By Correspondent
What is ERP in simple terms?
ERP stands for Enterprise Resource Planning.
It’s a software system that includes all the tools and processes required to run a successful company, including HR, manufacturing, supply chain, finance, accounting, and more.
What are the 3 common types of ERP?
The three most common types of ERP are on-premises, cloud-based, and hybrid ERP.
An on-premises ERP system is run on-location on a company’s servers, while cloud-based ERP operates on a third-party, remote server.
Hybrid ERP is a mix of both, often with an on-premises ERP at headquarters and cloud-based ERP systems at subsidiaries.
What is an example of ERP?
One example of ERP is industry-specific ERP systems that meet the specific requirements for those business types and offer industry-specific capabilities like materials planning and specialized manufacturing records management.
Because these systems offer such tailored features, businesses don’t have to do too much customization or integrate with many other external tools.
What’s The Problem For Harare
Harare City Council has been operating without a requisite accounting system since 2019.
This is after a supplier of its Enterprise Resource Planning System, Quill Associates withdrew its software following a contractual wrangle.
An Auditor General’s report in 2022 revealed that the absence of the ERP prejudiced the city of approximately US$190 million.
As of 2024 that figure has actually increased beyond that.
The AG summed the Harare problem as follows:
“All of Harare City’s problems were centred on the absence of a sound ERP.
“In the absence of a proper accounting system, irregularities will still continue.
“At the moment, the prejudice of the amounts involved or the amounts lost could not be quantified.
Council has since suspended 23 officials who took advantage of the loopholes in its system to siphon millions of dollars.
The amount Harare has been prejudiced is only a tip of the iceberg and because of the absence of ERP, the amount lost is more than what meets the eye.
Overtures to get a new ERP system have constantly hit snags.
In the latest one a scandal has erupted with allegations of corruption involving the City’s IT department.
Officials from the department are pushing for a US$51 million financial system.
They have chosen to dump the last one, from Quill Associates, that actually worked, in which council was objecting to paying US$75 000 a year.
The useless replacement cost Harare US$350 000.
As it is the Minister of Local Government Winstone Chitando has since given Harare up to the next month to put its house in order.