In this first issue of Business Applications Digest, find advice from industry insiders on mastering the five success factors for enterprise resource planning (ERP) upgrades, choosing the best fit between 'best of breed' business intelligence (BI) and built-in ERP tools, and how to take advantage of the latest Software as a Service (SaaS) trends. 

Choosing the right ERP solution for your manufacturing operations is a very important decision, one that you will be forced to live with for years to come. Learn the key elements that need to be evaluated. 

View this brief video to learn how original equipment manufacturer (OEM) supplier Ralco Industries was able to reduce on-hand inventory by 15% and freight costs by over 20%, improve product quality and customer service, and create process consistency with an implementation of easy-to-use, online enterprise resource planning (ERP) software. 

While most common payroll process errors are avoidable, they are also easily overlooked. Unfortunately even the smallest errors can lead to long-term issues and increased expenses. Read more to find out the top 10 payroll pitfalls and how to prevent them. 

This security runbook guides you through all stages of securing your system. Discover the importance of a company-wide commitment to security. 

Faxes are moving to the cloud. No longer do you need to worry about the cumbersome manual processes of printing, managing paper, maintaining equipment and more. This paper offers an overview of a specific solution that delivers faxing as a fully integrated, on-demand service within your ERP environment. Read this to discover its many benefits. 

Learn twelve criteria to help you identify and select an ERP solution that fits your business needs. Find the right ERP provider that will help you implement quickly and achieve business objectives. 

<div> <div> <p>Read this e-guide to gain an in-depth overview of SAP Business ByDesign including a case study on how a Dow subsidiary is leveraging this low cost Software as a Service (SaaS) ERP deployment model. Discover why more companies are turning to SaaS platforms as they design a more-flexible two-tier ERP strategy.</p> </div> </div> 

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems designed before the days of global competition are poorly integrated, expensive to maintain, and fail to provide enterprise-wide visibility, even with add-on functionality. Read this white paper to learn what functionality is needed to support today's requirements and how cloud-based ERP meets these needs. 

Selecting a supplier for manufacturing ERP solutions is more important than ever before, due to the increasingly complex set of business processes involved.  Manufacturers now require the ability to share data in real time across all functional areas touching the manufacturing process. This paper takes a fresh look at manufacturing ERP options. 

This informative white paper will walk you through the steps you need to take when researching potential new ERP vendors. 

This expert e-guide discusses common manufacturing ERP integration challenges you should consider before ERP implementations and provides key tips on how to overcome them. 

Read this expert e-guide to review six key tips on ERP project management that can help you ensure implementation success.