Technical Architecture of ERP

Technical Architecture of ERP &

Client Server Systems.

Presented by : Samaphi Lyngdoh

Introduction What is ERP? An integrated computer based application. Manages internal and external resources. It facilitates the flow of info between all business

functions. It has a centralized database and utilizes a

common computing platform. can either reside on a centralized server or be

distributed across modular hardware and software units that provide "services" and communicate on a local area network

The distributed design

allows a business to

assemble modules from

different vendors without

the need for the

placement of multiple

copies of complex and

expensive computer

systems in areas which

will not use their full

capacity.

History

The evolution of the systems dates back to the

year 1960 as per ERP history.

The systems in the yesteryears were designed to

assist the manufacturing process.

The first software that was developed in this

process happens to be MRP (material Resource

Planning) in the year 1975.

What ERP does…

Business houses always find great difficulty in quickly making out the required information because of the voluminous data, improper segregation, departmental arrangements and unprecedented delays.

The inconvenience was not only pinching on monetary profits but also antagonized customers who were made to wait for a long time for a small piece of data.

ERP has come to overcome this menace.

It helps to integrate the data in an organization

under one common platform.

The purpose behind is not only to ensure

transparency but also to facilitate tracking down

information regarding the status of a particular

order or its dispatch and so on.

ERP helps in making the maximum use of

technological advancements.

For instance the executive in the Sales

Department will be able to respond to a

customer query immediately by making out the

status of the product's delivery which would not

have otherwise been possible.

ERP is often well said than done

properly grasp the ERP Fundamentals, in order to derive the maximum outcome The services of ERP cannot happen all on a

sudden in an organization. The work being done may require a couple of

months and even years depending on issues like volume of the organization.

Meticulous planning will definitely help to achieve ERP benefit

Advantages Integration: Highest benefit of them all. It helps

in reducing data redudancy and redudant data entry.

Efficiency :Organizations become more efficient. Cost reduction : helps reduce cost. Less personnel : lesser no. of people are required Accuracy: ERP forces people to be accurate .

Disadvantages

Expensive Not very Flexible

Technical Foundations of ERP Architectures

ERP technical architecture basically defines layout of layers of application deployment between servers and desktops, interfaces and software objects.

ERP architecture should also should be able to absorb emerging technologies

It should be expandable and maintainable to meet future business needs such as business process changes, merger and acquisitions, compatibility with future regulations etc.

Mainframe Era: During, 1980s, ERP systems were running on mainframe, capable of supporting hundreds of users concurrently. Users were connecting to this monolith system through dumb terminals only to access and input data.

Client Server: During 1990s, client server (C/S) ERP application became popular. PC became powerful and provided a better user interface ), through Graphic Users Interface (GUI).

Client Server platform have the following characteristic:

Server hosts central database and application programme.

PC Clients, provide input, request service from server, performs display and does some processing.

System functions are done in three logical layers 1. Presentation layer-at client PC 2. layer, executing instructions from users and

transferring and receiving data from database3. Database layer for centrally managing data

Application programme and database may be hosted in a single server or in two separate servers.

Web enabled ERP

Adoption of Internet technology allows access to an ERP system from anywhere anytime, enabling new ERP functionalities like Sales Force Automation.

The concept of Uniform Resource Locator (URL) was adapted and internet browser was used to access server from client side.

This development eliminated the need of installing client program but made use of Java applets, which gets downloaded whenever a connection is made by the client, through URL.

ERP software is typically implemented in 3-tier client-server architecture.

Presentation tier implements the "look and feel" of an application.

It is responsible for the presentation of data, receiving user events and controlling the user interface.

What tier are you in? Tiers are classifications of software by the size of the

company they fit. Tier 1Tier 1 ERP software is software for the large enterprise. Typically the Tier 1 customer is a company with several sites, probably geographically dispersed and in multiple companies .

Tier 2The Tier 2 market is the largest of all the tiers in terms of the number of potential customers.

They are usually just a few localized sites.

The main indication is the size of the company by revenue.

Tier 3: Tier 3 software is designed for single site customers of under $40 million dollars.

These are companies with 5 to 30 users and have less demanding needs.

Often these companies have just and are looking to expand their capabilities. These companies tend to be the family run or small corporations.

3 tier

Three-tier is a client–server architecture in which the user interface, functional process logic ,computer data storage and data access are developed and maintained as independent modules, most often on separate platforms.

It was developed by John J. Donovan in Open Environment Corporation (OEC), a tools company he founded in Cambridge, MA.

Three-tier architecture has the following three tiers:

Presentation tier The presentation tier displays information

related to such services as browsing merchandise, purchasing, and shopping cart contents.

It communicates with other tiers by outputting results to the browser/client tier and all other tiers in the network.

Application tier (business logic, logic tier, data access tier, or middle tier)

The logic tier is pulled out from the presentation tier and, as its own layer, it controls an application’s functionality by performing detailed processing.

Data tier This tier consists of database servers. Here

information is stored and retrieved. This tier keeps data neutral and independent from application servers or business logic. Giving data its own tier also improves scalability and performance.

What is a client server model?

The client–server model of computing is a distributed application structure that partitions tasks or workloads between the providers of a resource or service, called servers, and service requesters, called clients.

Often clients and servers communicate over a computer network on separate hardware, but both client and server may reside in the same system.

A server machine is a host that is running one or more server programs which share their resources with clients.

A client does not share any of its resources, but requests a server's content or service function.

Clients therefore initiate communication sessions with servers which await incoming requests.

Functions such as email exchange, web access and database access, are built on the client–server model.

Users accessing banking services from their computer use a web browser client to send a request to a web server at a bank.

The client–server model has become one of the central ideas of network computing. Many business applications being written today use the client–server model.

Advantages of a client server model

Enables the roles and responsibilities of a computing system to be distributed among several independent computers that are known to each other only through a network. . For example, it is possible to replace, repair, upgrade, or even relocate a server while its clients remain both unaware and unaffected by that change.

All data is stored on the servers, which generally have far greater security controls than most clients. Servers can better control access and resources, to guarantee that only those clients with the appropriate permissions may access and change data.

Since data storage is centralized, updates to that data are far easier to administer.

Many mature client–server technologies are already available which were designed to ensure security, friendliness of the user interface, and ease of use.

It functions with multiple different clients of different capabilities.

Disadvantages of a client server model

As the number of simultaneous client requests to a given server increases, the server can become overloaded.

Under client–server, should a critical server fail, clients’ requests cannot be fulfilled.

Thank you .