Enterprise systems

Enterprise systems (ES) are large-scale, integrated application-software packages that use the computational, data storage, and data transmission power of modern information technology (IT) to support processes, information flows, reporting, and data analytics within and between complex organizations. In short, ES are packaged enterprise application software (PEAS) systems, where all three adjectives, "packaged", "enterprise", and "application", in combination, restrict the set of things that can be called ES. Although some people^[1] have equated the terms "enterprise system" and "Enterprise resource planning (ERP) system", since the term "ERP" now has a reasonably clear meaning it is convenient to use the term "enterprise system" to refer to the larger set of all large organization-wide packaged applications with a process orientation including Enterprise resource planning (ERP), Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Supply Chain Management(SCM). Enterprise systems are built on, though do not include, software platforms such as SAP's NetWeaver and Oracle's Fusion and, usually, a relational database. In addition, although data warehousing or business intelligence systems are enterprise-wide packaged application software often sold by ES vendors, since they do not directly support execution of business processes, it is often convenient to exclude them from the definition of ES.

ES is a special class of enterprise application software (namely packaged enterprise application software), which, in turn, is a type of enterprise software. Here, the adjective "enterprise" is used to connote "enterprise class" software, i.e., software designed for use in large organizations. Clearly, under the preceding definition, ES is also a special class of application software (namely packaged enterprise application software).

Computer-based systems built using ES are types of Enterprise Information System, or Management Information System, which, in turn, are types of information system (IS). The distinction between ES and IS is that "ES" refers to software, whereas an IS is a social system that uses IT, i.e., an IS includes people--often in an organizational setting--as well as IT.

[edit]Characteristics of various types of ES, e.g., ERP, CRM, and SCM

Defining
• Large scale or enterprise wide
• Integrated, e.g., though shared database or middleware
• Packaged
• Application software
• Real-time
• Support processes and coordination of work in the organization

Other common characteristics of ES
• Affect the work of many people across the organization
• Mission critical (so usually require annual maintenance)
• Possibly even shaping the enterprise
• Record events (e.g., as documents in SAP) in the shared database
• Provide a shared model of reality across the organization
• Support reporting for decision making
• Expensive
• Highly tailorable (need configuration + maybe code change)
• Difficult and time-consuming to implement
• Facilitate Internal control
• Frequently require considerable training