This is the first in a series about “Postmodern ERP,” a term coined by Gartner in 2013, and one that has been gaining momentum in common business vernacular ever since. In this post, I’ll take a look at what’s meant by postmodern ERP and how that relates to Tensoft. In the coming weeks ahead, I’ll get into the more nitty gritty details about what all this means for mid-market companies, so stay tuned for more on that.
Gartner offers this definition of postmodern ERP on their website: “Postmodern ERP is a technology strategy that automates and links administrative and operational business capabilities (such as finance, HR, purchasing, manufacturing and distribution) with appropriate levels of integrations that balance the benefits of vendor-delivered integration against business flexibility and agility.” As early as December 2013, Gartner was warning its clients to plan for the rise of postmodern ERP and the subsequent decline of “monolithic, on-premise ERP” or “legacy ERP,” as they began to refer to it.
In “What is Postmodern ERP?” on the Software Advice website, Forrest Burnson gets to the question of why a new generation of ERP is needed: “The goal of a postmodern ERP strategy is to use the best application possible in each particular area, while ensuring that they adequately integrate with each other when necessary.” As Gartner has pointed out, legacy ERP often consists of heavily customized in-house ERP systems, which is something that we here at Tensoft have preached against for years. The goal and solution then is to utilize what is often called “best of breed” software (or “add-on” software, if you’re coming from a monolithic ERP point-of-view).
So, how does this relate to Tensoft? Tensoft’s solutions have been described by an ERP partner as providing “the last mile” of functionality in an end-to-end ERP strategy for technology companies. In other words, Tensoft’s solutions are what is referred to above as “the best application possible in [a] particular area.” We’ve been helping our customers do postmodern ERP well for a long time – it really is an improvement!
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