http://post.technologyevaluation.com/t/180998/19677306/17511/2/?560a3889=VEVDIDIwMTUgRVJQIGZvciBEaXNjcmV0ZSBNYW51ZmFjdHVyaW5nIEJ1eWVyJ3MgR3VpZGU%3d&3b64e84d=X19uZXdzbGV0dGVyX2RhaWx5X2Vu&3b64e84d=X19uZXdzbGV0dGVyX2RhaWx5X2Vu&b0c7069d=MjM4NDEzOA%3d%3d&fb8dc108=cndoZWVsZXJAYXJ0aWZhY3Qtc29mdHdhcmUuY29t&x=3c8d597c
is a link to an interesting whitepaper from TEC (Gartner competitor)
discussing the main ERP solutions that they follow.
The big trend that they identify is a move to more functional user
interfaces that actually help users make sense of the data and find what
they want quickly and do that in a way that is familiar to ERP users
(Spreadsheets model).
They talk about automatic search where the user can type information
into any field (phone number, first name, company name and have the
system show up potential matches without having to go to a search
screen. This is what people who use email or web browsers expect
computers to be able to do.
They expect that an ERP can be customized by each end-user to meet the
needs of their job function and their aesthetic needs and that color be
used effectively to highlight important information on screens.
They also discuss the trend towards strong analytics.
It includes screenshots from the top ERP solutions so it is easy to see
what product evaluation analysts are looking for.
Integration of Social Networking is coming to ERP as well.
This should be carefully read before any attempt is made to get Gartner
to evaluate OFBiz since it will give some indication about what they are
going to expect when they open the demo and how they will approach the
UI and analytics capabilities and data presentation.
Around page 18 there is a checklist of the functionality in 11 major
areas that is covered by the ERP solutions (20 covered) that they
consider important for Discrete Manufacturing situations.
Big discussion on the business case for CPQ and how this is becoming
important in ERP selection.
There are companion articles about ERP for Process Industries and other
applications that can be downloaded.
Ron
--
Ron Wheeler
President
Artifact Software Inc
email: [email protected]
skype: ronaldmwheeler
phone: 866-970-2435, ext 102
