Intelligent CIO Africa Issue 62 | Page 46

FEATURE : ENTERPRISE RESOURCE PLANNING

Is cloud ERP the future ?

Enterprise Resource Planning ( ERP ) is software designed to manage and integrate the functions of core business processes like finance , HR , supply chain , CRM and inventory management in a single system . Widely used in businesses of all sizes , ERP is considered a must-have for large enterprises and is increasingly being deployed in growing small businesses too . The feature investigates the complexity of the global economy , modern customer demands and the impact this has made on streamlining business processes .

Enterprise Resource Planning ( ERP ) is software that allows businesses to manage their business processes and automate them . The ERP system ’ s capabilities have progressed from back-office operations to business process integration . In back-office activities , ERP software has been commonly used , including order management , inventory control development and accounting . The ERP software system consists of many software modules and each ERP model focuses on a specific departmental field like inventory control , purchasing , finance , materials , marketing , HR , and accounting .

According to ResearchandMarkets , the Latin America , Middle East and Africa ERP software market is expected to witness market growth of 12.5 % CAGR during the forecast period from 2019 to 2025 . ResearchandMarkets stated that over the forecast period , high adoption rates will be encountered by cloud-based ERP solutions .
Ram Ramachandran , Senior Vice President and Head , Middle East and Africa , Tech Mahindra , said : “ We see more customers across Africa riding the Digital Transformation bandwagon and firmly believe that business systems such as ERP help them transform into intelligent enterprises . With the advent of growth in cloud as an enabler , the adoption of ERP in Africa has grown from being a ‘ nice to have ’ to rather a necessity that can be easily adopted and deployed cutting across enterprises . This is true for SMEs who are adopting integrated ERP cutting across customer experience , finance automation , Supply Chain Management ( SCM ), manufacturing and distribution as well as human experience to become ‘ Intelligent ’ enterprises .”
Ramachandran said customers who have deployed legacy ERP Systems are also looking to leverage modern best practices to derive business benefits by leveraging integrated cloud , mobility , and real-time analytics . “ AI , Machine Learning and IoT are expected to deliver business value , agility and faster time to
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