Enterprise software, also known as enterprise application software (EAS), is

computer software Software consists of computer programs that instruct the Execution (computing), execution of a computer. Software also includes design documents and specifications. The history of software is closely tied to the development of digital comput ...

used to satisfy the needs of an

organization An organization or organisation (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English; American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), see spelling differences) is an legal entity, entity—such as ...

rather than its individual users. Enterprise software is an integral part of a computer-based

information system An information system (IS) is a formal, sociotechnical, organizational system designed to collect, process, Information Processing and Management, store, and information distribution, distribute information. From a sociotechnical perspective, info ...

, handling a number of business operations, for example to enhance business and management reporting tasks, or support production operations and

back office A back office in most corporations is where work that supports '' front office'' work is done. The front office is the "face" of the company and is all the resources of the company that are used to make sales and interact with customers and clien ...

functions. Enterprise systems must process information at a relatively high speed. Services provided by enterprise software are typically business-oriented tools. As companies and other organizations have similar departments and systems, enterprise software is often available as a suite of customizable programs. Function-specific enterprise software uses include database management, customer relationship management, supply chain management and business process management.

Definitions and industry

The term ''enterprise software'' is used in industry, and business research publications, but is not common in

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...

. The term was widely popularized in the early 1990s by major software vendors in conjunction with licensing deals with the show Star Trek In academic literature no coherent definition can be found. The computer historian

Martin Campbell-Kelly Martin Campbell-Kelly FCBS FLSW (born 1960) is an Emeritus Professor at the University of Warwick who has specialised in the history of computing. Education Campell-Kelly was educated at Sunderland Polytechnic where he was awarded a PhD in ...

contemplated in 2003 that the growth of the corporate software industry is not well understood. Enterprise application software (EAS) is recognized among academics as enterprise

software Software consists of computer programs that instruct the Execution (computing), execution of a computer. Software also includes design documents and specifications. The history of software is closely tied to the development of digital comput ...

components and modules which support only a particular business function. These EAS software components and modules can interoperate, so that cross-functional or inter-organizational enterprise systems can be built up. In this context the industry may speak of

middleware Middleware is a type of computer software program that provides services to software applications beyond those available from the operating system. It can be described as "software glue". Middleware makes it easier for software developers to imple ...

. Software that is primarily sold to

consumer A consumer is a person or a group who intends to order, or use purchased goods, products, or services primarily for personal, social, family, household and similar needs, who is not directly related to entrepreneurial or business activities. ...

s, is not called enterprise software. According to Martin Fowler, "Enterprise applications are about the display, manipulation, and storage of large amounts of often complex data and the support or automation of

business processes A business process, business method, or business function is a collection of related, structured activities or tasks performed by people or equipment in which a specific sequence produces a service or product (that serves a particular business g ...

with that data." Enterprise application software is

application software Application software is any computer program that is intended for end-user use not operating, administering or programming the computer. An application (app, application program, software application) is any program that can be categorized as ...

that performs business functions such as order processing, procurement, production scheduling, customer information management, energy management, and accounting.

Enterprise systems

Enterprise systems (ES) are large-scale enterprise software packages which support a range of business processes, information flows, reporting, and data analytics in complex organizations. While ES are generally packaged enterprise application software (PEAS) systems, they can also be bespoke, custom-developed systems created to support a specific organization's needs. Types of enterprise system include: * enterprise resources planning (ERP) systems, *

enterprise planning systems An enterprise planning system covers the methods of planning for the internal and external factors that affect an enterprise. These factors generally fall under PEST analysis (PESTLE) which refers to political, economic, social, technological, lega ...

, and *

customer relationship management Customer relationship management (CRM) is a strategic process that organizations use to manage, analyze, and improve their interactions with customers. By leveraging data-driven insights, CRM helps businesses optimize communication, enhance cus ...

software. Although

data warehousing In computing, a data warehouse (DW or DWH), also known as an enterprise data warehouse (EDW), is a system used for Business intelligence, reporting and data analysis and is a core component of business intelligence. Data warehouses are central Re ...

business intelligence Business intelligence (BI) consists of strategies, methodologies, and technologies used by enterprises for data analysis and management of business information. Common functions of BI technologies include Financial reporting, reporting, online an ...

systems are enterprise-wide packaged application software often sold by ES vendors, since they do not directly support execution of business processes, they are often excluded from the term. Enterprise systems are built on software platforms, such as SAP's

NetWeaver SAP NetWeaver is a software stack for many of SAP SE's Application software, applications. The SAP NetWeaver Application Server, sometimes referred to as WebAS, is the runtime environment for the SAP applications and all of the mySAP Business Suite ...

and Oracle's Fusion, and databases. From a hardware perspective, enterprise systems are the

server Server may refer to: Computing *Server (computing), a computer program or a device that provides requested information for other programs or devices, called clients. Role * Waiting staff, those who work at a restaurant or a bar attending custome ...

s, storage and associated software that large businesses use as the foundation for their

IT infrastructure Information technology infrastructure is defined broadly as a set of information technology (IT) components that are the foundation of an IT service; typically physical components (Computer hardware, computer and networking hardware and facilitie ...

. These systems are designed to manage large volumes of critical data and thus are typically designed to provide high levels of transaction performance and data security. The "seemingly boundless complexity" of enterprise systems has been criticised, and arguments maintained for deploying discrete systems for specific business tasks. Cynthia Rettig, an American businesswoman, has argued that "the concept of a single monolithic system asfailed for many companies".

Types

Enterprise software can be categorized by business function. Each type of enterprise application can be considered a "system" due to the integration with a firm's business processes. Categories of enterprise software may overlap due to this systemic interpretation. For example,

IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...

's business intelligence platform (

Cognos Cognos Incorporated was an Ottawa, Ontario-based company making business intelligence (BI) and performance management (PM) software. Founded in 1969, at its peak Cognos employed almost 3,500 people and served more than 23,000 customers in over ...

), integrates with a

predictive analytics Predictive analytics encompasses a variety of Statistics, statistical techniques from data mining, Predictive modelling, predictive modeling, and machine learning that analyze current and historical facts to make predictions about future or other ...

platform (SPSS) and can obtain records from its database packages (Infosphere, DB2). Certain industry-standard product categories have emerged, and these are shown below: *

Business intelligence Business intelligence (BI) consists of strategies, methodologies, and technologies used by enterprises for data analysis and management of business information. Common functions of BI technologies include Financial reporting, reporting, online an ...

(BI) *

Business Process Management Business process management (BPM) is the discipline in which people use various methods to Business process discovery, discover, Business process modeling, model, Business analysis, analyze, measure, improve, optimize, and Business process auto ...

(BPM) *

Content Management System A content management system (CMS) is computer software used to manage the creation and modification of digital content ( content management).''Managing Enterprise Content: A Unified Content Strategy''. Ann Rockley, Pamela Kostur, Steve Manning. New ...

(CMS) *

Customer Relationship Management Customer relationship management (CRM) is a strategic process that organizations use to manage, analyze, and improve their interactions with customers. By leveraging data-driven insights, CRM helps businesses optimize communication, enhance cus ...

(CRM) *

DataBase Management System In computing, a database is an organized collection of data or a type of data store based on the use of a database management system (DBMS), the software that interacts with end users, applications, and the database itself to capture and an ...

(DBMS) - such as

Master Data Management Master data management (MDM) is a discipline in which business and information technology collaborate to ensure the uniformity, accuracy, stewardship, semantic consistency, and accountability of the enterprise's official shared master data assets. ...

(MDM) and

Data Warehousing In computing, a data warehouse (DW or DWH), also known as an enterprise data warehouse (EDW), is a system used for Business intelligence, reporting and data analysis and is a core component of business intelligence. Data warehouses are central Re ...

(DW, DWH or EDW) *

Enterprise Resource Planning Enterprise resource planning (ERP) is the integrated management of main business processes, often in real time and mediated by software and technology. ERP is usually referred to as a category of business management software—typically a suit ...

(ERP) *

Enterprise Asset Management Enterprise asset management (EAM) involves the management of the maintenance of physical assets of an organization throughout each asset's lifecycle. EAM is used to plan, optimize, execute, and track the needed maintenance activities with the asso ...

(EAM) *

Human Resource Management Human resource management (HRM) is the strategic and coherent approach to the effective and efficient management of people in a company or organization such that they help their business gain a competitive advantage. It is designed to maximize e ...

(HRM) *

Knowledge Management Knowledge management (KM) is the set of procedures for producing, disseminating, utilizing, and overseeing an organization's knowledge and data. It alludes to a multidisciplinary strategy that maximizes knowledge utilization to accomplish organ ...

(KM) *

Low-code Development Platforms A low-code development platform (LCDP) provides a development environment used to create application software, generally through a graphical user interface (as opposed to only writing code, though some coding is possible and may be required). A l ...

(LCDP) * Product Data Management (PDM) *

Product Information Management Product information management (PIM) is the process of managing all the information required to market and sell products through distribution channels. This product data is created by an internal organization to support a multichannel marketing s ...

(PIM) *

Product Lifecycle Management In industry, product lifecycle management (PLM) is the process of managing the entire lifecycle of a product from its inception through the engineering, design, and manufacture, as well as the service and disposal of manufactured products. ...

(PLM) *

Supply Chain Management In commerce, supply chain management (SCM) deals with a system of procurement (purchasing raw materials/components), operations management, logistics and marketing channels, through which raw materials can be developed into finished produc ...

(SCM) *

Software Configuration Management Software configuration management (SCM), a.k.a. software change and configuration management (SCCM), is the software engineering practice of tracking and controlling changes to a software system; part of the larger cross-disciplinary field of ...

(SCM) - such as

Version Control System Version control (also known as revision control, source control, and source code management) is the software engineering practice of controlling, organizing, and tracking different versions in history of computer files; primarily source code ...

(VCS) * Networking and Information Security ** Intrusion Detection Prevention (IDS) - and by extension

Intrusion Prevention System An intrusion detection system (IDS) is a device or software application that monitors a network or systems for malicious activity or policy violations. Any intrusion activity or violation is typically either reported to an administrator or collec ...

(IPS) ** Software Defined Networking (SDN) - including SD-WAN ** Security Information Event Management (SIEM) - which can combine

Security Information Management Security information management (SIM) is an information security industry term for the collection of data such as log files into a central repository for trend analysis. Overview SIM products generally are software agents running on the computer ...

(SIM) and

Security Event Management Security event management (SEM), and the related SIM and SIEM, are computer security disciplines that use data inspection tools to centralize the storage and interpretation of logs or events generated by other software running on a network. Overvi ...

(SEM). Other types of software which do not fit into well-known standard categories, including

backup software In information technology, a backup, or data backup is a copy of computer data taken and stored elsewhere so that it may be used to restore the original after a data loss event. The verb form, referring to the process of doing so, is " back up ...

, billing management, and

accounting software Accounting software is a computer program that maintains accounting, account books on computers, including recording Financial transaction, transactions and Balance (accounting), account balances. It may depend on virtual thinking. Depending on ...

. Enterprise

contract management software Contract management software constitutes software and associated data management used to support contract management, contract lifecycle management, and contractor management on projects in the procurement of goods and services. It may be used tog ...

is used to bring all of an organisation's contractual commitments into a single system for holistic management and to avoid the variability and inefficiency inherent in manual contracting processes. Icertis, Inc.
What is Enterprise Contract Management?
accessed 30 November 2023

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Enterprise software Business software Enterprise architecture

Definitions and industry

Enterprise systems

Types

See also

References