According to Bigdoli, “An enterprise system is and application used the functions of a business that supports decision making throughout the organization.” (Bigdoli, 2014, p. 214) Businesses use enterprise systems to ensure that the entire company has access to business knowledge. In addition, companies use enterprise systems to increase productivity and reduce the possible duplication of company data. Enterprise systems also help businesses to lower the cost of information technology and lessen the need to input data manually.
There are different types of enterprise systems, each with its own set of features that aid different types of companies in the decision making process among other things. These enterprise system features offer certain benefits, like better customer relations, fewer errors made by manually entering data, and the capacity for employees to collaborate easily and efficiently. The most common types of enterprise systems are Supply Chain Management systems (SCM), Customer Relations Management systems (CRM), and Enterprise Resource Planning systems.
Customer Relationship ManagementCustomer relationship management systems monitor and arrange customer information in a way that is useful to companies. The primary goal of a CRM is to enhance the services offered to a business’s customers and to use the information that has been gathered about the customers to market the company’s products and services to those customers better. A major feature within a CRM is the sales opportunity management feature. This feature allows a company to learn about a customers’ needs and purchasing habits. CRMs can help companies decide which coupons or discount offers to send to specific customers based on their spending history.
For example, a CRM used by a sporting goods store may help the company direct coupon for bait and tackle to a particular customer who recently purchased several fishing rods and reels but did not buy any lures or other accessories at the time. CRMs also support mass communications via email as well as automates the sales process to help enhance productivity.
