What is BPM?

There are several definitions for a system, but the most generic and practical is that a system is a group of parts or components that work together to achieve a common goal. For example, every person has many body parts that combine to form the human body and its systems, which has goals such as growth and survival. In a business organization, employees and groups work together to achieve the organization's goals, such as higher market share and technological leadership (White, n.d.).

We can define a system's main elements as the "parts" that perform the work and the "relations" that define how the work will be accomplished. Obviously, both parts and relations are important for a system to perform adequately. For instance, a basketball team could be a good example of a system. The system parts are the players, and the relations are the way the players work together. Both the players and teamwork are important to the team's success. In the same manner, processes and systems have parts that perform the work of the system, and relations among the parts that define how the work should be performed. For example, a business process has employees as its parts, and procedures and directives as its relations. Both parts and relations must be effective for the system to succeed in meeting its objectives. Based on systems theory, changes in a system's relations often represent the largest potential for improvement because the relations provide the structure in which the system functions (White, n.d.).

Reengineering is the "fundamental rethinking and radical redesign of business processes to achieve dramatic improvements in critical, contemporary measure of performance, such as cost, quality, service and speed,". To achieve such drastic improvements, a focus on relations is necessary because, according to systems theory, relations primarily determine system performance. Thus, business process reengineering focuses on system relations. On the other hand, continuous process improvement seeks incremental improvements that are not drastic, according to Masaaki Imai in Kaizen: The Key to Japan's Competitive Success. These incremental improvements usually focus on the individual parts of a process or system.
Based on that, the continuous process improvement and business process reengineering are both forms of process improvement that differ only in their focus; there are models and prescriptions for improvement initiatives at the end of this article (White, n.d.).


Business Process Management (BPM) can be considered as a deliberate effort to plan, document, implement and distribute business operations of an organization with the support of IT. It can play a role in differentiation through built-in reporting, and by empowering employees, enforcing best practices, and enforcing consistency (Qureshi, 2016).
·   Which ERP is the best? Do some original research and compare three leading ERP systems to each other.
ERP platforms consist of different solutions to manage and streamline core business functions including (financesonline, 2018):
o    accounting
o    HR
o    CRM
o    sales
o    purchasing
o    supply chain
o    manufacturing
o    inventory
o    business intelligence
o    customer support

ERP software is designed to be an integrated system as compared to a tech stack of independent apps. It is specifically designed to manage your core business processes or functions in one place.
The top three ERP systems are NetSuite ERP, Sage intact, and SYSPRO. Table below shows the main features of each of the three systems (financesonline, 2018):
NetSuite ERP
Sage intact
SYSPRO
·         Provide real-time financial information
·         Help in financial planning, modeling & forecasting
·         Comply with accounting standards & create accurate financial reports
·         Give complete visibility of your supply chain
·         Streamline fulfillment flow
·         Optimize employees’ capabilities
·         Manage your entire fixed asset lifecycle
·         Fully automate routine, rules-based workflows
·         Grow side-by-side with your business

·         Offer a wide range of core accounting capabilities
·         Free you from spreadsheets with cloud budgeting & planning
·         Quickly create robust, interactive operational reports
·         Handle payment, credit cards, and bills processing
·         Automate compliance and workflows
·         Give you a fully modular ERP system
·         Scale cost & system requirements

·         Offer industry-grade features suited for manufacturers & distributors
·         Plan, control & execute production
·         Manage end-to-end supply chain
·         Scale & adapt to your present & future requirements
·         Give you highly-optimized processes
·         Meet stringent compliance regulations
·         Improve employee engagement


All three ERP systems have solid finance and accounting features. But as can be noticed from the overviews, NetSuite ERP has the more extensive set of tools to manage a wide range of business processes and functions. On the other hand, Sage Intacct’s features are anchored on its financial/accounting prowess, while those of SYSPRO are grounded in managing manufacturing and distribution processes. Each to its specialty, but NetSuite ERP is the more flexible ERP system, which is backed by the world’s largest supplier of ERP systems (Oracle). NetSuite ERP is the obvious choice.




References:
-          Finances Online. (2018). Top 3 ERP Software Systems: Comparison of NetSuite ERP, Sage Intacct and SYSPRO. Retrieved from: https://financesonline.com/top-3-erp-software-systems/.

-          Qureshi, R. (2016). What is business process management? Retrieved from: https://specialties.bayt.com/en/specialties/q/253630/what-is-business-process-management-what-role-does-it-play-in-allowing-a-company-to-differentiate-itself/.

-          White, J. (n.d.). Reengineering and Continuous Improvement. Retrieved from: https://www.qualitydigest.com/jul/contimp.html.