ERP Technology Platforms

What is a Technology Platform and why is it a factor in ERP selection?
How can I tell what Technology Platform an ERP system uses?
What is Microsoft .NET?
How Many Users can your ERP system support?
Should I Buy ERP Source Code?
Will Seradex ERP work on Linux?
What are Web Services?
What Security issues do ERP Systems Have?
What ERP Management Reporting Tools are Available?

What is a Technology Platform and why is it a factor in ERP selection?

Most ERP vendors claim to use Microsoft technology - so do you need to worry? Yes. It takes a large development team man years to bring an ERP system to market. There are many ERP products that use non-current technology such as Paradox, Centura, SQL Windows, GUPTA®, Progress®, or Fox-Pro®. While the vendors have added smaller components developed in Microsoft technology to sit on top of these dated technologies.

Many ERP companies are claiming their products are already 100% .Net. This is a very misleading claim. Seradex is fully engaged in assessing future Microsoft Technology. We can report that as of 2004 the .NET platform is improving and Microsoft has overcome some significant issues with the .net platform. Microsoft is turning these issues around rapidly and the future for .net is very bright. It is just reaching the point that Seradex can begin deploying in enterprise development.

So how do you tell what technology platforms ERP products use?

Here is a list of some ERP solutions and their platforms :
• BusinessVision - Cobol
• Coss - FoxPro
• Made2Manage - FoxPro
• Oracle - Oracle’s Proprietary Tools
• PeopleSoft - Proprietary Language
• Visual Manufacturing - Gupta
• SAP - Proprietary Language - ABAP

To determine the technology platform of an ERP software product you can do several things :
• Check the Internet search engines for product information
• Go to the ERP vendors web site - check the job postings - what kind of developer skills are needed
• Ask the vendor to supply a list of all files that are installed and all run time licenses that will be deployed
• If the vendor offers a source code option ask what development tools are required

Do your due diligence when selecting ERP systems and ensure you make an informed decision.

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How can I tell what Technology Platform an ERP system uses?

So how do you tell what technology platforms ERP products use?

To determine the technology platform of an ERP software product you can do several things :
• Check the Internet search engines for product information
• Go to the ERP vendors web site - check the job postings - what kind of developer skills are needed
• Ask the vendor to supply a list of all files that are installed and all run time licenses that will be deployed
• If the vendor offers a source code option ask what development tools are required

Do your due diligence when selecting ERP systems and ensure you make an informed decision.

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What is Microsoft .NET?

Microsoft .NET (pronounced “dot net”) is a completely new development platform. There is a lot of press and hype about .NET. What will .NET do for you and your company?” Microsoft has incorporated many significant improvements into this completely new platform.

This platform offers many tangible benefits for both manufacturing companies and ERP developers:
• .NET insulates software developers from the different operating systems so its easier to deploy, install, maintain
• It runs faster, is more secure and hacker-resistant
• The .NET platform makes it easier to leverage the Internet and conduct E-Commerce with your supply chain
• .NET-based systems will be reduce the cost of software ownership

Many ERP vendors with products using outdated technology will require a huge development cost and a complete rewrite to fully incorporate .NET. Many vendors will add minimal .NET functionality to be able to state their products use .NET. Seradex is very well positioned to immediately convert to .NET technology and has already converted all E-Commerce Modules to .NET.

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How Many Users can your ERP system support?

Currently our customers have between 10 to 100 users. A Microsoft Access database can be used for smaller companies while a SQL database is required for larger companies. In practice Seradex ERP system performance can be continually be improved by the choice of the database, workstation, server, Ethernet switching and network equipment.

Transaction processing speed and system scalability are crucial criteria when selecting an ERP system. You need to know your new system will be able to easily handle existing transaction loads, with the ability to manage significant increases should your business experience exponential growth. Tests by Microsoft involving data entry on several core modules sales, purchasing, receivables, payables, general ledger) on the SQL database and an IBM 8500R server with eight processors simulated more than 134,000 transactions per hour being entered by more than 2,400 users.

At the volume of users and transactions included in these tests, Great Plains applications used between 16 percent and 77 percent of the available server CPU capacity, indicating opportunity for continued growth and increased scalability.

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Should I Buy ERP Source Code?

Seradex is an 'off the shelf' package run by thousands of users. The software is flexible and sophisticated and you are buying a product whose cost is amortized over the user base.

The other type of software that you may use is custom software developed for your particular organization. There are various advantages and disadvantages to both approaches. Why would someone want to buy the Source Code? The reasons commonly given for buying source code are:
• It protects your Business: if your supplier goes out of business, you can still support your applications.
• You can customize the application to conform exactly to your requirements
• Users may find it easier and to use as you can remove unnecessary functionality
• You can incorporate business processes that are specific to you and which do not exist in any packaged solution

Seradex has incorporated a vast array of flexibility into our software to enable us to tailor the system to your business processes. In addition because of our Microsoft .Net technology platform mini business process modules can be attached to the main system without altering the main product's source code.

Seradex is also incorporates data base independence so you can choose whatever database offers you the best competitive advantage including Microsoft SQL, DB2 and Oracle. The database is completely accessible to you so you can integrate any other application or business process at the database level.

By using Crystal Reports as our standard Report Writer you can customize or add additional reports. You can also use any other report writer or business intelligence tool to process or display information.

If you take on the project of modifying source code be prepared for large expenditures and stranding yourself on the current version of the ERP system. This makes upgrades impossible or prohibitively expensive.

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Will Seradex ERP work on Linux?

Seradex is a technology agnostic. We will use whatever technology that offers our customers the best solution at the lowest cost. You will find many ERP vendors that proclaim they use Microsoft technology and nothing else. These web sites can look like they were sponsored by Microsoft. While Seradex uses Microsoft technology and in fact was the first ERP vendor to release a 100% based Microsoft ERP solution - we did it for one reason. It offered our customers the best solution at the lowest cost.

The Seradex ERP solution is database independent. Seradex uses Microsoft programming languages and requires users to have PC's with a Microsoft operating system. Most Seradex customers currently deploy network servers using Microsoft Windows 2000 and run the Microsoft SQL Server 2000 database.

However, you can elect to use different technology for your network server and database. Seradex offers the following server and database technologies:

Windows 2000 Server
• Running an IBM DB2 SQL database
• Running an Oracle SQL database

Linux Server
• Running an IBM DB2 SQL database
• Running an Oracle SQL database
• Running PostgreSQL

This approach leaves you flexible to adopt whatever technology that offers you the best performance at the least cost. It also means that no technology supplier can use monopolistic licensing fees practices.

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What are Web Services?

Web Services are becoming an important future technology for manufacturing companies. The latest technology from Microsoft (.NET) offers a Web Services infrastructure. Web Services allow software programs to exchange or process information over the Internet. This allows network servers, PC's, hand-held wireless devices and cell-phones to easily exchange and share information.

This means software programs can be developed to allow customers, suppliers and employees access to real time information.

Seradex has begun to utilize Web services and these will play an increasing role in future development. In many cases the trading partners of Seradex customers do not have the infrastructure to interact on a Web Service level. As more companies improve their ERP software the use of Web services will play a central role in E-Commerce.

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What Security issues do ERP Systems Have?

The balance between making data available to the users that need it and denying it from those who should not have access is not easy to achieve. To manage this risk your company needs to implement an appropriate access strategy. Do not wait for an embarrassing – and potentially devastating – event to find out that security and controls in your ERP system are inadequate and constitute exposure for your company.

Consider the following security issues:
• Are you certain that sensitive information cannot be displayed to unintended users?
• Can critical functions only be performed by the right people in your organization?
• Does your ERP system give your users access to all the relevant information, to make the optimum decisions?
• Do your E-Commerce requirements have a security plan developed?
• Are you confident that you have appropriate security and control over your data?
• Will you comply with external and internal audit requirements?
• Will you eliminate the disclosure of confidential information?
• How reliable is your network and ERP system?

Managing the security of ERP information into and out of your organization has never been more critical – or more challenging. As businesses grow, their information systems support whole communities of users: customers, suppliers, partners and employees, who all count on the secure exchange of a wide variety of information to place orders, pay bills and keep records up to date.

Customers, vendors, partners and employees all need access to the right ERP information at the right time and, increasingly, from anywhere. Yet these users work on many different systems and access data from multiple locations. All have different passwords and authorizations.

Initiatives like on-line order-tracking to improve customer service, e-procurement to reduce costs or integrate supplier systems, and virtual private networks to provide information access anytime, anywhere are additional factors that have increased the need for ERP security. Increased outsider access to ERP systems. You must not only manage the security issues of your own employees, but also increasingly those of customers, suppliers and other business partners.

Seradex ERP along with Windows 2003 Server addresses your security needs in authentication, access control and user management. An integrated solution identifies the user, determines what the user can do, determines the level of trust the user should receive, protects your data.

Our ERP security specialists have the expertise, tools and methodologies to make sure that your Seradex ERP system includes a tailored, cost-effective security approach that dovetails with your firewall, virus scanner, spam control and tape backup systems.

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What ERP Management Reporting Tools are Available?

Seradex includes a wide array of management tools that link your strategic objectives to specific activities. We provide a set of strategic and tactical indicators focused on your primary objectives and feedback communication for course corrections.

Seradex offers the following reporting capabilities:
• Key performance indicators - compare Actual Results to Strategic Plan Targets
• Over 200 Standard Seagate Crystal Reports in various formats including: paper, pdf or via the Web
• Balanced Scorecards
• Ad Hoc Analysis - linking live Data to Microsoft Excel
• Event Alert - email alerts when specified events have occurred

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FAQ's