Comparative analysis of trends in the field of ERP solutions

V današnjih časih je sledenje tehnoloških spremembam oziroma novostim zelo velikega pomena. Tudi tehnologija zelo vpliva na podjetja – če želijo ostati konkurenčna na trgu, morajo prav tako slediti novi tehnologiji in inovacijam. Vedno več podjetij se zato odloča za uvedbo celovitih informacijskih rešitev oziroma na kratko ERP-rešitev. ERP-rešitve nudijo podporo poslovanju podjetja. Ponudniki ERP-rešitev se trudijo izdelati rešitve tako za velika podjetja kot tudi za srednje velika in mala podjetja, ki jih je v Sloveniji zelo veliko. Tudi na področju ERP-rešitev se pojavljajo različni trendi na področju informatike, ki jim ponudniki rešitev sledijo, da so lahko prav tako konkurenčni na trgu. Zato je naš namen predstaviti ERP-rešitve in njihove trende. V magistrskem delu smo najprej predstavili in opisali ERP-rešitve. Opredelili smo njihovo zgodovino, zgradbo, prednosti in slabosti. Nato smo v nadaljevanju predstavili trende, ki se pojavljajo na področju informatike. Osredotočili smo se na trende rešitev v oblaku, zunanje izvajanje ERP-rešitev, mobilni dostop in x-ERP. Potem smo predstavili tri tuje največje globalne ponudnike rešitev po tržnem deležu ter rešitve podjetij SAP, Microsoft in Oracle. Za vsako rešitev smo najprej predstavili ponudnika rešitve, nato opisali arhitekturo ERP-rešitev, njihove module, kakšno metodologijo uvajanja uporabljajo in kako sledijo trendom na področju informatike. Na koncu pa smo naredili tudi primerjalno analizo izbranih ERP-rešitev na osnovi splošnih značilnosti, arhitekture, modulov, metodologije uvajanja in trendov. Prišli smo do zaključka, da so si izbrane ERP-rešitve v osnovi podobne. Vse imajo nekatere skupne module in vsi ponudniki skušajo slediti novim trendom na področju informatike. Rešitve so narejene na podobni arhitekturi odjemalec/strežnik. Prav tako pa ima vsak ponudnik izdelano svojo metodologijo uvajanja ERP-rešitve. Prišli smo tudi do zaključka, da rešitve pokrivajo različne velikosti podjetij. SAP ERP je namenjen predvsem srednje velikim in velikim podjetjem, Microsoft Dynamics NAV predvsem malim in srednje velikim podjetjem, rešitev Oracle E-Business Suite pa vsem podjetjem.In today’s time, following the technological changes, i.e. novelties, is very important. Technology influences the companies very much – if they wish to remain competitive in the market, they have to follow the new technology and innovations. Therefore, the increasing number of companies decides for the introduction of comprehensive information solutions, i.e. ERP solutions, which offer the support to conducting the business of the company. The providers of the ERP solutions try to produce the solutions for the large companies, and also for the medium and small companies, which there are plenty in Slovenia. In the field of ERP solutions, various trends also occur in the field of information technologythey are followed by the solution providers in order for the latter to remain competitive in the market as well. Therefore, our purpose is to present ERP solutions and their trends. In the master’s thesis, we first presented and described ERP solutions. We defined their history, structure, advantages, and weaknesses. Then, we proceeded to present the trends which occur in the field of information technology. We focused on the cloud computing trends, the external performance of the ERP solutions, mobile access, and x-ERP. Then we presented the greatest three foreign global providers of the solutions, with respect to the market share, and solutions of the SAP, Microsoft, and Oracle companies. For every solution, we first presented the provider of the solution, and then described the architecture of the ERP solutions, their modules, what kind of the methodology of introduction they use, and how they follow the trends in the field of information technology. At the end, we also performed a comparative analysis of the selected ERP solutions on the basis of the general characteristics, the architecture, the modules, the methodology of introduction, and the trends. We came to the conclusion that the selected ERP solutions are basically similar. They all have some common modules. All the providers try to follow the new trends in the field of information technology. The solutions are based on the similar architecture client/server. In addition, every provider has produced their own methodology of introducing the ERP solution. We also came to the conclusion that the solutions cover different sizes of the companies. The SAP ERP is intended mostly for the medium and large companies, the Microsoft Dynamics NAV mostly for the small and medium companies, and the Oracle E-Business Suite solution is intended for all the companies