Catalog
concept#Governance#Integration#Cloud / SaaS#Data

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)

ERP denotes integrated software systems for centralized management of business processes across finance, procurement, manufacturing and HR.

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) refers to integrated software systems for centralized management of core processes such as finance, procurement, manufacturing and human resources.
Established
High

Classification

  • High
  • Organizational
  • Organizational
  • Advanced

Technical context

CRM systems for customer and sales dataBusiness intelligence and reporting toolsSupply chain and warehouse management systems

Principles & goals

Centralization of critical master dataStandardize processes before customizingClear governance and role definitions
Build
Enterprise, Domain

Use cases & scenarios

Compromises

  • Faulty data migration and inconsistencies
  • Excessive customization and technical debt
  • Insufficient user adoption and failed change management
  • Start with core processes and expand incrementally
  • Define and enforce data quality rules early
  • Establish governance board for customization and release decisions

I/O & resources

  • Process maps and as‑is/to‑be analyses
  • Master data from existing systems
  • Organizational policies and compliance requirements
  • Central system instance with unified data
  • Automated business processes and workflows
  • Reports, KPIs and audit trails

Description

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) refers to integrated software systems for centralized management of core processes such as finance, procurement, manufacturing and human resources. ERP provides unified data models, standardized workflows and cross-organizational control. Implementation requires organizational change, data migration, interface integration and governance. Modern solutions offer on-premises and cloud deployment options.

✔

  • Transparency across business processes and KPIs
  • Reduced redundancy via unified data
  • Increased efficiency through automated workflows

✖

  • High implementation and customization effort
  • Long-term lock-in to processes and vendors
  • Standard functions may not cover niche requirements

  • Total cost of ownership (TCO)

    Sum of licensing, implementation, operations and maintenance costs over a defined period.

  • Process cycle time

    Time from order entry to completion of a business process, measured to assess efficiency.

  • Data quality index

    Metric for completeness, correctness and consistency of master data.

Large enterprise using SAP ERP

Global rollout to harmonize finance and supply chain processes across subsidiaries.

Mid-sized company with Odoo implementation

Modular use of an open-source ERP to integrate sales, inventory and manufacturing.

Cloud SaaS ERP at a service provider

Fast provisioning, lower operational overhead and regular feature updates via SaaS.

1

Pre-project: define goals, align stakeholders and set scope

2

Process analysis, harmonization and design of target processes

3

Data cleansing, migration testing and integration development

4

Pilot run, feedback loops and phased rollout

5

Go‑live with monitoring, support and continuous improvement

⚠️ Technical debt & bottlenecks

  • Legacy customizations that block upgrades
  • Distributed data sources without central master data maintenance
  • Undocumented integrations and interfaces
Master data qualityLegacy system integrationCustomization complexity
  • Treating ERP as an IT-only project without business involvement
  • Skipping data cleansing and blindly migrating legacy master data
  • Uncontrolled addition of ad‑hoc customizations
  • Underestimating organizational impacts
  • Missing clear upgrade and maintenance strategy
  • Ignoring interface and data gaps
Business process analysis and modelingData migration and ETL skillsChange management and training planning
Data consistency across business domainsSupport for regulatory requirementsIntegration capability with CRM, SCM and BI
  • • Budget limits and project timelines
  • • Security and data protection requirements
  • • Technical dependencies on third‑party systems