A front office application is any
software that has a direct relation to customers. It provides functionality and data necessary to take orders, configure complex products and provide effective service and support to customers. It includes
customer relationship management (CRM),
sales force automation
Salesforce management systems (also ''sales force automation systems'' (SFA)) are information systems used in customer relationship management (CRM) marketing and management that help automate some sales and sales force management functions. The ...
,
customer support and field service.
In turn, a back office application has no such direct relation. It provides functionality for internal operations such as
enterprise resource planning (ERP),
inventory control,
manufacturing and all of the supply chain activities associated with procuring goods, services and raw materials. If an ERP system includes order entry and customer service capabilities, that system would bridge both back office and front office.
Examples
The
software enabling the
customer
In sales, commerce, and economics, a customer (sometimes known as a client, buyer, or purchaser) is the recipient of a good, service, product or an idea - obtained from a seller, vendor, or supplier via a financial transaction or exchange for ...
to order a
product from a
company
A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of people, whether Natural person, natural, Legal person, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common p ...
is considered a front office
application
Application may refer to:
Mathematics and computing
* Application software, computer software designed to help the user to perform specific tasks
** Application layer, an abstraction layer that specifies protocols and interface methods used in a c ...
. If a
salesperson is typing the order into the application, it is still considered a front office application even though the
customer
In sales, commerce, and economics, a customer (sometimes known as a client, buyer, or purchaser) is the recipient of a good, service, product or an idea - obtained from a seller, vendor, or supplier via a financial transaction or exchange for ...
is not directly interacting with the
software.
If the
company
A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of people, whether Natural person, natural, Legal person, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common p ...
uses different
software to order the product from a
manufacturer, it is considered a back office application.
See also
*
Front office
*
Back office
References
Business software
{{Business-software-stub