Network Enterprise Architecture - Assignment Example

Network Enterprise Architecture Table of Contents Network Enterprise Architecture 1 Table of Contents 1 Q 1: 2 1.Business functional areas their products support 2 2.The product’s industry focus 3 3.Vendor’s market presence 3 4.How fit the vendor’s product is for the company? 4 Q 2: 4 Q 3: 7 New ERP implementation methodology 7 Epicor Signature Methodology 7 1.Major tasks and their sequence 8 2.Advantages of the methodology 8 3.Disadvantages of the methodology 8 4.Type and conditions of projects where it is suited 9 References 9 Q 1: Three ERP software vendors selected for the small manufacturing company are as these: 1. Pronto Software: With its head office at East Burwood, Australia and Texas, USA; in Australia it has offices at Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, and Northern Territory. The international office is located at Papua New Guinea. Website: Pronto.net 2. Abel Software: This is a New Zealand-based company and has office at North Ryde and Richmond in Australia. Website: Abelsolutions.co.nz 3. Cincom ERP: This company is based in North Ryde, New South Wales and has a offices in Melbourne too. Website: Cincom.com.au 1. Business functional areas their products support Pronto covers wide range of industries by providing several solutions for the same. It has a worldwide presence through its ready-made solutions in industries as varied as automotive, chemicals, manufacturing, retail, hardware, utilities, construction, facilities, service, wholesale, industrial machinery and mining, oil and gas (Pronto Software, 2014). Abel covers wide range of services, particularly in the field of financials, multi-company accounting, distribution and supply and manufacturing and production. The solutions that it provides in financials are fully integrated centred on accounts, fixed assets, general ledger, cash management and project accounting. In multi-company accounting, it is a leader in consolidating operational and financial information (Abel, 2014). Cincom, on the other hand, has its presence in wide range of applications, industries and business sectors. Its main focus is to improve customer communications and business operations. It provides solutions for complex businesses, for small and medium enterprises, customer experience management, sales and product configurations, and risk, call centre operations, enterprise sales portals, compliance and quality management solution (Cincom, 2014). 2. The product’s industry focus Pronto's reach is extensive. No matter which industry s talked about, it has a solution. The list of industries that it caters to has already been specified above in this paper. Abel is mainly focused on financials, multi-company accounting, manufacturing and production, distribution and supply, inventory management, and customer relationship management. Cincom is focused on specialty vehicles, trucks and trailer industry, aerospace and defence, building and construction, fashion and textile, food and beverage, healthcare and insurance, life sciences, manufacturing, mining, maintenance, repair and overhaul, service management, wholesale distribution and utilities. 3. Vendor’s market presence Pronto has been in business for 30 years now to deliver tools to its clients that help them prosper and excel in their chosen field of business. Its industry profile is pretty overwhelming. Its core strength, says it current Managing Director, David Jackman, is that it has practiced 'patient listening (Cincom, 2014). Abel is slightly younger. It was started in 1996 by Allan Baird who wanted serous ERP solutions to be delivered to mid- and small-sized businesses in a not-so-complex way. Cincom is older than Pronto and Abel. It started business when not many knew what software is all about - in 1968. This is perhaps why its founder Tom Nies is a respected name in this industry and no wonder his names features among such software giants as Bill Gates, Larry Ellison and Steve Jobs. Cincom has been winning accolades for its work done all these decades almost successively. The New York Times acknowledged its 40th anniversary in 2008. 4. How fit the vendor’s product is for the company? Pronto has a wider base but it likely it would not have a narrower manufacturing focus, which makes it a wary choice for the company that has hired me as its consultant. So the possibility of Pronto being a service is ruled out for the moment. Abel seems to be a better choice, even as it is a relatively young company. It can be expected of providing specific focus on manufacturing sector because of not being ‘spread-out’ on too many things. Cincom fits the product of this company in the same way Pronto does. Q 2: ERP Vendor Platform independence Location independence Loose coupling across application services Reduction hardware acquisition costs SAP Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) on SAP is platform independent. Some critics argue that it is not as it cannot be installed on Windows 7 and Windows Vista. But that is not correct as SAP is a server solution and Windows 7 and Windows Vista are not server components. Furthermore SAP is an enterprise solution and is thus not meant for home user. Can be activated from anywhere since it is location-independent. SAP comes with a business functionality recommendation of remote consumption using stateless communication, asynchronous and loosely coupled web services. Great deals of architecture in composite applications using asynchronous communication are loosely coupled to accomplish this. Among many other benefits it offers lower operation and acquisition cost, reduced complexity of administration and cost and improved user productivity. Oracle This relies on service orientation and that is the main feature of its design principle. Presenting a simple interface that enables it to abstract away any underlying complexity that may exists, so that it can perform without any dependence on platform. It is based on a service contract design, which makes it possible to free them from implementation dependence. This is ideal of retrieval of data fraught with heterogeneous storage in different geographical locations thus reducing storage complexity and access to data that is faster. It does not only use loose coupling between business services and service clients, it is also policy-driven. In order to accomplish this it uses configuration-based approach for deploying SOA and developing SOA assets. Apart from delivering high quality service, it lowers IT costs since it allows consolidation into engineered systems and database clouds. Microsoft Dynamics The model-driven application of Microsoft Dynamics executes requirements in a very short duration of time as it is capable of separating platform-dependent development from platform-independent development. This enables one to specify the application behaviour and also model the structure for optimised use. Is enabled with technology that can provide data access to a central location. It can be independently developed, updated, deployed and loosely coupled. It applies a holistic approach to optimise costs since it avoids server sprawl by consolidating servers and re-architecting the environment. This is done by optimising databases and building a private cloud thus minimising support, maintenance and labour costs. Q 3: New ERP implementation methodology In any business process when management process is dotted with more than one cardinal area, ERP is used to perform a collective function. It is as important to choose right kind of ERP implementation as it is to choose the right software. Different software use different methodologies. Over a period of time new methodologies gain an edge over the old, although there is no hard and fast rule as to what might be good for one company may also prove of benefit to another. In the recent past several new methodologies have emerged in the ERP marketplace and below is a summary of one such methodology featuring its advantages, disadvantages and the conditions under which it can be best used. Epicor Signature Methodology This is a new methodology that was launched by Epicor Software recently, developed with an aim that would enable manufacturers leverage maximum ERP benefits. This is based on a five-step model that has a potential to be scaled on the basis of size and complexity of the project (Panorama Consulting Solutions, 2014). 1. Major tasks and their sequence This methodology is based on several steps, where each step is loaded with a line of segments synchronised with a many sets of inputs, techniques, tools and deliverables; one almost overlapping on another to result in collaborative environment, project governance and improvement. 2. Advantages of the methodology A flexible framework is provided by Epicor Signature Methodology to prepare and plan the deployment of Epicor ERP solutions to the company's clients located in length and breadth of the world. It also helps design and validate the solutions. The greatest advantage is that the new methodology is scalable and thus mitigates one-solution-fits-all norm that was in use so far. It is enabled with a sign-off process that is built-in. That means before each party moves to the next milestones, it leaves each party satisfied at the previous level. The methodology is so enabled that it can deliver repeatable and consistent deployments while being able to speed up timeline implementation on industry-specific projects. Being a new entrant in the market, the Epicor Signature Methodology is supposed to offer its clients time-to-value from its host of solutions since the technology is cost-effective and faster. The global service at Epicor, which is seasoned to the core, provides further reliability to this methodology (Softwareshortlist.com, 2014). 3. Disadvantages of the methodology This is a new launch from Epicor and has been hailed as a well-structured implementation methodology that provides ERP solutions to its 33,000 customers worldwide in a reliable, consistent and effective way. Even as being fresh, it already has been used on thousands of projects so far, with no reported limitations. As a result of this it will be some time before some of its disadvantages, if any, come to light. 4. Type and conditions of projects where it is suited The types of projects that t can help with include from the following segments: financial management, supply chain management, production management, planning and scheduling, project management, production data management, service management, human capital management, sales management, and customer relation management. Since this is a scalable ERP solution, it can very well fit into all types of conditions. References Abel. 2014. ERP software designed for growing businesses. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.abelsoftware.com/. [Accessed 23 August 14]. Cincom. 2014. Welcome to Cincom Systems of Australia. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.cincom.com.au/. [Accessed 23 August 14]. Cincom. 2014. The History of Software and Cincom. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.cincom.com.au/. [Accessed 23 August 14]. Pronto Software. 2014. Enhanced Efficiency. Clever Connectivity. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.pronto.net/index.php. [Accessed 23 August 14]. Panorama Consulting Solutions. 2014. Epicor launches enhanced Signature methodology and expands best-in-class software services. [ONLINE] Available at: http://panorama-consulting.com/epicor-launches-enhanced-signature-methodology-and-expands-best-in-class-software-services-to-drive-erp-implementations/. [Accessed 23 August 14]. Software Shortlist.com. 2014. Epicor. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.softwareshortlist.com/erp/ss-reviews/epicor/. [Accessed 23 August 14]. Read More