Enterprise software
Business software is a term that has been adopted from English and is used in particular for marketing purposes (enterprise software, rarely also business software) with a changing, fuzzy meaning . In general, business software is any type of application software that is used in companies or other organizations . The opposite of business software is software for the private sector . A sharp separation is not possible because z. B. the office applications and databases are used both privately and commercially. In a narrower sense, the company software serves the company to achieve its goals, in contrast to application software in general, which, for example, in the form of office applications, word processing and spreadsheets, also serves as a work tool for individuals or small teams. Different large standard software packages ( ERP , CXM , CRM, etc.) are often combined (integration) and adapted (customization) for use in the company. This creates a company-specific enterprise system or a company software architecture. The balance between business-critical adaptation and the use of standard software enables companies to achieve the necessary mix of competitive advantages and the scalability of increasingly complex software. What was traditionally seen as an investment in fixed assets has increasingly taken on the character of outsourcing since the turn of the millennium through SaaS, PaaS and cloud services.
Types of business software
Business applications
The following subdivision only shows the focal points, not a sharp demarcation, because the subject areas overlap and there is a more or less strong integration and overlap in different software packages.
Materials management
Materials management systems - also commercially available enterprise resource planning systems called - are used for consumption-based planning , shopping and purchasing generally, material inventory management of Lagerzu- and disposals and inventory, audit and inventory management . In production companies it is part of the production planning and control systems (PPS). Material quantities have a material value ; accordingly, quantity and value are usually treated in parallel. About the prices materials management is geared to the business, about the values of the financial industry.
A sub-function of materials management is covered by systems for the procurement of goods and services via the Internet. They are called " E-Procurement " or electronic procurement in new German . Materials management is part of PPS systems , ERP and logistics systems . Sub-functions of materials management cover purchasing systems, warehouse management and picking systems.
Human resource management
The topics that systems for human resource management cover are the tasks of personnel management , personnel time recording and evaluation, wage and salary accounting , processing of tax , social or labor law tasks, travel expense accounting , personnel planning and personnel development . So-called personnel information systems offer information options from the personal data . Human resource management is also known under the synonymous term Human Resource Management (HR).
Finance and business administration
The accounting with financial accounting and cost accounting were very early examples of computer applications that tabulating machines and accounting machines in the 1960s were replaced and 1970s. Today belong to this application circle under the collective term Controlling : financial accounting, balance sheet and income statement , Accounts Payable - Accounts Receivable - Asset Accounting , Revenue and Cost Accounting , overhead cost accounting , cost carrier - and income .
Sales economy
Sales and marketing include sales and marketing . Sales software supports sales with the entry of orders, pricing and discounts . After checking the bookable availability of the ordered items and checking the creditworthiness of the customer , delivery , shipping and invoicing take place . In this area in particular, there are many special forms that have led to many industry-specific solutions : different sales channels, different products (chewing gum vs. machine tools), etc.
Customer relationship management software serves as an instrument for sales and marketing to maintain customer relationships. These include For example: management of customer contacts, campaign management, sales opportunity management , sales process management , order management , serial letters and emails .
Production Planning and Control
Software packages for production planning and control include parts of sales management, in particular customer order management, large parts of materials management, but in particular the core functions of managing construction and production data, determining requirements, production and capacity planning and workshop control.
Initially (before 1970), PPS consisted only of material planning ( MRP ). After 1970 it was supplemented by scheduling and capacity planning. In Germany, for example, at the initiative of the VDMA, due to the increasing demand for IT-supported methods for scheduling and capacity planning, Termikon was developed as the first German-language scheduling and capacity planning system in the early 1970s . The MRP II enthusiasm began around 1980. MRP II is essentially material, schedule and capacity planning, but supplemented by upstream planning stages and expanded to include further resources, e.g. B. about the required capital, as it was already conceptualized in COPICS by IBM 1970.
Logistics and supply chain management
Supply chain management is based on logistics , which focuses on the flow of materials from and to suppliers and customers . The company's boundaries are exceeded by integrating customers and suppliers into production planning and control. The added value becomes a related process that begins with the raw material supplier and ends with the customer.
Enterprise Resource Planning
Enterprise resource planning systems as a marketing term include, depending on the provider, all software applications that the respective manufacturer has to offer, ranging from materials management to manufacturing, finance and accounting, human resources, services and sales to research and development.
Technical applications
The technical applications include the software systems beginning with the letters “CA” (for “Computer Aided”), which are used in the technical areas of companies. This is why we also speak of “C techniques” or “CAx software systems”. In the term CAE (Computer Aided Engineering) these "C-Techniques" are summarized for engineers.
These applications, which are more engineering-oriented, are not isolated in the business process, but are simultaneously the recipient and supplier of information from the business applications in the company.
CAFM - Computer-Aided Infrastructure Management
CAFM - (Computer Aided Facility Management) systems used for planning, administration and management of buildings, facilities and equipment ( Facilities ).
CAD - computer-aided construction
CAD (Computer Aided Design) systems are used for the conception, drafting and detailing (in the form of a technical drawing ) of products. CAD requires data from PPS systems, including customer orders, work plans , material and parts list data , and information about operating resources . It supplies data to PPS systems, e.g. B. parts lists, information for the calculation , technical documentation and of course drawings.
CAP - computer-aided work planning
CAP (Computer Aided Planning) comprises work planning for conventional machining and for NC machines . It may receive data directly from CAD systems . The result of the work planning is the work plan that is intended for production planning and manufacturing .
CAM - computer-aided manufacturing
CAM (Computer Aided Manufacturing) is a very broad term, accordingly there is software for a wide variety of tasks in the automation and flexibility of production. DNC (Distributed Numerical Control) for control of machine tools , handling systems and robots . CAM also includes automated storage and transport systems .
CAQ - computer-aided quality assurance
CAQ ( computer-aided quality assurance ) begins with the computer-aided planning of the audit processes . It accompanies the flow of materials from the inspection in the incoming goods department through production to the inspection of the finished product. Technical aids are automated facilities such as analysis instruments, counters and sensors.
Further "C-Techniques"
They are only mentioned here to indicate the multitude of different tasks for business software in the technical field: CAR Computer Aided Robotics - computer-aided use of robots, CAI Computer Aided Inspection - computer-aided maintenance, CAT Computer Aided Testing - computer-aided testing, EDM engineering data management - product data management , CASE Computer-aided software engineering - computer-aided software development.
Information and management systems
These systems include a. Management information systems (MIS) and simulation systems . Management information systems access the databases of the individual operational systems or they find the required data through data mining in data collections that are fed from various sources, usually from a data warehouse .
Comprehensive support for operational processes
A separate “ science ” has now developed around workflow management systems , content management , document management , electronic archiving , information lifecycle management , etc. , see Enterprise Content Management .
Word processing , spreadsheets , databases on personal computers, presentation programs and e-mail programs play an essential role in companies of all sizes today. Groupware supports collaboration in groups . In addition, project management software is often used to plan and control large projects .
Software selection
When selecting business software, many decisions have to be weighed very carefully. In extreme cases, the company's success can be jeopardized, for example if employees can no longer access the required data quickly enough. The selection strategy can be roughly divided into three areas, all of which have advantages and disadvantages.
Standard software
A standard software is purchased and if necessary to the needs of customers customized .
Custom software
The software is created individually according to the customer's requirements.
Best of Breed
The best-of-breed strategy ultimately relies on the use of several industry solutions for different sections and the use of a system integrator , connect these parts. The origin of the name is the idea that the "best" solution should be selected for each area, which often cannot be achieved with an overarching solution.
However, the use of heterogeneous systems also has disadvantages in practice:
- Maintenance costs of the individual systems
- system-specific expertise to support users
- Administration effort of the server farm
- Costs (up to 80% of the IT budget)
- Interface problem
Outsourcing
The operation of the company software is often outsourced: A company is commissioned to take care of the entire process, i.e. to operate hardware, perform operations, select, procure, implement, maintain and adapt software. The services of the contracted company are determined by SLAs .
literature
- Joachim Berlak: Methodology for the structured selection of order processing systems . Utz-Verlag, Munich 2003, ISBN 3-8316-0258-1 .