RESPOND TO THESE DISCUSSION POST BASED ON THE TOPIC “ Enterprises are mostly comprised of many applications that are either custom-built, acquired from a third party, or are from a legacy system. You work for an organization that has a combination of all three of these applications. This obviously presents an integration challenge as you prepare to recommend an ERP architecture. Discuss how you would analyze and provide a recommendation on the type of ERP architecture to use in your organization. Discuss what is necessary for the ERP implementation to be successful and the different types of ERP architectures. In response to your peers, explore the impact of service-oriented architecture, as well as other architectures, on ERP systems.” 1.Lucn Mic The architecture of an Enterprise System (ES) refers to the technical structure of the software, the ways that users interact with the software, and the ways the software is managed on computer hardware. Most modern ES have either a three-tier client-server architecture or a Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA). There are different ways to deploy ES in these two architectures and both models have distinctive technical and cost benefits, as well as drawbacks.  ERP systems provide similar functionalities and share a common three-tier architectural pattern, which satisfies the scalability requirement, however, it does not necessarily assure proper integration of various custom-built, third party, or legacy system applications. These layers are the presentation layer, application layer, and data layer, respectively. The three-tier client-server architecture separates these layers into three separate systems. In the early 2000s, companies began to Web-enable their three-tier applications so that users could access the systems through a Web browser. This allowed companies to benefit from new technologies that could help integrate many different systems together in new and valuable ways. The fundamental concept behind SOA relates to the technical capabilities that allow systems to connect with one another through standardized interfaces called Web services. (Magal & Word, 2012) Because companies often employ different systems to satisfy common business needs, planning for a successful ERP implementation should be done from an architectural perspective. This should be carried out in addition to analyzing the business needs. A study (2012)argues that understanding architectural specifications is equally important as understanding the functional ones, especially in cases where organizations need to ensure flexibility, extensibility and consistency of their systems. The paper points to the standardization of interfaces used across the various systems, as the facilitator of a wider level of integration between different systems. All systems would conform to one standard interface. With that in mind, a key driver for developing a recommendation on the type of ERP architecture to use, is understanding the w ...

1. RESPOND TO THESE DISCUSSION POST BASED ON THE
TOPIC “
Enterprises are mostly comprised of many applications that are
either custom-built, acquired from a third party, or are from a
legacy system. You work for an organization that has a
combination of all three of these applications. This obviously
presents an integration challenge as you prepare to recommend
an ERP architecture. Discuss how you would analyze and
provide a recommendation on the type of ERP architecture to
use in your organization. Discuss what is necessary for the ERP
implementation to be successful and the different types of ERP
architectures.
In response to your peers, explore the impact of service-
oriented architecture, as well as other architectures, on ERP
systems.”
1.Lucn Mic
The architecture of an Enterprise System (ES) refers to the
technical structure of the software, the ways that users interact
with the software, and the ways the software is managed on
computer hardware. Most modern ES have either a three-tier
client-server architecture or a Service-Oriented Architecture
(SOA). There are different ways to deploy ES in these two
architectures and both models have distinctive technical and
cost benefits, as well as drawbacks.
ERP systems provide similar functionalities and share a
common three-tier architectural pattern, which satisfies the
scalability requirement, however, it does not necessarily assure
proper integration of various custom-built, third party, or legacy

2. system applications. These layers are the presentation layer,
application layer, and data layer, respectively. The three-tier
client-server architecture separates these layers into three
separate systems. In the early 2000s, companies began to Web-
enable their three-tier applications so that users could access
the systems through a Web browser. This allowed companies to
benefit from new technologies that could help integrate many
different systems together in new and valuable ways. The
fundamental concept behind SOA relates to the technical
capabilities that allow systems to connect with one another
through standardized interfaces called Web services. (Magal &
Word, 2012)
Because companies often employ different systems to satisfy
common business needs, planning for a successful ERP
implementation should be done from an architectural
perspective. This should be carried out in addition to analyzing
the business needs. A study (2012)argues that understanding
architectural specifications is equally important as
understanding the functional ones, especially in cases where
organizations need to ensure flexibility, extensibility and
consistency of their systems. The paper points to the
standardization of interfaces used across the various systems, as
the facilitator of a wider level of integration between different
systems. All systems would conform to one standard interface.
With that in mind, a key driver for developing a
recommendation on the type of ERP architecture to use, is
understanding the workflow between the systems.My proposed
solution would integrate organizational data and business
workflow through SOA. Because the SOA framework is
composed of different layers, it can satisfy both the scalability
and the integration requirements. By using Web services, the
company could integrate multiple client-server application
systems, so the SOA is in fact an integration facilitator
mechanism and not just a service delivery vehicle.

3. 2. Anthny Wbstr
This scenario of applications is the perfect storm of issues that
would create a nightmare for any integration to an ERP
solution. The first thing I would do is analyze the architecture
that the applications were built on, is the language similar to
each other or written in the same language. Another area to
analyze would be is there additional middleware that the
applications use to currently integrate with other applications.
Questions I would ask upfront before considering the
applications would be can the applications provide
collaboration, increase the efficiency to the company? Can costs
be lowered or do the application offer analytics that the
company truly needs before we venture into a integration of the
application? From a security perceptive I would want to know
if the legacy system is up to date with the latest security patches
to make sure before the products all integrate that one
application is not a vulnerability to the other systems it will
soon be connected to. For example, if the legacy system has
ports open that would create a backdoor to the entire ERP
environment it would be a security risk that would need to be
addressed prior to the integration. Actually for all systems that
connect to the ERP architecture a full scan and verification of
the security posture would be a recommendation to perform.
The next thing I would want to analyze would be how the
application are expected to be used for the ERP once
implemented, what is the overall goal. Once I understand
better if the ERP will be used for financial management, CRM,
Sales & Marketing, Inventory, Human Resource Management or
a combination of all , I would then know what direction the
Management team and stakeholders want to move towards
(Wailgum, Perkins 2018). Another recommendation would be
to have a solid team of subject matter experts on each of the
application to white board and diagram how the data flow is
expected to move. I would recommend to the company to have

4. this team available throughout the implementation since they
will be a critical part in understand what information needs to
be filtered or what breaks the integration of the application.
Some legacy systems in my experience just do not always play
well with efforts like this and cost more than they offer to
integrate.
To be successful there has to be an understanding of the
requirements and gathering of all subject matter experts for
each systems to have an understanding of each architecture to
enter a phased approach to the ERP implementation. The
different types of ERP architectures were learned this week in
module 3 overview. They are service-oriented architectures
(SOA), Enabled Web Services, enterprise architecture, cloud
architecture. Architectures are organized in a three tier layer
(data, application, presentation) to provide the flexibility and
scalability (Sprott, Wilkes,2004). This three tier approach is
required in today’s technology for an enterprise solution,
otherwise ERP solutions would be less useful to the changes in
a fast pace business environment.
3. Jffry Holmn
“ERP applications are most commonly deployed in a distributed
and often widely dispersed manner. While the servers may be
centralized, the clients are usually spread to multiple locations
throughout the enterprise…The two most commonly
implemented architectures are:
Two-tier Implementations
-In typical two-tier architecture, the server handles both
application and database duties. The clients are responsible for
presenting the data and passing user input back to the server.
While there may be multiple servers and the clients may be
distributed across several types of local and wide area links,
this distribution of processing responsibilities remains the same.

5. Three-tier Client/Server Implementations
-In three-tier architectures, the database and application
functions are separated. This is very typical of large production
ERP deployments. In this scenario, satisfying client requests
require two or more network connections. Initially, the client
establishes communications with the application server. The
application server then creates a second connection to the
database server.” (erppandit.com, 2010)
When choosing and designing your ERP, it is important to
consider custom, legacy, and third-party software you are
currently using and create a plan for how you want them to
interact or collaborate with the new system. The other thing to
consider is whether it makes more sense to replace that software
with software that integrates better with a possible ERP
solution.
Some custom, legacy or third-party software will not even be
involved for example; if you just got a brand new accounting
software and you do not want that system to talk to or be
involved with the new ERP system. There is nothing wrong with
that.
You would want to consider upgrading legacy software that is
outdated and during the research stage of the project, you can
see if the ERP software company you are researching offers any
enhanced or more up to date solution that has the same
functionality of the software that you are looking to replace.
This happens quite frequently and adds a bargaining chip when
negotiating service contracts. Also adding a little extra software
training onto an already planned ERP training is less expensive
than individual training regiments.
Many larger ERP software solutions already work with a slew of
third-party software. When researching make sure you see what

6. products work with the third party software you are already
using.
If money allows, you will always have the ability to customize
the ERP software you choose, so it will mesh well with your
company’s current software. ERP “Customization is one of the
best aspects of ERP, but it can easily and quickly get out of
hand. Customizing your ERP software takes a lot of time, effort,
expertise and money. But too often, businesses completely
underestimate how many resources are needed and either don’t
finish their customization or end up going way over budget.”
(selecthub.com, 2018)
The moral to the story is always have a plan of attack and keep
that plan in the back of your mind when deciding which ERP
solution's architecture is best for your company.
DELIVABLES
use single spacing, 12-point Times New Roman font, and one-
inch margins. Sources should be cited according to APA citation
method
(citation should be relevant and current)
. Page-length requirements
:2 PAPARAGRAPHS FOR EACH PROMPT ANSWER.
Make sure you cite if you take a piece of someone’s work, very
important and your reference should relate to your writing
(don’t cite a reference because it relates to the course and not
this very paper) at least 2 current and relevant academic
references. No heavy paraphrasing of others work.