Enterprise resource planning (ERP) integrates all departments and functions throughout an organization into a single IT system (or integrated set of IT systems) so that employees can make decisions by viewing enterprisewide information on all business operations. SAP, the leading ERP vendor, boasts 20,000 installations and 10 million users worldwide. These fi gures represent only 30 percent of the overall ERP market. Figure 10.1 highlights a few reasons ERP solutions have proven to be such a powerful force. ERP as a business concept resounds as a powerful internal information management nirvana: Everyone involved in sourcing, producing, and delivering the company’s product works with the same information, which eliminates redundancies, reduces wasted time, and removes misinformation.