Year 2015 is Certainly Going to be a Big Year of ERP

Technology has progressed way beyond our imaginations! Every other day, there is some new invention or technology that knocks the door! And needless to say these tools and technologies have brought about 360 degree turn in various walks of life – even in various business operations. In fact, the business world has been the major recipient of immense benefits that the technological advancement has brought with it. (I guess, this needs no examples!!!)

Among an array of such sophisticated tools, ERP has definitely hit the right cords! – And according to Gartner, the acquisition of ERP will witness a steep surge in the coming few days. As matter of fact, it seems that enterprise, especially the ones with cloud deployment models, will surely capture the Information Technology sector.

What’s in Store – Will 2015 Bring More Good News for ERP?

It is an undeniable truth that the ERP market is set to soar up and get more dynamic than before, with a rising number of Tier 2 solution providers, entering the scene posing extreme competition. In addition to this, the need for uncomplicated interfaces, complex functionality, and more ERP options for Small and medium businesses is believed to play a role in employing a series of new concepts, like the Internet of Things (IoT), BYOD and BYOC.

This and other such aspects certainly will have impact on ERP market in the current year. Here are some of the possibilities that can dominate 2015.

1. The Ultimate Face-Off – SaaS or On-Premise:

ERP trends have always oscillated between SaaS and on-premise deployment models and this movement is expected to continue as well as affect the future of ERP in some or the other way. The reason of this possible swinging is probably because most of the organizations are still opting for both the solutions – There are some who want on-premise ERP rather than going for SaaS and cloud computing options, particularly for security reasons.

2. ERP the Name is Resourcefulness:

A majority of people are fully aware of the amazing things that modern ERP software offers. It is not just an enterprise resource planning software; it is beyond that – There is a drastic surge in applications build to increase the core functionalities of the ERP; market watchers are looking for an all-in-one solution that works efficiently as a standalone inventory, financial, and customer relationship management modules. The companies can further use them separately or incorporate it into complex ERP solutions. This has in fact made it sort of mandatory for the developers to extend the functionality of and lay more focus on the on the inventory, finance, and customer relationship and make the software more “Resourceful”.

3. Which One is The Best – Best-of-Breed (BoB) or Best-of-Suite (BoS)?

It’s not being too long that BoB ERP solutions actually met an early end; but now, it has made a comeback. As BoB solutions supports superior level of integration with present infrastructure, it offers a series of specialized functions in areas; while on the other hand, the BoS applications, usually provide as standalone ERP suites. This has resulted into a number of options for the organizations; which is becoming extremely useful when a multifaceted set of capabilities is needed.

An increased BoB adoption requires robust integration between new software solutions as well as the prevailing functionality, which will turn software architecture into a crucial precondition to ERP success.

4. It is all About Mobile and BI Product Development:

Whether addressing to small or large enterprises, adding more of mobile and BI features has become inevitable for the developers. Although mobile and BI functionality won’t essentially help companies get the ultimate results, developers and vendors must cater to the ever-increasing market demands.

Mainly due to the specific ERP features that consists of reporting tools and dashboards; developers will have to concentrate on these two areas, which can all the potential to change again the course of ERP. All in all, the future of ERP does seems to be bright; provided it comes up with other excellent features which helps the business environment to become more productive.

Chirag Shivalker is a Head of Content Management Team at CrispyCodes, an India based software development firm. Follow him +ChiragShivalker