Achieving Operational Excellence and Customer Intimacy: Enterprise Applications

Businesses are expanding globally at an unprecedented pace.  At the same time, the pressure for increased earnings leads businesses to find efficiencies in their operations and in customer and supplier relationships as well.  Application software solutions that span not just the enterprise itself provide global standardization of operational procedures.  These software solutions also offer the means to extend the company's operational reach by integrating closely with suppliers and customers, too. 

Systems of this type, complexity and cost are referred to as 'enterprise applications' in acknowledgement of their broad scope. This chapter will help us begin to explore and to understand what and how these 'top-of-the-heap' software solutions do so by examining the following topics (Learning Objectives):

1. How do enterprise systems (ES) help businesses maximize the profitability of their operations?

2. The role played by supply chain management applications.

3. Customer relationship management applications and their role in achieving efficiency and retaining customers.

4. Some of the common challenges of massive and pervasive enterprise applications.

5. Service platforms and the integration of old and new applications.