Enterprise Software

Enterprise Software (aka Enterprise Application Software (EAS)) is a term used to describe applications and technologies that companies use in order to support their operational and strategic initiatives by focusing on the whole organization rather than single user. Such software can be found in large industries, governments, retailers, hospitals, and departments such as sales, marketing, customer service and finance, among others. Enterprise Software requires interdisciplinary methods and processes to manage large data scales – numerous solutions on the market provide just that. For example, an enterprise software application focused on human resources will have numerous HR features that will enable professionals to access one single solution and generate information simultaneously.

Types of Enterprise Software 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's Business Intelligence platform (Cognos), integrates with a predictive analytics platform (SPSS) and can obtain records from its database packages (Infosphere, DB2). Blurred lines between package functions make delimitation difficult, and in many ways larger software companies define these somewhat arbitrary categories. Nevertheless, certain industry standard product categories have emerged, and these are shown below:

• Business Intelligence (BI)
• Business Process Management (BPM)
• Content Management System (CMS)
• Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
• Database Management System (DBMS) - such as Master Data Management (MDM) and Data Warehousing (DW, DWH or EDW)
• Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) - which is a broad category covering: Accounting, Human Resource, Corporate performance and governance, Customer Services, Sales, Procurement, Production, Distribution
• Enterprise Asset Management (EAM)
• Human Resource Management (HRM)
• Knowledge Management (KM)
• Low-code Development Platforms (LCDP)
• Product Data Management (PDM)
• Product Information Management (PIM)
• Product Lifecycle Management (PLM)
• Supply Chain Management (SCM)
• Software Configuration Management (SCM) - such as Version Control System (VCS)
• Networking and Information Security
  • Intrusion Detection Prevention (IDS) - and by extension Intrusion Prevention System (IPS)
  • Software Defined Networking (SDN) - including SD-WAN
  • Security Information Event Management (SIEM) - which can combine Security Information Management (SIM) and Security Event Management (SEM)
• Others that don't fit into well-known standard categories, Backup software, Billing Management, Accounting software

EAS versus SaaS
Enterprise software is often explained in contrast to software-as-a-service (SaaS). Several characteristics are important in evaluating which is right for enterprise needs:

• Ability to customize the software
• Database query and reporting
• Functionality
• Cash flow and pricing

SaaS is a popular option for users that need to take care of a very specific purpose. In this software model, users typically rent the software, never owning it. SaaS is often hosted in the cloud, requiring users be connected to the internet to use the software and access the data. (Because of this SaaS can also be known as cloud applications.) But, cloud hosting also means that users can access the software widely, from computers, tablets, and sometimes even smartphones. Popular examples of SaaS include Slack, Salesforce.com, Dropbox, and Zendesk.

While SaaS can provide quick, universal access to software that offers specific actions, its drawbacks may include lack of customization and database maneuvering. The inability to customize this software means it often cannot be specific enough to large-scale, enterprise-wide missions. SaaS offerings are available to many enterprises, and sometimes individual users, so its inherent ability to create queries and reports can be limited. When software is querying or reporting on its data, it must scan the entire database – but when so many users are accessing a cloud-based database, the process can be slow and overloaded. There SaaS often may limit types of querying and reporting available to its users.

In contrast, databases in enterprise application software are meant only for the single enterprise, so other groups aren’t sharing a database and draining its processing capabilities.

In terms of customization, EAS is typically owned outright, giving users much more ability to customize it. Enterprises often have in-house developers and programmers tweak or overhaul the software to make it match enterprise needs. It’s also always malleable – if a new enterprise problem comes up, programmers can implement a new solution within the existing software.

Enterprise application software is typically hosted on physical servers. The software then relies on a computer network to connect to its many users. Some parts of the software may also rely on intranet and occasionally internet connections. Because enterprise software installs directly on organizational servers, the connection is generally more private and secure.

Taking Enterprise Software to the Next Level
The word “enterprise”—and therefore “enterprise software”—has acquired somewhat of a pejorative connotation over the years. People would often perceive enterprises as being slow, bureaucratic, and stagnant. Enterprise software, by extension, was often considered bloated, slow, ugly, and hard to use, especially when compared to the trendy apps published by the hottest startups.

But things have changed. Nowadays, enterprise customers expect their software to be as good as consumer software. How would you go about that? How do you take your enterprise software process up and notch and delight customers?

The answer lies in the process. If enterprise software is to be as good as the best consumer applications available, it has to embrace modern development techniques and tools. This involves leveraging automation to the fullest extent, creating automated testing and release management strategies, and embracing DevOps and Agile.

But all of that is still not enough. A decisive step toward improving your enterprise software process is achieving Value Stream Management (VSM), i.e., getting complete visibility of your software delivery process.