Enterprise software, also known as enterprise application software (EAS), is
computer software used to satisfy the needs of an
organization rather than individual users. Such organizations include businesses, schools, interest-based user groups, clubs, charities, and governments. Enterprise software is an integral part of a (computer-based)
information system; a collection of such software is called an enterprise system. These systems handle a number of operations in an organization to enhance the business and management reporting tasks. The systems must process the information at a relatively high speed and can be deployed across a variety of networks.
Services provided by enterprise software are typically business-oriented tools. As enterprises have similar departments and systems in common, enterprise software is often available as a suite of customizable programs. Generally, the complexity of these tools requires specialist capabilities and specific knowledge. Enterprise computing is the information technology (IT) tool that businesses use for efficient production operations and back-office support. These IT tools cover database management, customer relationship management, supply chain management, business process management and so on.
Definitions
Enterprise software is a collection of computer programs that have common business applications, tools for modeling how the entire organization works, and development tools for building applications unique to the organization.
The software is intended to solve an enterprise-wide problem, rather than a departmental problem. Enterprise-level software aims to improve the enterprise's productivity and efficiency by providing
business logic support functionality.
According to
Martin Fowler, "Enterprise applications are about the display, manipulation, and storage of large amounts of often complex data and the support or automation of
business processes with that data."
Although there is no single, widely accepted list of enterprise software characteristics, they generally include
performance
A performance is an act of staging or presenting a play, concert, or other form of entertainment. It is also defined as the action or process of carrying out or accomplishing an action, task, or function.
Management science
In the work place ...
,
scalability, and
robustness. Furthermore, enterprise software typically has interfaces to othe
enterprise software(for example
LDAP to
directory services) and is centrally managed (a single admin page, for example).
Enterprise
application software performs business functions such as order processing, procurement, production scheduling, customer information management, energy management, and accounting. It is typically hosted on servers and provides simultaneous services to many users, typically over a computer network. This is in contrast to a single-user application that is executed on a user's personal computer and serves only one user at a time.
Enterprise system
Enterprise systems (ES) are large-scale enterprise software packages that support business processes, information flows, reporting, and data analytics in complex organizations. While ES are generally packaged enterprise application software (PEAS) systems they can also be bespoke, custom-developed systems created to support a specific organization's needs.
Types of enterprise systems include:
*
enterprise resources planning (ERP) systems,
*
enterprise planning systems, and
*
customer relationship management software.
Although
data warehousing or
business intelligence systems are enterprise-wide packaged application software often sold by ES vendors, since they do not directly support execution of business processes, they are often excluded from the term.
Enterprise systems are built on software platforms, such as SAP's
NetWeaver and Oracle's
Fusion, and databases.
From a hardware perspective, enterprise systems are the servers, storage and associated software that large businesses use as the foundation for their
IT infrastructure. These systems are designed to manage large volumes of critical data and thus are typically designed to provide high levels of transaction performance and data security.
Types
Enterprise software can be categorized by business function. Each type of enterprise application can be considered a "system" due to the integration with a firm's business processes.
Categories of enterprise software may overlap due to this systemic interpretation. For example, IBM's Business Intelligence platform (
Cognos), integrates with a
predictive analytics platform (SPSS) and can obtain records from its database packages (Infosphere, DB2). Blurred lines between package functions make delimitation difficult, and larger software companies define these somewhat arbitrary categories in many ways. Nevertheless, certain industry-standard product categories have emerged, and these are shown below:
*
Business Intelligence (BI)
*
Business Process Management (BPM)
*
Content Management System
A content management system (CMS) is computer software used to manage the creation and modification of digital content (content management).''Managing Enterprise Content: A Unified Content Strategy''. Ann Rockley, Pamela Kostur, Steve Manning. New ...
(CMS)
*
Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
*
DataBase Management System
In computing, a database is an organized collection of data stored and accessed electronically. Small databases can be stored on a file system, while large databases are hosted on computer clusters or cloud storage. The design of databases span ...
(DBMS) - such as
Master Data Management (MDM) and
Data Warehousing (DW, DWH or EDW)
*
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) - which is a broad category covering Accounting, Human Resource, Corporate performance and governance, Customer Services, Sales, Procurement, Production, and Distribution
*
Enterprise Asset Management (EAM)
*
Human Resource Management
Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, ...
(HRM)
*
Knowledge Management (KM)
*
Low-code Development Platforms
A low-code development platform (LCDP) provides a development environment used to create application software through a graphical user interface. A low-coded platform may produce entirely operational applications, or require additional coding for s ...
(LCDP)
*
Product Data Management (PDM)
*
Product Information Management (PIM)
*
Product Lifecycle Management (PLM)
*
Supply Chain Management
In commerce, supply chain management (SCM) is the management of the flow of goods and services including all processes that transform raw materials into final products between businesses and locations. This can include the movement and stor ...
(SCM)
*
Software Configuration Management (SCM) - such as
Version Control System (VCS)
* Networking and Information Security
**
Intrusion Detection Prevention (IDS) - and by extension
Intrusion Prevention System (IPS)
**
Software Defined Networking
Software-defined networking (SDN) technology is an approach to network management that enables dynamic, programmatically efficient network configuration in order to improve network performance and monitoring, making it more like cloud computing t ...
(SDN) - including SD-WAN
**
Security Information Event Management (SIEM) - which can combine
Security Information Management (SIM) and
Security Event Management (SEM)
* Others types of software which do not fit into well-known standard categories, including
backup software,
Billing Management,
Accounting software
See also
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Application Release Automation Software
*
Application software
*
Business informatics
*
Business software
*
Enterprise architecture
*
Enterprise forms automation
*
Enterprise planning system An enterprise planning system covers the methods of planning for the internal and external factors that affect an enterprise.
These factors generally fall under PESTLE. PESTLE refers to political, economic, social, technological, legal and environm ...
*
Global Information Network Architecture
*
IBM Smarter Computing
Smarter Planet is a corporate initiative of the information technology company IBM. The initiative was formed to encourage the ideas of business, government, and civil society leaders worldwide towards their path of achieving economic growth, ne ...
*
Identity management
*
Identity management system
*
Information technology management
*
Integrated business planning
*
Management information system
*
Operational risk management
*
Retail software
*
Server (computing)
*
Strategic information system
Strategic information systems (SIS) are information systems that are developed in response to corporate business initiative. They are intended to give competitive advantage to the organization. They may deliver a product or service that is at a lo ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Enterprise software
Business software
Enterprise architecture