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最近在研究Gartner定义EBC的内容，这篇Blog是Gartner一篇博客的部分翻译

原文地址：“ERP, the Future of Applications, and the Composable Enterprise” by Mike Guay

“ERP, the Future of Applications, and the Composable Enterprise” by Mike Guay

What’s the first thing that comes to mind when someone says “ERP?” Probably not “innovative and flexible.” ERP suites of the past weren’t designed to be either. 如果有人提到ERP的时候你会想到什么呢？可能不会是“创新和灵活”，ERP套件过去不是为了这而设计的。

Gartner coined the term ERP in the early 1990’s to describe the expansion of MRPII to include more of an enterprise focus. The term ERP has endured for over 25 years. ERP served a purpose and solved the problems enterprises were having 20-25 years ago – non integrated siloed systems that created data and process inconsistencies. But ERP wasn’t flexible enough to meet the changing needs of the 21(st) century. Gartner在1990年在MRP 2的概念上为了扩展更多企业的关注点而提出了ERP概念。ERP的概念已经持续了超过25年。ERP是为了20-25年前解决企业问题定义的，它是创建数据和过程的一致性的非集成的固定系统。但目前ERP无法灵活应对21世纪的企业需求。

We’ve been writing quite a bit of the last few years regarding the changing nature of ERP. About 7 years ago we coined the term “Postmodern ERP” to describe the initial move away from a monolithic suite of applications to a more loosely coupled environment. It took a few years for that phrase to become commonplace. A postmodern approach to ERP essentially described how clients were creating more flexibility and proper “fit-for-purpose” in their enterprise applications. This included apps from different vendors, hybrid on-premises and cloud deployments, etc. Yet the focus was still at the enterprise application level. For example, replacing HCM, CRM or Supply Chain functions delivered by the ERP vendors with a specialist solution designed for that functional area. 过去几年，我们写了一些关于ERP的本质在不断变化的文章。在7年前我们创建了“后现代ERP”，描述了一个从庞大应用套件到一个松耦合应用的最初改变。过了几年这种说法在变得司空见惯。“后现代ERP”本质上描述的客户如何创建一个更灵活更有目的性的企业系统。这包括了来自多个供应商的应用，混合部署方式（本地和云）等等。但它依然聚焦在企业应用。例如：由ERP供应商提供的HCM，CRM或供应链被替换成一个更专业的领域解决方案。

As with many things related to technology these days, things on the ERP front are changing fast – faster than ever before. While “postmodern ERP” is still a valid approach to how organizations might approach their ERP suites, it is only part of the solution. 如今，与许多技术相关的事情一样，ERP的用户端也在快速变化，而且越来越快。“后现代ERP”依然是有效的组织如何处理ERP套件的方法，但它只是解决方案的一部分。

ERP’s Fourth Era – Enterprise Business Capabilities – coincides with what Gartner is describing as the Future of Applications. Future application experiences will be built from composable business capabilities that can quickly enable new business scenarios. Application development will come from non-traditional sources. Leading organizations are empowering business units to directly and actively participate in the design of their application experiences. ERP的第四代，EBC（企业业务能力）符合Gartner所描述的未来应用。未来应用将被构建成一个可以组合式的业务能力，它可以在特定业务场景下快速应用。应用开发将来自于非传统方式。先进的组织将会授权独立的业务部门直接或者参与去设计自己的应用软件。

ERP/EBC架构，从静态到敏捷。

These application experiences will require a reliable core – a stable foundation for the ever changing capabilities and experiences today’s consumers demand. Otherwise you could end up with a jigsaw puzzle of hundreds of applications. This is now the role of the 4(th) era of ERP or what have defined as EBC – Enterprise Business Capabilities. An ERP core surrounded by a platform that permits rapid adoption of emerging capabilities and technology. A platform beyond enterprise application functionality that enables new apps to seamlessly integrate and access data within the enterprise application system. **那些应用软件必须有一个可靠的内核、一个稳定的基础以满足现今客户不断变化的业务能力和应用体验的需求。**否则，你可能会遭遇到数百个混乱的应用。这就是第四代ERP或者说EBC应该承担的角色。这个系统核心是可以被允许快速适应新兴业务能力和技术的平台。一个超越企业应用功能的平台，一个可以不断创建无缝整合和数据交互的新应用的平台。

一个组合式的企业

I am sometimes asked “Do we still need ERP?” Not really – as long as you don’t have to produce financial statements or file tax returns. I haven’t run across any of those organizations. **我有时候会问“我们还需要ERP吗？”。如果你不需要处理财务和税务方面的事情，就不需要。**但我还没有遇到这样的组织。

So, yes, you need ERP – but it needs to be configured to support the emerging future of applications and ever changing experiences. We started writing about this last year – and the focus of the ERP team’s agenda this year will be advising our clients on how to manage this transition to the next era of ERP. 所以你还是需要ERP，但是它需要被设定为可以支持新兴应用特性和不断改变的应用体验。我们从去年开始写这样的文章，ERP团队今年聚焦的重点任务将是给我们的客户提供如何从传统ERP向下一代ERP过渡的建议。

Believe it or not, some of the ERP capabilities being delivered by vendors these days are in fact “innovative and flexible”. Never thought I’d be around to hear it.