By Stephan Romeder*
Gartner defines postmodern ERP as “a fundamental shift away from a single vendor megasuite toward a more loosely coupled and federated ERP environment.” While huge ERP systems can do virtually anything, many companies find that they are too complex or require too much customisation to meet their specific needs.
Therefore they go in search of specialised packages for their industry or for their region. And companies which acquire others often find that each business has its own ERP system. Sometimes the ERP of the parent company isn’t always the best fit for the subsidiary. While some companies choose to migrate all business units to a single ERP platform, others find that it’s better to have them co-exist. In addition, with many companies being enticed by cloud-based systems, some are trying them on a smaller scale before moving their entire business. Thus, most organisations operate in a “hybrid reality”.