More hype than Internet bytes for online ERP

The claim that the network is the computer remains valid, but nowadays, the Internet is regarded as the enterprise's network. Corporations continue to look for cost-effective solutions that let them deploy technology beyond their organization's network using the Internet, even for business-critical applications such as enterprise resource planning (ERP). There's an enormous push to look at every application category and make it Internet accessible. Several forces are driving this trend: among them the move to e-commerce and corporate desires to share information instantly with colleagues, business partners, and/or suppliers. ERP systems can let far-flung users read information via a browser in Web formats, such as HTML (Hypertext Markup Language), PDF (portable document format), or plain text. This makes it easier for users of all sophistication levels to get critical information instantly.