Answer:
ERP or Enterprise Resource Planning
Explanation:
Earlier, each department in an organization used to have its own software system. For example, sales department used to store its information in a database management system like Access.
With the growth in organizations, the need for more sophisticated software system paved the way for large and integrated systems such as ERP, Enterprise Resource Planning. ERP combines the application requirement of all the departments of the organization; data being stored in a centralized database.
ERP is accessible to all the authorized employees and has can be accessed via a web interface. ERP is a collection of integrated applications which solely serves the information needs of all the departments of an organization.
The business requirements such as cash flows, production, purchases, payroll and the like are taken care of by the ERP.
The data of one department is made available to all the other departments.
For example, production capacity is accessible to the purchase department. Based on the purchase history and patterns across the demography and time frames, the organization can modify the production activities accordingly.
This ensures proper planning across the organization and hence, maximizes profits.
ERP, unlike the traditional systems, is much more sophisticated and requires sophisticated hardware and software resources. ERP can be implemented either completely or in steps as needed by the organization.
The central repository provided by the ERP improves the management of information throughout the organization and at the same time, reduces the overheads related with separate information systems for individual departments.
ERP requires one time investment and periodic maintenance to ensure availability and reliability of the system. The financial aspect of ERP can be justified when compared with the benefits available.
However, owing to the centralized nature of the ERP, having a backup and recovery system to combat system failure and other disasters becomes indispensible.
