Page 310 - Using MIS

278 Chapter 7 Processes, Organizations, and Information Systems

Health Club

Machine-generated
Patients
at Home
Data

Data
Machine-generated
Personal
Trainer
Reports
Store
Report Exercise
Personal Data
Progress
Report
Member Reports
Store Progress
Exercise
Prescriptions PRIDE
Prescriptions Database
Healthcare
Professional Report
Patient
Reports Exercise

… = Native or thin-client
mobile application

Figure 7-19
Inter-enterprise PRIDE System

The problem for all ERP vendors, but particularly for Oracle and SAP, is their past success.
They have licensed and installed billions of dollars of client-server ERP software, and they
cannot walk away from those products or the revenue of lucrative support contracts that they
provide. Further, their customers face similar challenges (Figure 7-20). They want to move to
the lower costs of the cloud, but they cannot plunge into new cloud-based solutions without
causing considerable organizational turmoil, if not failure. Because Oracle’s software is based
on SOA architecture, Oracle is better positioned for these changes than is SAP. On the other
hand, SAP has a deep client base that is heavily dependent on its existing ERP infrastructure
and will be loath to change.
Mobile systems further complicate this situation. Not only do companies need to move
their applications to the cloud, but they also need to provide both thin-client and native mobile
applications. However, ERP systems contain business-critical and exceedingly confidential
data; allowing access via mobile devices is potentially a serious security threat. See the BYOD
policy discussion in Chapter 4.
Despite these challenges, it doesn’t take a great deal of imagination to realize that by 2025,
workers in the warehouse, loading dock, and shipping department will all carry mobile devices
that enable them to process ERP and other enterprise applications from wherever they happen