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46 TECHNOLOGY AND BUSINESS RESEARCH

are made possible by this program, and this software is extensively used by man-
ufacturing organizations.

Enterprise Resource Planning
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) packages from software companies that offer
all-in-one integrated business applications have slowly replaced traditional man-
ufacturing, finance, and order entry applications, which are usually “home
designed” and do not lend themselves for easy integration. The trend is to inte-
grate various ERP packages using “best-of-breed” criteria for specific applications
for specialized solutions and for industry-specific needs. For example, the needs
of pharmaceutical companies differ from those of automobile manufacturing
companies, and these are duly taken into account.
The world’s two largest software companies, IBM and Microsoft, are said to
run big parts of their business on ERP software from SAP, a company based in
Germany (Garten, 1998). The advantage of ERP packages is their capability to
provide comprehensive solutions to all the needs of an organization in its day-
to-day work. This is so because they provide complete support for the exec-
utive support system and the Management Information System (MIS), and can
work with all existing data bases built on different platforms. Software devel-
opers use various tools to build and modify data tables and develop custom
functionality.
ERP solutions were initially targeted for big companies and organizations that
had to reengineer to install ERP in their systems, with only one goal as the objec-
tive—to increase the return on investment. With the top organizations almost sat-
urated, ERP software companies are now targeting their products to the bottom
of the pyramid, facing the challenge of meeting a diverse set of applications
while trying to keep their costs down.

Data Analytic Software Programs

As will be discussed in later chapters, software programs are available to obtain,
store, and analyze raw data collected through surveys, using SPSS, SAS, Excel,
and the like. Sophisticated business presentations of the results obtained from
data analysis are also possible through computer graphics and interactive CDs,
as described later.
Gathering data is facilitated through audit capabilities in software that
track and provide information on the extent of usage of any function or fea-
ture. As we saw, it is now feasible to analyze online purchase requisitions for
office supplies to determine frequency, volume, and type of purchases. A
company can track the number of times its web site has been visited and the
duration of such visits, so as to evaluate its appeal and improvise it, as
needed. With a little more programming effort and the cooperation of the vis-
itors to the site, more information on user profile can be easily obtained to
assess buying preferences and market demographics—information useful for
developing marketing strategies.