Top ERP Trends of the 2010s
By Johnny Nugent
Can you believe the year 2019 is winding down? We are just a few days away from embarking on a new decade. The 2010s brought lots of change and advancement to the ERP industry- we saw the emergence of Industry 4.0 as well as many new technologies such as IoT, robotics, blockchain, and machine learning. As we say goodbye to the 2010s, we will take a look at some of the top ERP trends that characterized this decade.
Top Enterprise Technology Trends of the 2010s
Cloud Based Solutions
Perhaps the biggest ERP trends of the 2010s was the shift we saw from on-premise ERP solutions to cloud-based solutions. Many ERP vendors began to offer a software as a service (SaaS) model during this time, where a third-party provider hosts the application and makes the software accessible to the client through the internet.
With cloud-based deployment we saw benefits such as a lower upfront investment, automatic access to the latest technology, faster implementations, and the peace of mind that comes with not needing to maintain your own servers or backup your own data.
Another benefit that came out of the cloud revolution was ERP becoming more accessible to small and midsize businesses. Traditional on-premise ERP applications required an expensive investment in servers/equipment and costly license fees. Now, small and midsize businesses can have access to all the benefits without the huge upfront investment.
Enhanced Functionality
With the passing of time, comes technological advancement and that’s what we’ve seen when it comes to manufacturing ERP system. What began as a system to manage MRP many years ago has evolved over time to give visibility over every facet of the manufacturing business from top to bottom. In the 2010s especially we’ve seen functionality areas such as customer relationship management (CRM), supply chain managements, and advanced planning and scheduling blossom.
During this decade we also saw the rise of big data, which resulted in ERP vendors to make strides in reporting and analytics so manufacturers can get total visibility into their company with data coming from many different sources.
Improved User Experience
Over the past decade, we’ve seen a huge change in the user experience that comes along with ERP systems. To keep up with what users see with their smartphones and tablets, ERP systems have redesigned their user interface to be more intuitive.
Visibility ERP introduced customizable dashboards where individual users can create their own homepage. We’ve also seen more social features and mobility so users can stay have better communication and stay in touch on the go.
Stay tuned for next week’s blog predicting what’s to come for the enterprise technology in 2020 and beyond!
