Surviving Enterprise Systems: Adaptive Strategies for Managing Your Largest IT Investments

by Robert D. Austin

Enterprise systems are very large computer systems that promise to replace major chunks of a company's applications infrastructure with an off-the-shelf, third-party package. In the early- to mid-1990s, they were primarily enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems that focused on integrating the back-office, transaction-based subsystems required to run modern companies. For the past few years, however, the phrase "enterprise system" has broadened to include front-office systems engaged in customer relationship management (CRM), e-commerce, and some more specialized systems that automate or optimize large-volume order processing. Benefits promised by enterprise systems vendors include greater visibility into supply and fulfillment chains, reduction of working capital, improved customer service, and better information to support management decisionmaking.