The Ultimate Guide to Enterprise Level Software (+ Examples)

Define Enterprise Level Software

It is a type of program used by enterprises or large companies to satisfy their needs instead of the needs of an individual user. Enterprise software is created with a specific business goal in mind – to support or solve the problems of the entire company rather than a department problem.

It’s a system that interconnects all departments in a company, even though they work separately. Most employees within the company, from the development team to the HR department tend to use enterprise software.

Having a specific-purpose oriented software allows companies to improve productivity and efficiency through business logic support functionality. It allows for multiple user roles, each role defining the actions a single user can perform.

It’s usually hosted on servers and offers services to many users at the same time, generally over a computer network, as opposed to a single-user application that serves one user at a time and is executed on a user’s PC.

This software provides important solutions to the entire company. It offers services that are usually business-oriented tools such as online payment processing, online shopping, automated billing systems, interactive product catalog, business process management, security, etc.

When looking for enterprise software for your organization, make sure you are upfront about your business’ size and scope as different vendors specialize in designing software for organizations of various sizes.

What Makes It Different from Other Software Solutions?

When it comes to software solutions, some programs aren’t designed specifically for enterprises. Some of them may be intended for smaller organizations or individuals, so their functionality and scope is probably different from that of enterprise-level software vendors.

Software solution that only caters to a small or specific portion of the enterprise is usually not considered as enterprise application software.

The function of an enterprise software solution is to support the mission of entire enterprises.

Enterprise software vendors usually focus on features like support for multiple locations, regulatory standards from different countries, and different currencies.

What makes enterprise SaaS different from enterprise application software is that SaaS software is rented and hosted in the cloud and allows multiple organizations to work on the same database. If you are looking for a SaaS data reporting tool, Whatagraph is a great option you may want to consider.

Benefits of Enterprise Level Software

Here are some of the major benefits of using enterprise software:

Increased Productivity

Increased productivity is one of the most important benefits of implementing an enterprise application software.

A lot of programs provide automation functionality, no matter if it’s constantly updating real-time data visualizations or instantly reconciling finances. The ability to conduct these processes automatically allows employees to focus on more valuable tasks.

Development of Actionable Insights

In general, enterprise software includes custom reporting or data visualizations to help organizations conduct useful analyses. This includes documents, graphs, or charts that contain data on valuable KPIs.

Reports allow visualization of processes such as customer retention, accounts receivable, and on-time delivery rates. Knowing the information behind these business processes and revealing bottlenecks within internal workflows can help organizations improve their efficiency and success.

Customer Retention

Keeping the existing clients and customers is of vital importance for any business. Even though acquiring new customers is also important for businesses, the benefits of customer retention are enormous.

Enterprise software is a powerful solution for increasing customer retention, especially certain types of enterprise-level software such as CRM software.

Revenue Boost

Generating more profit is the number one benefit for every business. The goal of most enterprise software is to help organizations take the necessary steps and actions to boost revenue.

For instance, BI programs allow businesses to view operational bottlenecks, thus helping them to find areas for improvement and generating more profit.

Another example is product lifecycle management or PLM software that makes sure all employees are on the same page in regards to product design while confirming that products are designed properly and according to regulatory compliance. As a result, the amount of the company’s scrapped or discarded materials is reduced.

Less Manual Error

Manual data input can lead to errors that can affect productivity and require a considerable amount of time to clean up the system. Luckily, enterprise software systems automate the acquisition and movement of data, thus reducing the risk of errors.

As a result, employees will spend less time doing quality checks and insights will be more accurate.

Types of Enterprise Level Software

According to Develux, today, many enterprise software vendors offer a variety of software types for the unique needs of enterprises. Here are the most common types:

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)

This type or module of enterprise software takes different processes associated with accounting, inventory, and supply chain and manages them in a centralized location which allows data sharing and workflow automation.

Most functions provided by ERP software are also available as standalone software. However, the major benefit of this solution is the connection of various workflows and the improved visibility of overall processes. ERP includes features such as:

• E-commerce;

• Financial management;

• Inventory management;

• Supply chain management;

• Customer relationship management;

• Distribution and shipping.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

This solution is perfect for supporting clients, cultivating leads, and increasing customer retention. CRM software is an excellent way to personalize sales tactics and build relationships to generate profit.

Primed sales tactics and positive customer relationships are key elements of every business. Some of the features included in CRM software include:

• Lead management;

• Marketing and campaign management;

• Contact management;

• Client interaction tracking;

• Database management;

• Sales automation.

Enterprise Asset Management (EAM)

This solution allows organizations to keep track of their physical assets and manage asset lifecycles just like school asset management software. EAM software aims to increase the lifespan of assets, which, in turn, will lead to increased revenue.

This can be achieved by keeping track of certain tasks like compliance standards or necessary maintenance. EAM systems include the following features:

• Asset lifecycle management;

• Inventory management;

• Work orders;

• Maintenance management;

• Maintain, repair, and overhaul or MRO;

• Materials management.

Accounting Software

This type of enterprise software includes a variety of financial management tools that streamline the process of billing and processing monetary information.

When it comes to conducting financial operations, most enterprises have difficulties consolidating information from across various projects, departments, and sub-businesses.

Experienced accounting vendors provide a method for the centralization and automation of financial processes from across an organization.

Here are some of the most common features included in accounting software:

• General ledger;

• Accounts receivable;

• Accounts payable;

• Budgeting;

• Project accounting;

• Fixed assets;

• Payroll;

• Tax reporting;

• Spend management;

• Billing.

Business Intelligence (BI)

Having a powerful, accurate, and reliable BI software is important if you want to know where your business is, where it’s going next, and how it got there.

The way BI tool works is by pulling in data from all data sources, combining and harmonizing this, and letting you run queries that extract meaningful insights from these different sources.

The insights are generally displayed in dashboards that allow you to see how your business is doing, how successfully you’re hitting your KPIs at a glance so that you can identify areas of improvement.

The main components of most of these tools include template reports, customizable dashboards, and visualization capabilities. Additional features to look for in BI software include:

• Data visualization;

• Analytics;

• Decision services;

• Document management;

• Big data integration;

• Online analytical processing (OLAP).

Supply Chain Management (SCM)

This system allows you to monitor and facilitate the production process from the point when an order is made until the package is delivered at the customer’s doorstep.

Supply chain management software is used to control operations such as materials ordering, manufacturing management, sales order management, machine management, distribution management, etc.

Some of the features included in SCM include:

• Supply chain analytics;

• Supply chain planning;

• Supply chain monitoring;

• Warehouse management;

• Transportation/ logistics management;

• Supplier management;

• Sourcing and procurement;

• Warehouse management;

• Inventory management;

• Order processing.

Product Lifestyle Management (PLM)

This software helps large organizations go through the product design lifecycle. PLM tools offer a centralized location where employees can view and edit designs that can then be reflected throughout the lifecycle’s entirety.

PLM software ensures all employees are on the same page and all necessary design and compliance steps are conducted.

Here are some of the most common PLM features:

• BOM management;

• Document management;

• CAD file management;

• Configuration management;

• Project management;

• Regulatory compliance;

• Component management;

• Portfolio management.

Does Your Business Need an Enterprise Level Software?

There are a few things to consider when deciding if your business needs an enterprise software system. These include the number of users who will find the software helpful, your operating budget, and the functionality needed from your solution.

If you can justify the implementation of the new system and have enough capital, then investing in an enterprise-level software is a smart decision.