (these are easiest to achieve, because they mainly address static data);
• performing transactional data captures, e.g. using scanners, tills or RFIDs (also relatively easy because they touch existing data);

However, because ERP applications typically contain sophisticated rules that control how data can be created or changed, some such functions can be very difficult to implement.

Advantages
In the absence of an ERP system, a large manufacturer may find itself with many software applications that cannot communicate or interface effectively with one another. Tasks that need to interface with one another may involve.

• ERP systems connect the necessary software in order for accurate forecasting to be done. This allows inventory levels to be kept at maximum efficiency and the company to be more profitable.
• Integration among different functional areas to ensure proper communication, productivity and efficiency
• Design engineering (how to best make the product)
• Order tracking, from acceptance through fulfillment
• The revenue cycle, from invoice through cash receipt
• Managing inter-dependencies of complex processes bill of materials
• Tracking the three-way match between purchase orders (what was ordered), inventory receipts (what arrived), and costing (what the vendor invoiced)
• The accounting for all of these tasks: tracking the revenue, cost and profit at a granular level.

ERP Systems centralize the data in one place. Benefits of this include:

• Eliminates the problem of synchronizing changes between multiple systems - consolidation of finance, marketing and sales, human resource, and manufacturing applications
• Permits control of business processes that cross functional boundaries
• Provides top-down view of the enterprise (no "islands of information"), real time information is available to management anywhere, anytime to make proper decisions.
• Reduces the risk of loss of sensitive data by consolidating multiple permissions and security models into a single structure.
• Shorten production leadtime and delivery time
• Facilitating business learning, empowering, and building common visions

Some security features are included within an ERP system to protect against both outsider crime, such as industrial espionage, and insider crime, such as embezzlement. A data-tampering scenario, for example, might involve a disgruntled employee intentionally modifying prices to below-the-breakeven point in order to attempt to interfere with the company's profit or other sabotage. ERP systems typically provide functionality for implementing internal controls to prevent actions of this kind. ERP vendors are also moving toward better integration with other kinds of information security tools.

Disadvantages
Problems with ERP systems are mainly due to inadequate investment in ongoing training for the involved IT personnel - including those implementing and testing changes - as well as a lack of corporate policy protecting the integrity of the data in the ERP systems and the ways in which it is used.

Disadvantages
• Customization of the ERP software is limited.
• Re-engineering of business processes to fit the "industry standard" prescribed by the ERP system may lead to a loss of competitive advantage.
• ERP systems can be very expensive (This has led to a new category of "ERP light" solutions)
• ERPs are often seen as too rigid and too difficult to adapt to the specific workflow and business process of some companies—this is cited as one of the main causes of their failure.
• Many of the integrated links need high accuracy in other applications to work effectively. A company can achieve minimum standards, then over time "dirty data" will reduce the reliability of some applications.
• Once a system is established, switching costs are very high for any one of the partners (reducing flexibility and strategic control at the corporate level).
• The blurring of company boundaries can cause problems in accountability, lines of responsibility, and employee morale.
• Resistance in sharing sensitive internal information between departments can reduce the effectiveness of the software.
• Some large organizations may have multiple departments with separate, independent resources, missions, chains-of-command, etc, and consolidation into a single enterprise may yield limited benefits.

Anil Bhat
Cell :  +91 – 9911 720 780