A new report from Aite Group, LLC looks at how middle-market companies in the United States and Canada are using enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. Based on a telephone survey of 25 Canadian and 40 U.S. middle-market companies conducted by Aite Group in April/May 2008, the report provides insights into the degree to which these sizes of companies are using ERP systems, and if they want to interface those systems with their financial institutions.
Enterprise resource planning systems exist to bring together the disparate internal departments of a company: notably, manufacturing, the warehouse, human resources and finance. By sharing information, companies expect these departments to be more efficient in their processing and to improve the company’s supply chain experiences in customer order fulfillment. Financial institutions and vendors targeting middle-market companies that use ERP systems have an opportunity to distinguish themselves from their competitors by facilitating the integration of online banking capabilities with clients’ ERP systems.
“Middle-market companies recognize that ERP systems should lead to efficiencies and that integrating key banking functions can support those efficiencies,” says Nancy Atkinson, senior analyst with Aite Group and author of this report. “Through the provision of integrated financial and physical supply chain information, banks will gain greater understanding of the important target market of companies with annual revenues of US/CA$50 million to US/CA$500 million. Interaction with more core functions will stabilize and enhance.”