With ERP implementations in the SMB sector going through the roof, R "Ray" Wang, Principal Analyst, Enterprise Applications and Strategy, Forrester Research, speaks to Biztech2.0 about the changing nature of the ERP solution for this segment.

Is the ERP implementation rate higher across the SMB segment or the larger enterprises?

The large enterprise market has been extensively tapped and the SMB segment is showing the greatest potential for ERP implementations at this point. The SMB segment actually spends more on IT infrastructure than the large enterprises today.

This is reflected in the ERP implementation rates amongst SMB segment, which are now up and rising. For example, 65% of Oracle’s business caters to SMBs, which they define as a company with a net worth of $500 million or below.

SAP, Oracle, Sage, Intuit, Lawson and Infor are some of the leading solution providers in this segment.

Do SMB customers expect more out of their ERP investment than larger enterprises?

SMB customers expect the same from their ERP implementations as their bigger counterparts. However, they do not have the IT staff to support a wide-ranging implementation. Thus they require a little bit more simplicity in terms of execution, but expect the same amount of complexity and richness of functionality as the bigger enterprises. Managing this balance of relatively simple implementation coupled with rich functionality is the challenge.

ERP vendors initially catered to the SMB segment with "dumbed" down versions of their enterprise applications. How has this changed?

Vendors have now realised that they cannot provide cut-rate versions of their solutions to SMB customers and have changed the way they approach this segment. The SMB segment expects the same richness and functionality from their ERP applications as the larger enterprises. In addition, they also require additional tools that will enable a business user to pry control, rather than the IT staff.

The vendors have looked at the business problems plaguing the SMB segment and the issues around simplicity. Key point most vendors have identified are enabling rapid implementation, ease of use in terms of the tooling and ensuring a well-designed, role-based User Interface.