Just thirty years ago, the use of ERP systems for business management was considered innovative. Today, the use of technology in running an organization is a necessity, and the ERP class system has become as obvious a resource of a company as company cars for sales representatives. So if the use of ERP has become standard today, how can modern companies ensure competitiveness and stand out on the market?
ERP systems became so widely used that they ceased to be an innovation on which the company's competitive advantage could be built. Today, they are perfect as core systems – they help with the efficient allocation of raw materials, managing warehouse inventories and the process of replenishment, enable the efficient execution of commercial transactions and keep a record of all business activity of the enterprise in accordance with applicable regulations. Using the Pace-Layered Application Strategy model, proposed by the world’s leading research and advisory company Gartner, ERP software is a classic example of Systems of Record.
Gartner quite rightly points out that, in addition to the foundation in the form of Systems of Record, every company must invest in software supporting processes that truly distinguish it from the competition, and those that support innovations implemented in the company – says Łukasz Wróbel, Chief Business Development Officer, SVP at WEBCON. IT directors from around the world, surveyed by Gartner, declare that in 2020, up to half of the entire budget allocated to business applications will be dedicated to these two categories – Systems of Differentiation and Systems of Innovation, he adds.
More and more organizations are aware that, in order to compete with the best in their industry, they must focus on developing applications that support business processes making them stand out on the market. This is confirmed by Gartner’s forecasting that in 2020 only half of a company's financial resources will be allocated to Systems of Record, while 35% of the budget will go to the development of Systems of Differentiation and 15% to Systems of Innovation. This is a considerable change compared to 2010, where the distribution of funds in the same categories was 90%, 9% and 1% respectively.
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