Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems have been applied by many firms regardless size

around the world as a key part of the organizational infrastructure. ERP encompass a wide
range of software products supporting day-to-day business operations and decision-making.
ERP systems are expected to provide, seamless integration of processes across functional
areas with improved workflow, standardization of various business practices, improved order
management, accurate accounting of inventory, and better supply chain management [1].
However, these IT resources streamline and integrate internal business processes to improve
efficiency only within firm´s boundaries [2]. Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
systems have exploded on the enterprise space in the past years, and some studies claim that
they are the ultimate solution to the information exchange problem among firms. The main
purposes of CRM is customer relationship setting up, development and maintenance [3].
Because of their lower cost and ease of implementation and its use, CRM hold the promise of
enabling information made from the CRM to be consumed in ERP and across the extended
enterprise. CRM extend the original value proposition of ERP, allowing firms to build interactive
relationships with its customers and bring together their previously separated information at
very low cost. Whereas CRM encompass the external part of the extended enterprise, and
ERP encompass the internal part [4]. As more and more firms realize that they need to know
deeply their customers in order to compete or survive, integrating CRM with ERP becomes a
critical issue . Although existing research have studied the importance and benefits of using
ERP and CRM systems separately, they are limited in addressing the integration between
these two IT resources as an important factor for firms to fully exploit the value of IT [5].

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system helps the enterprise organizations to automate
and integrate all their human resource management, financial management, material
management, sales and distributions, production planning & control, plant maintenance,
document management and workflow, security and system administration activities [6], ERP
makes business more profitable. The automation and integration of an organizations core
business provides level of control . That is business becomes smarter and strategic decisions
are easy to make. It is like umbrella term for complicated type of software setup. It can be
customized to entailer one‟s needs. Business needs specific software solution, as Fig. 2 shows
some of the modules/ departments an ERP covers [7].

Khaleel, Y., Abuhamdah, A., Sara, M. A., & Al-Tamimi, B. (2016). Components and analysis method of
enterprise resource planning requirements in small and medium enterprises. International Journal of
Electrical and Computer Engineering, 6(2), 682–689. http://doi.org/10.11591/ijece.v6i2.8372

Asgar, T. S., & King, T. M. (2016). Formalizing Requirements in ERP Software Implementations.
Lecture Notes on Software Engineering, 4(1), 1–40. http://doi.org/10.7763/LNSE.2016.V4.220
In ERP systems one have to have access to Task Management, Fleet Management, Human
Resources, Notices, Expense Management, Purchase Management, Project Management,
Invoicing, Stock Management, Dashboards, Detail Reports, 24/7 support and more other
business modules. For example one stakeholder has a store this store bonds all his products.
When product will be directed ERP will be included in every point of sequence. It will
systematically schedule distribution and arrange to ship and deliver, thus observing in transit
through convoy supervision and even replenish that product all inevitably. If there’s something
missed there is not a problem, it can be added or removed because ERP has a feature of
customization. ERP is advanced it can be controlled over the mobile phone at very affordable
cost. Top five (5) signs one’s business needs an ERP [8].

1) Different software‟s for different processes.

2) Difficult access to fetch information about one‟s business.
3) System gets slower i.e. accounting takes longer than it takes.
4) Sales and customer experiences are suffering.
5) The IT (automation) is too complex and time consuming.

Multiple components into one system: ERP optimizes the business, centralizes data, automatic
handling, cost reduction, audit trails, business continuity and stability. With ERP single stream
of data is possible. Integrates and automates the data management and company’s business
processes.

ERP promises Accurate data, faster decisions making, lower operations costs. ERP is the tool
of managing information which means, A company has its CRM (Customer Relationship
Management) something manages all company’s orders or warehouse. An accounting system
and something filling the gaps in one’s information pipeline which could be spreadsheet and
manual procedures but none of these negotiation to each other, they do not part any
information which impacts proficiency. Efficiency is associated to time and money. At this stage
ERP helps one the most as it centralizes all the information in one’s organization, by enabling
this one can stream line the course of data. As most of our business processes become
connected End to End. All additional things become informal that is, single opinion of one’s
client so one can deliver better provision. Thus our team effort more proficiently as they have
the evidences they needed and when one need to analyze that information since it’s all in
same place, one can report on it any way one want to do so [9]

Yang, H. (2016). Project Team Right-sizing for the Successful ERP Implementation. Procedia Computer
Science, 91(Itqm), 672–676. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procs.2016.07.168

Ghazanfari, M., Rouhani, S., & Jafari, M. (2009). ERP Requirements for Supporting Management
Decisions and Business Intelligence. The IUP Journal of Information Technology, V(3), 65–84.
https://techonestop.com/types-of-crm-operational-analytical-collaborative

TYPES OF CRM:

In continuously growing competitive market, it is very much important for a business to share
right information to the right person at the right time, otherwise business will lose its
opportunities to sale products or services. Customer Relationship Management software is the
only solution that can help business to communicate with prospects or customers properly. For
any CRM application, primary goal is to enable an organization to understand customers’ need
and behaviour and provide better quality of service. It helps to retain existing customers and
capture new opportunities by building a strong relationship between an organization and
customers. CRM can analyze data and generate reports whenever required. There are mainly
three types of CRM applications – Operational, Analytical and Collaborative to perform all
these activities.

1. Operational crm

Operational CRM streamlines the business process that includes Sales automation, Marketing
automation and Service automation. Main purpose of this type of CRM is to generate leads,
convert them into contacts, capture all required details and provide service throughout
customer lifecycle.

Sales Automation:

Sales automation helps an organization to automate sales process. Main purpose of sales
automation is to set standard within organization to acquire new customers and deal with
existing customers. It organizes information in such a way that the business can meet
customers’ needs and increase sales more efficiently and effectively. It includes various CRM
sales modules like lead management, contact management, Quote-to-Order management,
sales forecasting.

Marketing Automation:

Main purpose of marketing automation is to find out the best way to offer products and
approach potential customers. Major module in marketing automation is campaign
management. It enables business to decide effective channel/s (like emails, phone calls, face
to face meeting, ads on social media) to reach up to potentials customers.

Service Automation:

Service automation enables business to retain customers by providing best quality of service
and building strong relationship. It includes issue management to fix customers’ problems,
customer call management to handle incoming/outgoing calls, service label management to
monitor quality of service based on key performance indicators.

2. Analytical CRM

Analytical CRM helps top management, marketing, sales and support personnel to determine
the better way to serve customers. Data analysis is the main function of this type of CRM
application. It analyzes customer data, coming from various touch points, to get better insights
about current status of an organization. It helps top management to take better decision,
marketing executives to understand the campaign effectiveness, sales executives to increase
sales and support personnel to improve quality of support and build strong customer
relationship.

Features of Analytical CRM:

 Gather customer’s information, coming from different channels and analyze data in a
structured way

 Help organization to set business methodology in Sales, Marketing and Support to

improve customer relationship and loyalty

 Improve the CRM system effectiveness and analyze key performance indicators, set
by business

3. Collaborative CRM

Collaborative CRM, sometimes called as Strategic CRM, enables an organization to share

customers’ information among various business units like sales team, marketing team,
technical and support team. For example, feedback from a support team could be useful for
marketing team to approach targeted customers with specific products or services. In real
world, each business unit works as an independent group and rarely shares customers’ data
with other teams that often causes business losses. Collaborative CRM helps to unite all
groups to aim only one goal – use all information to improve the quality of customer service to
gain loyalty and acquire new customers to increase sales.

Different types of CRM applications have different features and advantages. So before
implementing CRM system, it is very much important for a business to decide future goal and
strategy. If you want to choose the best CRM for your business, read our article on ‘How to
choose the best CRM software for your business‘.
Businesses often employ two systems to make sure business processes run efficiently - a
Client Relationship Management (CRM) system and an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
system. SAP, Oracle, Salesforce.com, and Microsoft offer on-premise as well as Software as a
Service (SaaS) CRM and ERP solutions to businesses of all sizes.

A CRM system deals with front-end information - managing valuable customer data and
enriching it through interactions with marketing and customer support. This helps businesses
understand prospects and clients, manage relationships and sales pipeline, and upsell and
cross-sell products.

An ERP system handles critical backend information - generally managing customer

information that is required once orders have been placed. This can include purchase
history, billing and shipping details, accounting information, financial data, and supply chain
management details.

Both client relationship management and enterprise resource planning systems independently
offer substantial benefits to businesses. Employing a powerful integration solution allows for
connectivity between the two, providing even more advantages to businesses.

The Integration Challenge

Generally, ERP and CRM systems tend to remain siloed as their contrasting architectures
make it difficult to streamline integration. Those who try to create seamless connectivity
between the two often turn to custom point-to-point integration. This method is fragile,
expensive, and difficult to maintain. With point-to-point connections, a developer needs to
manage connectivity and implement changes. Moreover, changes impact the entire system,
leaving room for errors. These point-to-point integrations deliver a short-term solution, but
become overly complicated as businesses grow.

Another method businesses resort to is “swivel chair” data entry. This method requires an
individual to manually retrieve data from one system and enter it into another. Such a
procedure is error-prone and takes an extensive amount of time and human resources. Some
businesses simplify the task by employing data loaders such as Dataloader.io for
Salesforce.com. When working with CRM systems offered by a vendor other than
Salesforce.com, however, a different solution is required.

With two different systems unable to communicate with one another, it becomes nearly
impossible to track all customer interactions and obtain information through one interface.
Sales reps spend time jumping between applications to create a 360 degree view of their
customers, slowing down sales processes.
As a lack of integration creates an inefficient workspace, businesses need a robust CRM and
ERP integration solution in order to streamline their business processes.

ADVANTAGES OF ERP AND CRM INTEGRATION

Some perks of incorporating ERP and CRM Mobile integration into your business are as
follows.

1. Data analysis:

The ERP and CRM integration is great for analyzing data of your business. The ERP
implementation services keep track of all the resources and data storage to help enterprises to
plan accordingly. CRM strengthen the relationship between the client and the management by
providing accurate and timely analysis of the data. Together, they generate all sorts of
information in the business and help the administration make proper judgments or plan out
their actions.

2. Data Flow:

The data flow can be easy to follow and smooth when handled with ERP integrated solutions.
They help in smoothening function of the business and efficiency as well. Previously, the
company used to be separately or individually handled whenever in data crisis. However, now
through these systems, it is possible to monitor the data and keep it in check. So it is easier to
figure where there is a lag or redundancy.

3. Access:

As mentioned above, previously various components of any business used to be detached

from one another. This led to a delay in gaining vital information during urgent requirements.
However, through the ERP system integration, the data is now readily available and can be
accessed by anyone who has the correct authorizations. All this data is present in the ERP
systems and is made accessible by the CRM system after integration. These systems work
efficiently by reducing delay and giving a 360-degree view of the data.

4. Cost Effective:

Investing in ERP integrated solution providers doesn’t only benefit the company, but it also
helps the employees as well. It is budget-friendly too. If ERP systems and CRM systems were
not integrated, their usage in the business would have been separate. It would require different
practice sessions in both the systems for employees. Hence, it would cost and take a lot of time
to learn as well. However, now since ERP and CRM systems are integrated. It doesn’t require
two different practice sessions; enabling learning in a single session which includes training in
both the methods. It saves money, time, and delay. It also enhances the relationship between
the management, the staff, and the client as well.
5. Speed: 

ERP and CRM systems integration works by combining the data into a single unit and provide
access to all critical information without delay. The primary purpose behind the creation of the
integrated interface is to enhance the speed. Having all the data in a single unit reduces the
time delay of data extraction. It also reduces human workload. The systems also arrange data
in proper order for easier access. It makes the entire process speedy and easy.

6. Duplication:

The ERP and CRM implementation, erase duplicated data. So, they have their own set of rules
and guidelines they follow for the more healthy functioning of the company. It removes wastage
of space for unnecessary extra information in the database. Even when the data is being
modified or altered, the database is checked thoroughly by these unified systems to make sure
that there is no data duplication.

7. Mobility:

In the past, businesses had a different manner of working. Human resources were more prone
to errors when managing the massive amount of data. Another drawback was the amount of
time required by a manual workforce to enter the data into the system and make sure the
system stays updated. However, through the implementation of ERP CRM bot development,
the management has become efficient. Data does not require entry at the end of the day.
Entry is possible anytime as per changes. So, all the products in the database are up to date.
Hence, customers can access accurate information.

8. Upgrade:

The upgrading of ERP and CRP systems is easy. Since the systems are integrated into one,
they do not take much time too. The enhancements provide a better view, access, and
efficiency in data handling also.

9. Profits:

The integrated systems do not just handle data and enhance business relationships, but they
also help in gaining benefits. Since the data is viewable in a better way, it is easier to analyze.
Also, since the human resources needn’t invest all their time in operating these smart systems,
it increases productivity too. So, the business is a profit.

The ERP systems and CRM systems are crucial in today’s businesses. They have all the
essential features management requires. ERP integrated systems provide business with
advantages such as less data duplication which reduces storage wastage. It also helps in
arranging data in proper order for better view and analysis. It provides a clear idea of the next
step the company has to take. The ERP and CRM systems also save money as the employees
do not need any training differently.

There are three primary issues with one-off CRM and ERP integrations are:

1. Compatibility issues: Over our 20+ years of ERP integration experience, we have
seen many companies stranded on older software versions due to creating custom
interfaces. The ERP company rolls out a new version and the interface doesn’t work
without a complete rewrite and another investment of thousands of dollars and hours
of time. The reasons for the loss of compatibility with a new version release could be a
change in the table structure, change in development language, or even a change in
deployment. Conversely, loss of compatibililty can happen when your CRM’s
development team makes similar changes. Ultimatey you should understand CRM
issues manufacturing companies can avoid.
2. Dependendability and errors: Oftentimes, you have to depend on a third-party
integrator to create an interface with a weak CRM and ERP integration architecture.
What they do “under the hood” is not the most elegant method of ensuring the
information transfer happens as it should. There is a continuous effort required to
maintain the third party’s information bridge.
3. Lack of usability and functionality: One-off or point CRM integrations with CRM and
ERP seldom meet the expectations of the sales and marketing team. Due to limited
natural ERP and CRM integration points, the desired information visibility from the
ERP system is usually lacking for the CRM users. Ulitimately, the end result is still
using spreadsheets, doing redundant entry, and adopting the two systems, resulting in
costly licensing investments for sales to access both CRM and ERP.
4.

CREATING A SUCCESSFUL ERP, CRM INTEGRATION STRATEGY WITH SOME

REAL LIFE EXAMPLES 

Each enterprise is going to have different needs than the next company, but the common
denominator for each is finding an integration platform that can reliably support its integration
needs now and in the future. A central, unified platform supports all integration patterns
required in your business ecosystem, whether it’s enterprise B2B integration, application
integration, SaaS integration, or big data integration, and also supports the various EDI and
non-EDI data formats those patterns rely on. It's the cornerstone of any success ERP
integration strategy.

Cleo Integration Cloud features ERP and CRM connectors to help you integrate the critical
applications to power your enterprise. With integration connectors for ERPs like NetSuite and
Acumatica to e-commerce applications like Amazon and Magento and everything in-between,
Cleo enables you to seamlessly connect and integrate with the applications that your business
needs to grow, evolve, and serve your customers at the level they deserve.

For companies who want to maximize their growth, they often wonder which system to
implement first. It can be a difficult decision because they each have unique advantages. To
scale, companies must increase sales and profit–so, that requires a CRM system.
On the other hand, an ERP system drives the business with precise and accurate inter-
departmental data. Before organizations can cut costs, they must have profits. Moreover, a
company can be extremely organized yet not make enough in sales to continue operating.
Business processes are only possible with consistent sales revenue.

Customer Relationship Management helps the organization to maintain a long-term

relationship with the customers. In addition to this, it is also useful to know about the
preferences of the clients and develop trust.ERP combines various functional units of the
organization together so that they can freely share the information and communicate with each
other on a real-time basis through a single computerized system. Apart from the above
differences, there is one thing common in the two software and that is they both aim to
increase the profitability of the company.

When companies undergo a digital transformation, they are typically trying to

gain efficiencies in critical business processes and also a high level of
visibility into those processes. Of all those processes, there are many that
are the fundamental backbone of how an enterprise runs. ERP software aims
to simplify and centralize business processes within an enterprise, which
include order history, planning and scheduling, and other data-driven
workflows. When enterprises leverage comprehensive ERP software, it
provides an easier way to manage the critical parts of a business. CRM
systems help manage customer data, purchases, and contact information,
which is invaluable for sales and marketing teams. Enterprises utilize CRM to
gain better insights to their customers to make more informed decisions
when it comes to selling to and interacting with them. Additionally, companies
can more effectively manage their ecosystem relationships to upsell and
cross-sell their software and other solutions.
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