Client Issues for ERP II, Supply Chain and Manufacturing.pdf

AV-20-9598 Article Top View
Brian Zrimsek 1 October 2003
Client Issues for ERP II, Supply Chain and Manufacturing
Gartner’s enterprise resource planning II, supply chain and manufacturing research
agenda for 2004 frames a discussion of the most-critical Client Issues being faced by
business application users.
Business applications continue to be vital to enterprises of all types and sizes. Many users define the
term “business applications” as enterprise resource planning (ERP) and think of it as being confined to
the back office. For others, business applications represent innovative tools used to transform and
optimize business processes with trading partners. And others consider business applications to be a
waste of time and money that has provided them with scant payback and painful headaches.
Business applications can be all of these things. Current trends show that back-office applications are
being extended beyond the four walls of the enterprise to provide innovative capabilities, but because of
complex deployment factors, these applications remain challenged to meet users’ expectations.
The business application marketplace continues to be in turmoil. This upheaval is being driven by current
and pending consolidation, value-oriented buying patterns and a weak economy. Vendors are struggling
to sell new licenses and must react by reducing labor costs and