When the word “selfie” appeared in 2012, very little people knew the meaning of the term. We adapted it so fast that, a year later, the Oxford English Dictionary named it word of the year with the definition that we all know: “a photograph that one has taken of oneself”
Jargon or new words are sometimes confusing and techy jargon, in particular, can be quite tricky. In a world where technology advances almost as fast as “light speed”, sometimes it’s difficult to keep up to date with new terms. Once you manage to understand what ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) software is and what it can do for you, you start researching the best one for your organisation and come up with a new term: “postmodern ERP”. Is this is a new thing you need to learn about? What are the differences? Does it mean my current ERP is outdated?
The Gartner definition of 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 integration that balance the benefits of vendor-delivered integration against business flexibility and agility. This definition highlights that there are two categories of ERP strategy: administrative and operational”.
To make this even clearer, say that purchasing a traditional ERP is like buying a super expensive laptop every couple of years whilst a postmodern ERP would be like buying that same laptop once and only replacing the parts that need to be replaced when needed. Postmodern ERP makes it easier, cheaper and faster to adapt to new times and requirements.
One of the main reasons why postmodern ERPs have this capability is the cloud. The cloud offers businesses subscription pricing and all the on-demand benefits from ERP solutions that a vendor can offer. Therefore, postmodern ERP suites are more flexible and allow companies to use the best applications possible in each area and integrate with other solutions or applications when necessary.
With this blog, we have kicked off a series of jargon explanation and demystification blogs, so keep your eyes peeled for more to come.
