The ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning)

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions are mostly used in various enterprises to assist in streamlining the management of various departments. The Microsoft Company owns and operates the Microsoft Dynamics, which includes the ERP systems. Microsoft Dynamics GP, Microsoft Dynamics AX, Microsoft Dynamics SL, and Microsoft Dynamics NAV are the four main components of the Microsoft Dynamics ERP (Ruivo et al., 2015). The Microsoft Dynamics NAV is most frequently employed by midsize businesses that carry out tested industry-specific functionality that is pertinent to both the needs of the clientele and the interests of all the company's shareholders. It can also be applied by many different highly specialized companies and business organizations. The NAV is available in more than forty countries around the world. It is easier to configure, fast to implement and simple to use.

Microsoft Dynamics AX

The Microsoft Dynamics AX is one of the major ERP system products applied by many different organizations to carry out different organizational activities. It was originally developed by the collaboration the Damgaard Data and the IBM and launched as the IBM Axapta (Luszczak, 2012). The Axapta was originally released in the year 1998 in both the U.S and the Danish markets. The newest version of the AX was released in 2016 and although it still maintained the original name, it was popularly known as the AX7 in the market (Luszczak, 2012). The update had the advanced features with a completely unique UI distributed through the browser-based HTML5, and initially available as a cloud-hosted application. The above version lasted for a few months before being branded as Microsoft Dynamics 365(Luszczak, 2012). The core modules for the Microsoft Dynamics AX include General Ledger, Customer Relationship Management, Bank Management, Inventory Management, Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Product Builder, Human Resource (Employee Information), Project Accounting and the basic data configuration feature.

Microsoft Dynamics SL

The Microsoft Dynamics SL is applied by various organizations in cost forecasting and budgeting, change order control, web-based project analysis, monitoring workflow, determination of the proactive alerts and complex allocations (Boltena & Gomez, 2012). The software also provides different governmental contractors with several functionalities that aim at assisting in Defense Contract Audit Agency. In construction industries, the Microsoft Dynamic SL provides project managers with management services.

Microsoft Dynamics GP

The Microsoft Dynamics GP is applied in accounting mostly in North America, South America, Ireland, United Kingdom, Singapore e.t.c. It is also applied in different countries where there are business partners. The system uses SQL servers to sort and store data (Klamm, & Segovia, 2014). It is one of the accounting software that is designed by the Microsoft companies to help in financial analysis. The software is written in a language known as Dexterity.

Microsoft Dynamics NAV

The Microsoft Dynamics NAV is applied by both the medium sized organizations and major organizations to carry out industry-specific functions (Ruivo, Oliveira & Neto, 2015). It is relevant in providing the industrial needs in the field of finance, customer relationship management, manufacturing, analytics, supply chains and electronic commerce. Because of the above uses, it is applied in different financial institutions to carry out financial analysis and the access to financial data (Ruivo, Oliveira & Neto, 2015).

Associated Models

The Microsoft Dynamics NAV utilizes the concurrent user licensing model. The above model is able to maintain the simultaneous user. It can be installed on the server where users can connect via different networks. The number of users can also be limited depending on speed and of the server. The Microsoft Dynamics SL is associated with the Modular Based Licensing model. This model requires the individual purchase of the modules to be able to access the system. The Microsoft Dynamics SL can also use the Business Ready Licensing Model. The Microsoft Dynamic Gp is associated with the Perpetual Licensing model. The above model involves continuous payments for different versions of the software products. When upgrading, the users are able to obtain the new versions of the software instantly. The Microsoft Dynamics AX is associated with the Export-AXModel Store. The model enables the users to move metadata across different environments by distributing the Microsoft Dynamics AX from the Microsoft Dynamics AX databases (Luszczak, 2012).

Purposes and Pricing of the ERP'S

The Microsoft Dynamics AX is applied by different organizations in managing customer relationship, Bank management, and inventory management e.t.c. It facilitates the organization's business activities. The price for the direct support for the Microsoft Dynamics AX is usually nine dollars for every user in one month. For the enterprises, the charges are usually $180 for 20 users every month (Luszczak, 2012). The Microsoft Dynamics NAV is usually carried used by many organizations to carry out financial analysis and customer relationship management. The cost of the software is usually $1000 per month; on the other hand, the price can go as high as $15000 per month depending on the number of users (Klamm & Segovia, 2014). The Microsoft Dynamics GP uses SQL servers in sorting and storing information. The price is usually $200 per month for every user; this means that the price can go higher depending on the number of users or the SQL servers that a company has (Klamm & Segovia, 2014). The Microsoft Dynamics SL is applied in construction industries, the Microsoft Dynamic SL provides project managers with management services. The prices range from $155 per user for every month to 250 per user for every month depending on the number of users (Boltena & Gomez, 2012).

References

Boltena, A. S., & Gomez, J. M. (2012). A successful ERP implementation in an Ethiopian company: A case study of ERP implementation in Mesfine industrial engineering Pvt. Ltd. Procedia Technology, 5, 40-49.

Klamm, B. K., & Segovia, J. R. (2014). Creating financial statements using FRx within Microsoft Dynamics GP: Learning vs. teaching. Journal of Accounting Education, 32(2), 171-184.

Luszczak, A. (2012). Using Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012. Springer Science & Business Media.

Ruivo, P., Johansson, B., Oliveira, T., & Neto, M. (2013). Commercial ERP systems and user productivity: A study across European SMEs. Procedia Technology, 9, 84-93.

Ruivo, P., Oliveira, T., & Neto, M. (2015). Using resource-based view theory to assess the value of ERP commercial-packages in SMEs. Computers in Industry, 73, 105-116.