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Chapter 3 • Enterprise Systems Architecture 61

Sales & Master
MRP/CRP
Marketing Scheduling

BOM (Bill of Shop Floor
Materials) ERP Control

Accounts
Purchasing Logistics
Payable/Re
FIGURE 3-2 Typical ERP Modules

the data need to be entered into the system once, and, depending on the organization’s
business rules, they are made available to users either inside or outside the organization. In
today’s organization, teams are not limited to employees of the company; teams can include
employees from various functional areas as well as employees of business partners and even
customers. ERP systems, therefore, provide access to the data as defined by the organiza-
tions’ business rules.
ERP vendors, including SAP, Oracle, and Microsoft, provide modules that support the
major functional areas of the business (e.g., accounting, production, financial management,
human resources (HR), sales order processing, and procurement). These modules provide the
functionality to implement business policy and processes in accounting, production, finance,
human resources, and so on. The ERP software embeds the best business practices into the
software to allow organizations to implement their policies and procedures. ERP vendors often
claim that these business practices will help improve organizations’ productivity and perfor-
mance. For example, a procurement module includes the best practices on purchasing
(e.g., forms, routing, and methods of integrating with e-commerce application). Although
the vendor claims are generally true, some business rules may conflict with the organization’s
policy. Customization or changes are therefore often necessary when implementing the
ERP modules. Although this issue will be debated in more detail elsewhere in the book, suffice
it to say that management needs to evaluate carefully when and how much modification is
essential. ERP software provides different level of flexibility in modifying the system during
implementation. Careful evaluation is therefore necessary when selecting the software to avoid
problems later.
In general, ERP vendors provide a comprehensive range of enterprise software applications
and business solutions to empower every aspect of business operations, identify new business
opportunities, and enable the organization to respond to changing business realities. In addition,
they include functionality to optimize business operations and resources to extend best practices
to the entire value chain. Table 3-1 provides a high-level overview of the usual modules provided
by major ERP vendors.
The functional and module list is not exhaustive and does not include all the enterprise
software applications provided by these vendors. The following is a brief overview of some of
these ERP modules.