Second wave of ERP

According to Andre Wiid, sales and channel manager at HansaWorld South Africa, it's a process that has taken a natural course. From the core applications commonly associated with ERP, such as the general ledger, debtors and creditors, to the warehousing, distribution and logistics and other components, more have been added. These include CRM systems, business intelligence, asset management and many more.

At the same time, the 'person-to-person' communications aspects of doing business have also seen major development. Email, SMS, mobile phones, landline phones, web chat, video (and even the occasional fax) have all become standard methods of conducting business. However, while communication and collaboration is as natural to doing business, as a general ledger is to accounting, these have not yet seen inclusion in the ERP system.

That, says Wiid, is where the IBP differs. In what he calls a 'single stack', all enterprise applications and communications are brought together. Data from previously discrete systems - the 'line of business' applications and the desktop and personal productivity tools - are combined.

Practical level application

Wiid says it's best to consider the value through a simple scenario. "When a call comes in from a customer, the system can identify who is calling; it can cross reference whether that client has any outstanding deliveries, provide sales history, alert the operator to any unpaid invoices or credits the customer may have and indicate who last spoke to that customer."

All that from an incoming phone call. "The point is that by drawing in the communications aspect, it becomes simple to access and share information which supports better business. It brings greater intelligence to business processes, well beyond the example of this single scenario."

Such technology is not only available now, but it needn't come at an enormous cost, either. Systems which integrate all aspects of back-end and front-end applications can run even on 'low-end' hardware. "That's an important determinant of the total cost of ownership. For years, business owners seeking the edge with advanced systems have had to upgrade the computers first. However, designs available today have taken hardware into account to have low requirements specifically to reduce the cost of ownership."

As a concept, the IBP is rapidly gaining popularity in Europe. "Most business owners haven't yet conceived the advantages in efficiency that are still possible through integrating more and more of their business processes. However, once demonstrated, the IBP has broad appeal."

He believes that those who implement such systems first in Africa, stand to gain a distinct advantage. "Most company bosses get excited about smoother business processes with quicker turnaround and better customer service. IBP delivers just that," he concludes.