Detail Study Of The Marketing Strategy Of

Education ERP.

SUBMITTED BY:
ARCHANA SINGH
 DECLARATION
This is to state that this project is based on original research work
done in duration of my internship with GLOBALS INC., Bangalore. The
interpretation is based on my understanding of my topics and
conclusion after completion of research in limited period of time.

ARCHANA SINGH

MBA- JAIN BUSINESS SCHOOL

 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
First of all I would like to thank our loving GOD (parents) for their
continuous support and encouragement for this study.

I am highly thankful to MS. Amruta, vice president, without their

guidance and help I would not been able to complete my project.

I sincerely thank our HOD Mr. L.P Rajan who put faith and believed
on me and gave me an opportunity to complete my internship.

I would also like to thank my Mentor Dr. Karunakaran sir for

immense support and help.

I am heartily thankful to all departmental heads and my colleagues,

without their cooperation this project would not have been possible.
 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The tasks performed during the internship project can be majorly
cubbed under two basic heads:

1. Marketing of Education ERP.net

2. Online promotion/viral marketing of opalasque.
 INDUSTRY SNAPSHOTS
The computer systems design and related services industry is
among the economy's largest and fastest sources of
employment growth.

Employment increased by 616,000 over the 1994-2004 period,

posting a staggering 8.0-percent annual growth rate. The
projected 2004-14 employment increase of 453,000 translates
into 1.6 million jobs, and represents a relatively slower annual
growth rate of 3.4 percent as productivity increases and
offshore outsourcing take their toll.

However, the main growth catalyst for this industry is expected

to be the persistent evolution of technology and business'
constant effort to absorb and integrate these resources to
enhance their productivity and expand their market
opportunities.

Employment of computer and information systems managers is

expected to grow between 18 to 26 percent for all occupations
through the year 2014.

India's domestic IT Market

India's domestic IT Market over the years has become one of

the major driving forces of the industry. The domestic IT
infrastructure is developing contexts of technology and
intensity of penetration.

In the FY 2008-09, the domestic IT sector attained revenues

worth US$ 24.3 billion as compared to US$ 23.1 billion in FY
2007-08, registering a growth of 5.4%. Moreover, the
increasing demand for IT services and goods by India Inc has
strengthened the expansion of the domestic market with
agreements worth rising up extraordinarily to US$ 100 million.
By the FY 2012, the domestic sector is estimated to expand to
US$ 1.7 billion against the existing from US$ 1 billion.
 COMPANY SANAPSHOTS

EducationERP.net is a flagship product of Globals Inc., a globally

recognized multinational company with operations in more than 11
countries. Globals has a remarkable experience in service-offering for
the Education Industry since its inception starting from Basic School
Management Systems to Mission Critical enterprise systems for the
Higher Education and Universities.

Today Globals is a market leader for Enterprise Systems in

Education, offers turn-key solutions with educationERP.net to
education institutions ranging from K-12 Schools and Higher
Education Institutions across the world. EducationERP.net is
renowned for its least turnaround time for highly successful
implementations of our ERP for Education.

Our broad clientele includes – International B-Schools, K-12 Schools,

Public Universities, Deemed or Private Universities, Engineering
Colleges, Degree Colleges, and more. educationERP.net has
seamlessly transformed the working of an educational institution,
facilitating them to serve students and other stake holders of their
institution better and efficient.

We have enabled institutions to significantly reduce their

administrative time and costs, thus streamlining the processes for
these institutions to focus more on their core teaching and research
activities.

ABOUT GLOBALS

Globals was started in the year 2000 by Suhas Gopinath at the age of
14 years from a mere cyber cafe in Bangalore and later moved to
United States. Globals has drastically grown from a small home office
to a globally recognized multinational company with presence in
more than 11 countries offering world class quality solutions in Web,
e-Commerce, and Mobile. Today Globals develops mission critical
applications on the web for various industries including Education,
Finance, and Governments.
Our excellence in technical stewardship and service-offering
expertise has facilitated our clients ranging from individual
entrepreneurs to Fortune Global 500 - to explore new business
opportunities, reduce their operational costs significantly, cut down
carbon emissions and boost their revenues. Today, Globals enjoys a
strong position in the industry as a high-performing leader through
its technology innovation and remarkable domain expertise.

At Globals, we have always placed quality over quantity, mind over

machine and unity over uni-opinion. Our work culture and
philosophy has helped us to establish employee friendly workplace
where team spirit and leadership is well nurtured. There is a lot of
enthusiasm among our people to perform and this enables our work
more streamlined and solutions meet the prescribed time boundary.
 EDUCATION ERP.NET

The web, social software and cloud computing are having a great
impact on enterprise IT – but according to Thomas Bittmann, a
distinguished analyst with Gartner®, the impact of web, social
software and cloud computing on our educational system will be
astounding.
Cloud computing is a new delivery method and choice available
today for K-12 and Higher Education Enterprise Systems. It is a
massively scalable, offsite infrastructure accessible on demand
across the internet on a pay-per-use basis eliminating upfront
investment costs. In this challenging economic environment,
educationERP.net enables institutions to drastically reduce their IT
costs involved in automating their administrative and academic
processes.
Thus educationERP.net is right time for accelerated adoption of
cloud computing in education institutions of any sizes. Both server
compute and storage capacity can be accessed in near real-time,
when needed, without waiting for resources to be assembled in an
on-premise data center.
We are one of the foremost organizations to provide a
comprehensive ERP for education on a “SaaS” (Software as a Service)
model.

Besides understanding the needs of today’s education system, we

also understand the difficulty of the institutions in terms of
deployment of such ERP systems.

Hence Globals offers an extremely distinctive model which allows

relieves the education institutions of paying an enormous onetime
cost for the implementation of the ERP. All upfront investments like
hardware setup, software, etc is also eliminated.
SaaS V/s Traditional Installed Software Applications.
Comprehensive Continuous Evaluation (CCE) system as per CBSE

Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation is the new refers to a

system of school based assessment that covers all aspects of
student’s development. It emphasizes two fold objectives.
Continuity in evaluation and assessment of broad based learning

CCE helps in reducing stress of students by:-

• Identifying learning progress of students at regular time

intervals on small portions of content.

• Employing a variety of remedial measures of teaching based on

learning needs and potential of different students.
 • Desisting from using negative comments on the learner’s
performance.

• Encouraging learning through employment of a variety of

teaching aids and techniques.

• Involving learners actively in the learning process.

• Recognizing and encouraging specific abilities of students, who

do not excel in academics but perform well in other co-
curricular areas.

Introducing CCE System Tool

EducationERP.net is an enterprise system for Educational Institutions

with Business Intelligence tools to streamline and automate their
business processes. EducationERP.net enables schools and colleges to
bring down their operational costs by effective management of their
assets and human resources, and bridges the gap between various
stakeholders of the institute like students, parents, teachers,
administrators, recruiters and more.

• Product has evolved from a School Management System in

2006 to a state-of-the-art enterprise system with Business
Intelligence for K-12 Educational Institutions.

• educationERP.net™ has seamlessly transformed the working of

an educational institution, facilitating them to serve students
and other stake holders of their institution better and efficient.

• educationERP.net is also a Partner of World Bank for ICT

enablement in Developing Countries and member of World
Economic Forum Global Education Initiative.
 Features of CCE System Tool
CCE System of educationERP.net enables to :

 easily carry out assessment of the students throughout the year

formally and informally

 Generation of the grades or results of formative assessment by

updating into the Reports Card or CCE Card Module .

 The weight age will be calculated as per the guidelines by the

system automatically

 Teacher can be keep a tab on the student’s progress, suggest

remedial programs, and students can incorporate the same.
 Summative Assessment (SA)
Summative Assessment in the CCE System of
educationERP.net will include:

 Curriculum Module where the School can update the

Curriculum and Syllabus as defined by the CBSE Board.

 The results from the examinations conducted by the school will

be updated in the Report Card module.

 Weightage will be calculated as prescribed by the board, and

the same will be used in the Report Card / Grading System and
for the Promotion of the students to higher classes.

 Summative Assessment provides real-time feedback on the

student’s learning to Teachers and Parents
 Grading System
In the Grading Module of CCE System of educationERP.net

 Scholastic, Co-Scholastic, Life Skills, Attitude & Values, Health &

Physical Education are the areas that are tracked by the
Teachers.

 Appropriate grades are allotted to the students based on the

Indicators given in the Teachers’ Manual of CCE issued by CBSE.

 This system will also determine the Percentile Ranking for

every student in a class, and the students will be automatically
promoted to the successive class based on the formative and
summative
 Benefits of CCE System Tool
• Reduces stress on the Teachers as complex calculation of
Formative and Summative

• Assessment Term Wise is calculated by the system

automatically.

• Teachers or School can add any number of parameters for

evaluation based on the School’s value system in our
Configuration Page, and the calculation is done automatically
based on the parameters that are added.

• Teachers can continuously monitor the performance of the

Students and keep track on their progress in real-time.

• Parents can access the students’ progress and the remedial

programs introduced by the teachers on their wards

• Our system will generate report card / CCE card automatically

and generates reports card / CCE card in the CBSE defined
formats

• Grades are calculated dynamically in our system’s Grading

Module
 Unique Selling Points
• Completely web based with Service Oriented Architecture.

• The product highly scalable, adaptable and customizable.

• SOA enables the product to interact with existing third-party

applications & devices.

• Offering Business Intelligence and Analytics, facilitating the

decision makers of the school and the teachers, and offering
Ad-Hoc Reporting and Customized Dashboard

• Delivery Model is available on both – On Premise or SaaS

• Tightly Integrated with Tally, for Accounting and Fees

Management

• Scheduling / Time Table module is highly advanced solving one

of the major pain points of the school, and is a patent pending
module.

• System is Highly intuitive and user friendly, with On-Cloud

offering.
The key advantages are:

1. No additional cost for procurement of external hardware /

software

2.No burden of paying an enormous amount at one time for

procuring of the software. Work on a “Pay-as-you go” model.

3. No need to employ any technical person at your Institution

as all the technical aspects will be handled by us.

4. Activities that are managed from central locations rather

than at each School’s/ Institution’s site, enabling students/ parents/
faculty and the management to access applications remotely via the
web
5.Application delivery that typically is closer to a one-to-many
model (single instance, multi-tenant architecture) than to a one-to-
one model,
6.Centralized feature updating, which obviates the need for
downloadable patches and upgrades.

7. 99% zero down time.

8.Data is highly secured and strong encryption techniques like

Asymmetric key based encryption algorithms are used.

9. Scalability becomes extremely simple and does not involve much

additional costs.
 EDUCATION ERP FOR K-12
The K-12 edition of educationERP.net enables your K-12 school with
greater flexibility by wholly automating their administrative and
academic processes. Empowering your teachers and students with
an extremely user friendly communication platform using which the
information flow within the school becomes exceedingly effortless.
educationERP.net™ would set apart your school as the most
innovative and ERP enabled School wherein the parents can be kept
updated about the wards performance and attendance.

Be unique, be a Winner!

According to McKinsey Report, September 2007 on “How the

World’s best performing schools come out on top”, it is the quality of
education imparted by the education institutes that makes them
stand on the top when compared to any other factor. It is impractical
to deny the following facts:

The Quality of an Education System cannot exceed the Quality of its

teachers”

“The only way to improve outcomes is to improve instruction”

The existing situation here is that majority of the institutions fail to
recognize the importance of this and would not focus to a great
extent on bringing up the quality instruction out of their faculty
members. The current scenario reveals that the faculty members/
teachers, instructors are burdened with a lot of organizational work
along with their basic and most important task of instructing /
teaching/ imparting knowledge to the students.

The simplest way to achieve this is to purge the extra work that the
teachers carry out including preparation of profound and
comprehensive reports, involve themselves in a lot of day to day
non-core activities etc. The institution should streamline their
processes effectively that will allow them to achieve these results.

The key to achieve better efficiency is to implement

educationERP.net in your schools. educationERP.net is a
comprehensive ER that automates all their processes, departments
thus allowing the teachers, students, administration staff and the
management to focus on their core aspect of delivering world class
quality education.

Your school deserves the best. Choose educationERP.net

 KEY ROLES

Management:

 Gets all the data in one place and helps in decision making
 Can monitor the growth of the School both financially as well as
in terms of academics
 Can access inventory (stock) details of the School including
purchases
 Can seamlessly communicate with all the students and staff of
the institution
 Can obtain customised reports with statistics and graphs
  Can keep track of the performance of the academic and
administrative staff
 Can get genuine feedback from the students and can address
grievances
 Gets complete control over Finances of the school including
income and expenditure details
 Can interact very closely with the parents to discuss about their
wards performance
 Can address to the grievances of the parents as soon as any
issue raised by coordinating with all the entities involved easily

Administration / Office

 Can automate fee collection, accept payments online, generate

quick reports
 Can administrate and generate payroll accounting &
attendance details
 Can contact students, staff, management effortlessly
 Can initiate timely correspondence to other departments
 Can handle day to day activities like time table generation in a
click of a button thus saving a great deal of time

Parents

 Get easy access about the performance, attendance and fees

due of their ward
 Can easily communicate with teachers, principal &
administrative staff
 Can access results of wards for various examinations
 Can access important notices on Virtual Notice Board like last
date of payment of fees etc
 Can use convenient payment methods for paying fees through
various channels like Internet, mobile banking, etc
 Can indicate their grievances directly to the management
Students

 Can access lessons, submit homework, tests and projects on-

line
 Can analyze and self-evaluate performance and ranking
 Can track attendance, fees dues, notices, events & schedules
etc
 Can access wealth of information from libraries & information
portals, etc
 Can have discussion forums and community for easy interaction
and personal development

Teachers

 Can craft lesson as per school’s requirements

 Can monitor progress and provide feedback
 Can monitor progress of students on both academic and non-
academic front through effective student monitoring system
and work for student development
 Can check their timetable easily and can request do the
necessary changes whenever required
 Can post assignments and homework and progress on to the
web; encourage mentoring sessions
 Can initiate Marks card update through more convenient
procedures and automation
 Can generate student reports by a click of a button

Can know the load and can self assess based on the performance.
EducationERP.net comes with a range of
modules for K-12 Schools as listed below:
1. Student Admission &
19. Financial Accounting
Promotion

20. School Asset & Inventory

2. Student Profile
Management System

3. Teachers Management 21. Library Management

4. Subject Management 22. Role Management

5. Syllabus planning 23. Virtual Classroom

24. Comprehensive Reporting with Self-

6. Time Table planning
Customized Reports

7. Teachers’ Schedule 25. School Bus Management

8. Student’s Attendance 26. Canteen Management

9. Staff Attendance 27. Hostel Management

10. Fees Management with online payment of Fees

11. Library Management 28. Discussion Forums

12. e-Notice Board 29. Shared Documents

13. SMS Notifications 30. Photo and Video Upload feature

14. Online Homework and 31. CRM for Education with Web -to-
assignments Leads Form

15. Internal Messaging 32. Website Content Management

System System

16. Academic Calendar 33. Examination Results

17. e-Marks Card 34. Alumni Management

35. Usage Statistics and Default Setting

18. HR & Payroll
Restoration
 EDUCATION ERP FOR HIGHER EDUCATION
According to the results of a special survey 'Higher Education: Free
degrees to fly' by Economist®, higher education is already a global
business. The days when higher education was a matter of national
policy and government regulation are rapidly fading.

Higher Education provisioning is now globalised and in many ways, a

commercialized affair and the way that the State had in the goings
on is vastly diminished. According to Andreas Schleicher of OECD, a
Paris based ‘Think Tank’ the numbers studying abroad were
statistically negligible two decades ago.

According to the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the growth

is now soaring: 2 million university students-approaching 2% of the
world's total of around 100 million studying outside their home
country in 2003. Since the late 1990s the higher education market is
growing by 7 per cent a year. The Economist Survey on higher
education further indicates that annual fee income alone is
estimated at $ 30 billion.
Following this, there is tremendous competition amongst institutions
to outdo the other and to attract students to join them. Considering
this growing market, higher education institutions need to be well
prepared for all the challenges and have to offer the best to their
students. The widespread use of Internet, has hiked students’
expectation of technology services. Institutions must have that
cutting edge that would allow students to get benefitted by
technology.

EducationERP.net facilitates you to be a winner! With a web based

architecture and accessible from anywhere educationERP.net is the
perfect solution for your institution.
 Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is an ERP?

2. What are the benefits of using an ERP?

3. What are the salient features of educationERP.net?

4. How easy is it to upgrade your ERP?

5. How can I contact you?

6. Can you customize various modules?

7. How does educationERP.net surpass its competitors?

8. What if I face difficulty in using educationERP.net after

implementation?

9. Why do I need to automate my institution when it is running

perfectly without it?

10. Is it possible integrate swipe card machine along with the ERP?

11. Is it possible to communicate via Mobile?

12. What if I have various campus’ of Institute will I need to install

the ERP in all my campuses?

13. What is SaaS?

14. What is difference between Licensed Software Vs Software As A

Service?

15. What are the benefits of choosing educationERP.net™ on the

SaaS model?
16. What is the technology used in your ERP?
17. What if I require only few modules instead of the entire package?

18. What is the difference between a web based ERP and the Client
server based ERP?
What are the points to be kept in mind in
framing a curriculum for ERP education?

ERP education is a crucial issue. The curriculum should be framed

with the help of experts and professionals in the industry. The inputs
should be a proper mix and match of theory and practice. Lots of
importance is given to ERP education in the curriculum. The idea is to
benefit all the stakeholders. ERP vendors and companies will not
have to train the fresher. Similarly those completing the course will
have better chance of employment .In addition Universities and
institutes will be able to attract more students. Besides they can
offer academic and technical expertise through to corporate houses.

Some of the important elements in ERP education are as follows:

This report has been written keeping in mind the two main factors
namely beneficiaries (whether professionals or students) and those
imparting the education (universities or other academic bodies like
training institutes).

Design in terms of using the software

The curriculum should revolve around one basic point namely the
ability to convert the ERP learning into usage. This point occupies
more significance in the case of executive and professional
categories and others willing to take carriers in ERP (both managerial
and technical cadres. Even in the case of research or in-depth
academic coverage the student should be given some inputs on using
the software. This will also apply for persons who are in the
managing cadre.
Otherwise the same drawbacks seen in ERP training will also apply in
this issue. Many companies have had nightmares with ERP training
because they believed it to be a mere instructional program.
Similarly if the students are not groomed on the usability aspects the
purpose of this ERP learning will not be served.

The main objective in stressing this fact is that they will be able to
understand and solve operational inconveniences and ground
difficulties if they practice during the ERP learning sessions.

On the other hand learning them by way of books and then trying to
apply the knowledge in practice is unlikely to workout as far as ERP is
concerned because of the numerous complexities involved.

Private institutes and those run by ERP giants will have to deliver the
maximum in this aspect because they would have access to all
applications. When it comes to colleges and universities this will be a
limiting factor. They can however be neglected keeping the academic
purpose in mind.

Other ingredients
ERP curriculum needs to be framed by considering many internal and
external factors. In the case of Executive programs catering to people
from diverse industries it will be proper to discuss about
maximum/prominent applications available in the market.

However if the audience are going to be merely students few

prominent applications can alone be explained. In addition general
guidelines have to be given for both categories.
 Similarly the ERP curriculum should be designed in mind keeping the
factors like time allocated (both theory and Lab), the competency
level of participants and the associated facts.

The execution of the program

This issue needs to occupy foremost significance. If the delivery is not
proper or as planned it defeats the purpose .In addition the efforts
taken to maintain other parameters will also go waste.

This step will also ensure that the money invested guarantees the
return (like the ROI on ERP!!).This step involves the cooperation of
the two parties namely instructors and listeners.

A program can be said to be a successful one if the participants are

able to make use of the ERP software efficiently (in the case of
practical training).This can be achieved if the y are made to use the
software everyday (or at regular intervals) and clarify their doubts).

The person should reach confidence levels when it comes to handling

the software. For the other category (academicians) the
understanding and knowledge of ERP should be better.

Integrating with management subjects

This is an important issue. ERP is a technical subject which requires
persons with management background . Persons with multiple skills
are bound to manage this better.ERP curriculum should have
adequate exposure to management issues.

If one were to go by the names it will be evident that they ERP are
discussed in terms of Warehouse management and supply chain
management and the like. Therefore an ERP education will not be
productive if it involves only the technical or managerial aspects. It
should be a combination of both.
Measuring the Impact
No process is fool proof unless it is measured and proper suggestive
measures are implemented. Similarly the results of an ERP education
should be subject to rigorous checks. When it comes to practical
courses the employability of the candidates and the success of the
employed candidates can be kept in mind to asses the worth.

When it comes to theoretical components the understanding of the

students can be measured in terms of grades and results of empirical
research.

Conclusion
ERP education is important both in theoretical and practical aspects.
The curriculum should be framed properly and in tune with the
market standards. In addition it should be subject to constant
revision and industry interface as ERP is not merely meant for
academic purposes.
What the future holds for ERP in terms of
jobs? What are the institutes offering
courses and training programs in ERP?

Enterprise resource planning holds a promising future in terms of

employment and training. The professionals are second to none in
terms of demand. Many Thanks to the intuition of companies that
have made them realize the importance of ERP.
The researches conducted by the leading IT consultants have also
drawn positive conclusions. They point a vibrant and an ever
expanding growth for ERP given the increasing tendency of
companies to mechanize and automate enterprise operations.
ERP has been the preferred and still continues to be favorite choices
among other applications like Customer relationship management.

Some of the opportunities in employment and training are as

follows:

ERP job specifications

Traits

Candidates aspiring to pursue a job in ERP should posses multiple

skills. The ideal person should be dynamic and be willing to accept
change at all times. ERP undergoes constant modification.

The professionals should have the inclination to adapt to changes at

all times. Mere educational qualification or technical competencies
won't suffice. ERP has undergone several transformations and is still
exploring chances of improvement. Hence the candidates should also
have an urge to update himself in all the areas of ERP. He should not
be sticking to particular software alone. There are chances that it
gets outdated. In that case the company will not retain him. Neither
will he be able to search for fresher and greener pastures in the
market.

Applications

Similarly the ERP professional should not aim at specializing in one

application alone. He should specialize in diverse applications. This
will ensure that he is not left alone when there is a dearth of
requirements for particular skill sets in the market. The more an
aspirant specializes the wider are his horizons and scope in the
market.

Functions

In addition the ERP professional should aim at specializing in more

than one function. He should be able to work in an environment that
handles multiple functions. For E.g. companies were formerly
engaging ERP for individual functions alone.

The latest advancements in ERP (like partial implementation, Open

source, web and wireless facilities along with outsourcing options)
have facilitated companies to choose ERP even for multiple
functions.

In simple words companies or groups of companies were formerly

employing professionals specialized exclusively in functions like
heading the operations in a banking company, telecommunication
company and so on. This situation is not the same anymore. Now
companies (preferably groups) are engaging one ERP applications
irrespective of the different nature of business (except for some
minor alterations).Therefore the ERP professionals have to be
comfortable in working in all functions simultaneously.

ERP job opportunities

ERP vendors

ERP professionals have lots of opportunities to seek employment

from ERP vendors. ERP vendors will be requiring their services right
from implementing, deploying and making pre consultation services
and so on.

Formerly ERP vendors were hiring them only on service basis. This
scenario has undergone a change because the vendors are reluctant
to shift manpower team for reasons like convenience and
maintaining the confidentiality of business secrets.

Corporate giants

It is not possible for ERP professionals to look for opportunities in

Small and medium enterprises. Even if they secure the entire
segment can't depend on it.

However ERP professionals have enormous opportunities in large

corporations that invest huge money in ERP. Those companies
require the service of ERP professionals in order to strengthen the in-
house IT team.

By and large many of them have been observed in companies in the

aftermath because companies unconditionally realize the need for
their continual service for an indefinite period during the time of
implementation.
ERP job Tags and description
Application Programmer/Developer

The role of an application developer /programmer demands a

thorough understanding of software codes and jargon .He should be
able to take care of the language and instruction part.

Candidates aspiring to this should preferably be from technical

background and posses' in-depth knowledge of software
development and the associated areas.

In addition they must posses relevant experience and undergone the

required training from established institutions. The maximum stress
is on IT skills and knowledge.

Functional Consultant

Persons with prior experience in diverse backgrounds will be

preferred for this job. There is no stigma on the qualification aspect.
Candidates from all streams will be considered. However technical
knowledge will be a prerequisite. In additions an all-rounder will be
preferred for this type of ERP job.

ERP training

This is another lucrative market considering the demand for ERP

professionals and the average salary drawn by them all over the
globe .of late ERP training has by itself become a very large industry
and has been expanding into a fast growing segment. Leading
companies like Oracle, S.A.P. and Microsoft offer lots of training
programs in collaboration with reputed institutes. They offer
certifications that are well recognized in the international market
and MNC'S. Leading business institutes conduct special programs on
ERP.ERP is also becoming a favorite research topic for management
students (from business angle).

In fact ERP is being introduced into management curriculum with its

intervention in supply chain and warehousing segments. ERP training
is offered by the companies in institutes or in companies or both
depending on the policies of the company and the requirements in
the market.

Conclusion
ERP jobs are plenty in number. The competition is extremely high.
The conversion rate is very low when compared with the number of
applicant/aspirants.
One needs to perform extremely well in order to survive. There are
many unauthorized I institutes offering training in ERP. Their
certifications are not valid. Neither will it help to secure a job. The
candidates are therefore advised to check the authenticity and
credibility of the examining body. The fees are quiet expensive.
 What are the latest trends in ERP?

ERP calls for constant modifications and up gradations. ERP

developers are facing tremendous pressure both from vendors and
companies. In this context it becomes important to analyze the ERP's
trends and modalities.

Some of the relevant issues are as follows:

Need based applications

Organizations had to implement ERP through their systems
irrespective of the fact whether they help in all the functions or in
one particular function. This was proving to be a big hurdle to the
firms. In addition this remained as the main disadvantage or setback
of ERP. They had to purchase the whole applications even if it meant
that most of them would be idle except for the core function.

The latest ERP software programs have overcome this menace. They
offer need based applications. The firms need not be worried even if
these Software Programs were not available. They were given the
liberty to purchase and install Software Programs pertaining to that
particular function. This advantage has helped to increase the scope
of ERP not only among large firms but also small and medium
business as well.

Expenditures
ERP was a very costly affair. Thanks to the intrusion of internet and
open source applications. This has helped S.M.E.'S to enter the
market of prospective buyers. This has not only widened the horizon
of S.M.E.'s but also increased the usage among large firms.
These large firms were not able to invest huge money in spite of
adequate funds. Now that the spending on ERP gets reduced there
are no hesitations to show the green signal for fear of heavy
monetary outlay. It is encouraging to notice the improving IT ERP
trends.

Reduction in implementation time

ERP was discouraged by companies because they took such a long
time to get installed and set the whole process into action. Since this
resource was spent excessively there were chances for reduction in
potential business and losing man-hours.

The current day ERP applications are less complex to install and train.
This has reduced the amount of time spent on ERP.Companies are
thereby assured of spending lesser time for ERP.

Open Source, Web enabled and wireless technologies

These are three important elements that have rejuvenated the
functioning of ERP.Open Source ERP has done away with the hassles
of paying license fees not only during installation but also whenever
a modification is made. The company is relieved from depending
even for mince matters.

Web enabled ERP helps in making the enterprise operations go

online. Any stakeholder or third party can access the required
information very easily and that too by sitting anywhere in the world.
This proves to be of great help especially during emergencies when
the details are to be sourced with immediate effect.

Wireless ERP has helped organizations to make use of the

communication channels effectively and efficiently. It has made it
possible for many elements to operate in ERP which were otherwise
not possible. Wireless ERP is nothing but sharing enterprise
information through devices like internet and other devices making it
possible for outsiders to access the same.

Conclusion
ERP trends reflect positive signals for the ERP vendors and
companies availing their service. It is important to remember the fact
that both the vendor and the company will be able to make use of
any advantage (including the modern facilities) only through proper
coordination, teamwork and nurturing a cordial atmosphere. Mere IT
ERP trends will not help in this aspect.
 Knowing More on ERP

ERP is a vast subject and its scope of study extends to diverse areas.
In order to have a good understanding one needs to keep abreast of
issues ranging from implementation and deployment of ERP to the
areas like ERP outsourcing, technical advancements, impact on
international business, jobs consultation opportunities education and
so on. It is therefore not possible to know them in one ERP article.

Some relevant issues of ERP drawing attention are as follows:

Leading ERP giants

This is a niche market where only the best gets to thrive. Needless to
mention the money involved and other factors ensure a tug of war
between the players.

Some of the leading ERP giants are as follows:

Microsoft
This software major holds a promising segment in the Small and
medium enterprises market. They have been constantly upgrading
the versions and are expert in manufacturing the products from the
vendor's point of view (who knows all the practical difficulties of the
stakeholders).

They have been taking a very liberal stand when it comes to the
market and competitors so as to be more compatible to the users.
More innovations will take the company to great heights in the
market around the globe.
The biggest advantage of this software is that many companies will
prefer them for one reason that they can be easily run in Microsoft
application and platforms.

Oracle
They have been in the limelight ever since they have purchased
People soft ERP software. Another encouraging fact for them is the
mass campaign carried by UNDP (United Nations Development
Program) to create an awareness of their products. They have also
satisfies the customers (of both people soft and oracle) by offering
many competitive features.

SAP ERP
A specialized ERP product meant to solve technical and managerial
issues SAP ERP continues to be the choice of many companies
around the world. It helps companies to redefine their business
operations. Some of the features and advantages of this software
program are at par with industry standards though some others
require to be improved in order to make it compatible to the end
user.

People soft ERP

People soft ERP software program helps the companies to streamline
their H.R. functions in an easy and effective manner. This software
continues to be the undisputed leader in the market when it comes
to H.R. operations anywhere in the globe. Oracles recent takeover of
People soft has only been a boon to its customers who are now fable
to access the eservices of Oracle also as a result of this merger.

UPS ERP
This ERP software has an important feature. They can work in
combination with other applications like S.A. P. oracle .This will
enable them to get the best features from each software and put
them in use as may be demanded. This has also hogged the limelight
due to this advantage.

Other business applications

Enterprise applications have been in existence for a very long time.
The advancements of enterprise applications are none other than
the popular Manufacturing resource planning, material resource
plans and the latest throb enterprise resource planning. The only
distinguishing feature of one after the other is that they undergo
improvement constantly and out beat in some aspect.

Some of the enterprise applications are as follows

Management Information Systems

Management Information Systems are the systems that help in
canalizing the data and processing them into information. This
includes systems and operations as well. It is important both from
the academic and industry point of view.

The functioning of management information systems is like that of a

computer. Infact management information systems are itself an
important component for the working of a computer.

It is for this reason MIS is citied to be an important factor study in

Information technology and engineering. Management information
systems have to be implemented after careful planning.

Information Integrated Systems

They are helpful in ensuring that the information processed reaches
the concerned persona and in the proper time and place. They are
instrumental because if they are not properly done it defeats the
very objective of management Information Systems. They are
implemented by way of discussing with committees. Companies do
the mistake of neglecting their suggestions or dropping them (the
committee members) halfway. It is strongly advised to refrain from
both.

Executive Information systems

This is an enterprise application that is aimed at helping the
executives in taking decisions quickly. This is strategically designed in
a manner that it provides the required information to the executives
and senior managers so that they can immediately act upon or
forward the proposals if any to the board of directors in the
company. This system is designed in such a manner that it helps the
executives by conveying it in a form understood by them.

ERP in countries
India and ERP
The IT sector has thrown great opportunities to the nation and
continues to help them in making a mark at the global level. The Y2 K
problem itself paved way for ERP to penetrate in the Indian market.

Some other factors deserving attention are the increasing awareness

among Indian companies and the increase in spending level in tune
with the world market standards. ERP is bound to contribute
significantly to the economy of the nation.

US and ERP
The market is a promising one whose impact is felt in the
international scenario as well.The competition is immense and only
the best can survive. The prospects are great in terms of business
and employment opportunities. Some of the famous ERP software
programs in the nation happen to be Net suite, American Software
INC, Exact Software and EPICOR.

UK and ERP
UK also occupies a prominent position in the ERP market. They don't
have any ERP giants like Microsoft or SAP like US. However some of
their software have demonstrated path breaking results and
command a respectable place in U.K., Europe and the whole of
world. Some of the well known software programs in United
Kingdom include EXCEL ERP, IFS and Mapics UK.

Conclusion
ERP is an industry that always shows bright prospects. There needs
to be no apprehension regarding outsourcing or other technological
advancements.
Whatsoever be the case ERP will flourish and penetrate one
segment after the other. They are undoubtedly a complex process
and handling them requires meticulous care and professionalism.
ERP product and ERP software will be demanded forever.