Coupling BI (business intelligence) capabilities with ERP (enterprise resource planning) systems can be a challenge. The integration is most easily achieved if you have a single ERP system working across your organization; with this consistency, less customization needed in order to accommodate the data, schema and reporting idiosyncrasies that are inevitable with multiple ERP implementations.
What makes the process even easier is the utilization of a single BI system within the organization; this, however, is often idealistic and – in some cases – unrealistic.
Simply put, the fewer disparate systems you have to tie together, the easier the integration Additionally, it helps to ensure that your master data and metadata definitions are homogeneous throughout the organization. Finally, it’s important to recognize that, while ERP systems provide a wealth of operational data, they do not paint a complete picture of your business. For this reason it’s important to ensure that the BI tools you choose can be readily integrated with your mission-critical systems.
