Services ERP: Major Products & Players

Within the services industry, businesses face the unique challenge of selling a product which is constantly changing and is therefore difficult to predict and manage. This problem is one which many ERP software vendors aim to address with industry specific ERP software systems. Services ERP systems are designed to improve efficiency and output of demand management, outsourcing, financial performance and the management and estimation of projects.

Many of the major players in the ERP software market sell products aimed at the services and industries and the problems that industry faces. Microsoft provides its Microsoft Dynamics ERP for members of the services industry including the advertising services Omnicom Group and the engineering services company David Evans and Associates. Another major ERP software provider for the services industry is Sage. Sage is the world’s third largest supplier of ERP software (behind Oracle and SAP). The Sage ERP X3 software - targeted at the services industries - aims to deal with much the same problems as most services ERP, with a focus on project management and performance.

Customization and Flexibility

Dutch software company Unit4 also provides services ERP through the company’s Agresso ERP software. Agresso ERP is sold as an easily adaptable system which has the potential to reduce costly and time-intensive software customization post-implementation. With this claim, Unit4 has tapped into one of the industry’s major challenges - business change.

ERP provider Epicor offers a similar selling point as part of its ERP software for the services industry. Described as highly flexible and scalable, the software is offered as on-site, hosted or SaaS, cloud application. Customization and flexibility are often the major selling points for an industry such as services, in part due to the variable, project-based nature of service company’s work. The flexibility offered by many ERP vendors is also offered by Acumatica as part of the company’s cloud ERP software. The nature of cloud ERP makes it a flexible and portable option for the services industries and unsurprisingly that is a key feature highlighted by Acumatica.

This guide is by no means a comprehensive run-through of all the ERP products available for the services industry but it will hopefully have given you an introduction to the market. If you are looking for the next step in researching ERP software for the services industry, then the 2013 ERP vendor directory is a great place to start.