As you visualize the interactions among the various functions in an organization, you will need to provide a summarized historical overview of the evolution of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems. You will have the opportunity to explain how ERP systems have contributed to improving an organizations’ performance, and how these systems became essential components in today’s competitive businesses. Not all companies benefit from using an ERP so it is important to compare an organization without an ERP system to that of an organization with a properly implemented ERP system. The goal is to identify the main benefits of having a properly implemented ERP system.

Define and describe typical Enterprise Resource Planning functions and business processes.
Provide a brief historical background of the development of Enterprise Resource Planning.
Summarize the benefits of Enterprise Resource Planning systems.