Enterprise management planning (ERP) refers to integrated management software that combines business process that allows organization to management business activities. ERP combine many business process operations that include product planning, manufacturing, development, marketing and sales. All the business process is attached to the database, user interface and applications. Enterprise resources planning can be designed, customised and analysed the data with the capability of upgrade and deployment. ERP can be local hosted or can be cloud based application depending on the customers’ requirement. ERP can be used for small business or for large organizations. There are many different types of ERP that include mobile ERP, cloud ERP, social ERP and Two-tier ERP. When choosing the type of ERP to use in the organization, it is also important to choose the ERP vendor. An example of the organization that can strongly use ERP is immigration (Kerr 2010, pp 46–60).
Immigration refers to the action of coming from one country to live permanently in foreign country. This implies that immigration is the international movement of individuals from one country to another country where they are not natives. The immigration system of any country consists of a complex system that offers economic benefit to the destination country and the county of origin. Immigration is normally under the control and regulation from the immigration department. The immigration department of Australia for instance keeps records of people coming into the county from any point in the world. This therefore leaves no choice but to manage all the business process using strategic information system. The following report is about ERP for organizations such as immigration (Gill 2011, pp 35-40).
The business process within the immigration falls into three categories that include strategic planning, management control and operational control.
ERP is an important tool in strategic planning since ERP enable defining strategies, direction and allocation of resources to various departments. ERP enable production planning that allows planning of production activities. Moreover, ERP provides steps for assessing the importance of resources and resource allocation. This strategic planning module that facilitates coordination of strategies with evidence that ensures success of the planning process. Though the strategic planning consultants argue that strategic planning link on the ERP is the weakest part of the ERP system, ERP enable strategic planning that is also able trace the link between resources and strategies. In addition, strategic planning module of ERP has needs, assets, outcomes, measurement and also evaluates the strategic planning process and its outcome (Damm 2014, pp 139–166).
Management control refers to the information system that gathers information about users to evaluate the performance of the organization. Management control involves measurement of financial performance and accounting information. In addition, ERP is integrated with resource allocator module that determines the economic contributions of the organization and managerial economics. Management control also integrates communication systems as part of organizational behaviour. There are two aspects of management control; these are financial and operational management control. A good ERP has both financial and non-financial metrics. Operational management control is another aspect of management control that makes use of operation activities to control the business organization (Yakovlev 2002, pp 52–57).
ERP operational control is a system control transmission of data obtain from day to day activities of the organization. Operation control is management systems that allow control of day to day activities some of the operational control management activities that are also part of ERP business process are motivation. Therefore, operational control uses strategies, tactics and operational monitor system that control and aim to improve company business processes. The immigration ERP with operational control business process is built with goals and strategies that enable attaining those goals (Grant & Christopher 2006, pp 2–15).
The immigration ERP require stronger business information to be developed that incorporates financial, human resource, administration, operation, sales, planning and inventory information.
2.1 Financial module
The overall of financial depart that forms core part of the ERP gather all financial information from different departments within the organization. The financial component gathers information on balance sheet, trail balance, general ledger, and quarterly financial statements. As part of business requirement financial information gathered by the financial core of the ERP takes care of all accounts entries and their impact in the financial state of the organization. In addition, the financial module compare the total cash flow and the expenditure, this is important for financial decision making such as budgeting. Financial module is also used to prepare important reports such as Trial Balance, Balance Sheet Profit & Loss A/c, Trading A/c, Creditors Balance, Debtor’s Balance, etc (Giovanni & Ortega 2015, pp 168–202).
The general background for this financial requirement is based the principle of the general ledger. With this in mind the ERP is open for future analysis of the accounting information for the organization. The demanding needs of accounting, budgetary and process are offered within this financial component of the ERP (Sheilds 2005, p. 9). One of the most important aspect of the financial module is the security for the general ledger that control the users that are allowed to view the information contained in the financial database. The module contain the settings that enable merging of transaction information and general ledger for different organizations or subsidiaries without using common database for all the accounts. Finally, the financial module also allows intercompany transactions. Inter-company transaction plugging is important for intercompany transactions that are payable or payment for some transactions. This system automatically distributes the transaction between the companies involved (Ebrahim 2005, pp 589–611).
2.2 Planning
The enterprise information system is a tool that enable connection of the aims or goals of the immigration organization with the objectives of every department within the system. This enables connection between resource and the desired outcome. This implies that ERP is use to determine resource allocation, operation and the desired outcome forming a strategic planning system (Costa, Ferreira & Aparicio 2016, pp 659–671).
2.3 Human resource
The human resource module of the ERP is another important part of the ERP that is required for business. The human resource business component enables the monitoring of the employees that are part of the immigration system. To monitor employees in the organization, employees are allowed to register into the system as users yet under staff section. This allows monitoring of employees’ information such as demographic data. Human resource module also enables the management to assess the efficiency of ERP system for decision making process. Compiling employee information or data in the ERP is also used for payment of the employee and reconciliation of all transactions that pertains to employee remunerations (Turban et al 2008, p. 320).
Hardware and Operating Systems – Many large ERP systems are UNIX based. Windows NT and Linux are other most popular operating systems that is used to run ERP software. ERP systems ability to use other operating systems make it to one of the most unquestionable enterprise information systems. The interesting bit is the common database that is used by ERP system. The organization can decide to built own ERP system or purchase the package though purchased software may not be according to the organization’s requirement. Database engines require Oracle 12c, SQL Server, Oracle 11Rr2, Oracle 10Gr2 (Kraemmerand et al. 2003, pp 228–248).
ERP software has an integration of components that are user friendly and allow processing different types of information. Software for ERP is based on the following: text base, database, graphic base and model based software. Firstly, ERP software should allow entry of texts that are usually documents and this enable using the software from various entries such as demographic data of clients during immigration registration (Yusuf, Gunasekaran & Abthorpe, 2004). Secondly, ERP supports database that may be cloud hosted or locally hosted. Data that are supported in the database in the ERP include customers’ or clients’ information that need to be kept confidential and safe. Cloud supported ERP are normally hosted in the database of the hosting companies such as Google. On the other hand locally hosted database are hosted in the information system of the organization using the ERP. Thirdly, the graphical module of the ERP software turn various graphical, statistical and text into information that can be visualised. Some of the graphical information are time, diagrams, charts and maps. This graphical information are transformed by the ERP software into version that can be read and interpreted. Finally, model based software enable the analysis of financial, statistical and quantitative analysis of information (Rubina & Alta 2011, p. 229 – 238).
The vendor of ERP come with different package that is determined with the individual business requirement. Suppliers for ERP are many and each offers different size, shape and types of ERP. Some of the popular ERP software vendors are Microsoft Dynamics, Oracle E-Business Suite, SAGE, SAP Business One, Infor Global Solutions Lawson Software and NetERP from NetSuite. To select the right ERP software vendor, it is important to consider the size of the organization that intends to purchase the software. Among all these software vendors SAP, Oracle, Microsoft and Infor are the best vendors that offer ERP that can be used in larger international organizations that control global network such as immigration (O’Brien 2011, p. 324).
ERP software has various components that enable the organization to utilize the software in improving business efficiency. Some of the components include user interface, telecommunications and applications.
5.1 User Interface
The immigration department uses the user interface to retrieve information and data that is useful for decision making. There are many interfaces that can be viewed in the enterprise information system. Some of these information are questions/answers, sscheduled reports, command language, menu driven, language, natural, and input/output. The ERP is designed according to the decision makers’ requirement. The user interface provides consistence performance that directly reflects the organization’s need and helpful information. This user interface also assist the immigration department to register new users based on the client portal that is self-service. The user interface is fitted with the administrator and customer control panel that enable the system maintaining and assessment of the software and monitors users (Fryling 2010, pp 391–421).
5.2 Telecommunication
The telecommunication technologies fitted in the ERP is important for the organization’s information network. The telecommunication module that forms the core components of the ERP software facilitates the movement or transfer of information or data from on e place to another. This implies that as in the case of the immigration system, clients can connect their social media data with their account in the ERP database. The data transfer from one social network or one website to another account using ERP telecommunication technologies is important for ensuring the interconnection of networks. Moreover, telecommunication makes it easy for the immigration organization to monitor the activities of various clients using the ERP including their social networking and social behaviours (Bidgoli 2004, p. 707).
5.3 Applications
ERP software has many applications that are interconnected to each other into an efficient tool that enable utilization and performance of different organization activities. ERP system is integrated with various application components that include registration, financial and marketing.
5.3.1 Registration
ERP system through its user interface application enables customer or client registration or enrollment. The registration application has some forms that facilitate entry of information such as demographic information, employment history and clients background information that are useful for immigration registration. In addition, customer self service portal allows user registration that is self automated. This interface makes the registration faster and easy for the organization. As compared to the manufacturing application, manufacturing application in the ERP that control most of organizations has system that monitor raw materials transformed into finished product for sales. Manufacturing control that controls the everyday activities on manufacturing that is used by decision makers and management on the vendors selection (Ruhi 2016, pp 198–211).
5.3.2 Financial
Financial analysis is also an important aspect of immigration information system. ERP is designed with financial analysis and control application that use financial ratios and cash flow analysis to estimate the trends and make capital investment decisions. The enterprise information system has integrated financial planning and budgetary tools that are used for reporting financial performance of the organization. In this sense the financial application of the ERP is budgetary tool that estimate cost and budget for developing quality information system. Furthermore, the integrated enterprise information system and enterprise development interface provides cash managers with the information on that is necessary for financial capital conclusions. The executive can use financial application to review financial ratios, financial trends and analyze the department’s performance against its competitors (Shaul & Tauber 2012, pp 360–384).
5.3.3 Marketing
Immigration department needs to marketing of the services abroad and within the Australian market. To do this the marketing application like other ERP for other organizations, ERP for immigration client also has marketing module. Marketing application allows control marketing data, services sales, prices and portfolio. The integration of the ERP with the internet within the organization makes it easy to access the ERP from any point in the world. Integration with the social media is another point of access to other websites throughout the internet. This enables marketing of the services that are done by the organization to all potential clients. ERP is also connected with other applications that enable importation of data from one place to another within the immigration information system (Vilpola 2008, pp 47–76).
The ERP is efficient in a number of areas that make ERP to be business objective in the current business world. The immigration system is not left behind with the implementation of ERP. The level of efficiency includes cost benefit, management integration, financial control, strategic planning and organization performance. Firstly, at the management level ERP ensures good integration with the managerial tools that enable the efficiency of the decision making. Secondly, ERP bring significant cost benefit to the organization as ERP reduce the cost connected to inventory and administrative cost. The cost associated with multiple storage of data is minimised when using ERP reducing the overall cost. Planning is another level in which ERP has cause efficiency since ERP enable pointing of specific target clients and link the aim with objectives of the organization. At the financial control level the ERP enable managers to keep watch over financial information of various departments. Finally, at the organization level ERP is efficient system that allow evaluate performance of individual employee, department and organization as a whole (Brown & Vessey 2003).
ERP is associated with some security risks that may be caused breaching of data. Some of the risks are exposing sensitive data, crushes of system, loss of data control due to insufficient reporting, vulnerability due to delayed updates and lack of compliance with security standards. Firstly, ERP being internet connected can expose sensitive information to wrong people that is more dangerous for performance of the organization (Khosrow 2006, p. 865). Due to high level of integration of different applications within the ERP leaves much data risk of being exposed to others. Secondly, outdated software and unsupported system software put the whole system at the risk of crash that may destroy information leading to security risk. Software incompatibility is another problem that might lead to crashes of the ERP system leading to destruction of system and information. Thirdly, lack of functionality of the ERP has lead to inability of users to access the data or analyse data within the ERP system. This may be due to insufficient reporting capabilities that are not user friendly. Fourthly, failure to update the whole system may lead to vulnerabilities of the ERP to security risk. This is due to the ability of the security attacks against the information system. Lastly, lack of compliance to security standards on matters such as transactions and payments are source of security risk. This leaves the system totally risk of transaction data breach from the organization to other people that are using the same ERP (Brown & Vessey 2003).
There are guidelines on the risk mitigation that are associated with the ERP. Some of these security guidelines are secure hosting, reduction of external systems, limited access, and schedule updates. Firstly, too many external systems that are integrated to the immigration ERP poses the risk for the information system. These external systems can be used with attackers to access the ERP system. In addition, too much external integration slows down the performance o f the ERP system and may lead to total crush. Therefore, the organization should reduce all the external integrated systems (Kraemmerand et al. 2003, pp 228–248).
Secure hosting is another security risk mitigation guideline that indicates that when hosting the ERP the organization can decide to use cloud hosting or local hosting. Local hosting face high cost of maintenance though is a bit secure as compared to cloud hosting that is dependence on the security of hosting company. Local hosting requires high security system that is aided by strong firewalls. Cloud hosting on the other hand faces the risk of data breach since the data are totally in the hand of third party. It’s advisable that large organization like in case of immigration department to locally host the ERP database to avoid subjection to third party. Furthermore, external hosting subjects the data to legal control from the hosting country (Iravani 2011, pp 296–303).
As part of security mitigation for ERP, the immigration ERP need to be integrated with limited access control that allow only certain users to access the sensitive information such as customer and financial data. This is important for managing users within the system and other external users. User access control panel also enable proper account monitoring by the ERP maintenance specialists. Some of the currently developed ERPs are fitted with security settings that automatically limit external users from accessing the system database and other administrative information. This is also done for internal users that needs to access sensitive information. The access control module only permits those users with administrative privilege to access the system information (Kovacs & Paganelli 2003, pp165–165).
The last risk mitigation strategy involves frequent software updates to reduce system crush and security risks. The ERP system is fitted with settings that enable security software updates and other software updates. This will enable the system to match the current system requirement. As explained by Fryling (2010, pp 391–421), scheduling software updates is one of the crucial security aspects that protect most of the ERPS that are used by organizations throughout the world. The overall security goal of ERP developers is to minimize any data risk and establish the best firewall protection software that can protect the entire ERP system of organization as big as immigration department of Australia (Kraemmerand et al. 2003, pp 228–248).
Conclusion
In conclusion, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is an important information management system that enables all the managerial functions to occur in efficient way. ERP is a good information system that when applied in organizations such as immigration department will enable the government of Australia to achieve the desired objectives. ERP integrate various business processes that are based on the business requirement. ERP is based on software that has numerous components each controlling specific function in control specific business system. There some risk associated with the implementation of ERP that include data security, system crash among others. On the other hand there are some risk mitigation guidelines set in place to protect the organization against security risks.
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