Difference between ERP and CRM Software

Key Difference: ERP stands for Enterprise Resource Planning. ERP software has been designed to manage the key functions of the company in an efficient manner. CRM stands for Customer Relation Management. This software deals with the customer related systems and aims at improving sales. Both use different approaches for the betterment of the company.

ERP stands for Enterprise Resource Planning. An ERP software has been designed to manage the key functions of the company in an efficient manner. ERP software has been developed keeping the philosophy of ERP. ERP has a much broader meaning than just associating it with a software. It provides a powerful link between the customers and suppliers in a complete supply change. It also balances the demand and supply. ERP also provides high degree of cross functional integration among various departments of a company, and much more. This ERP software has been designed in a way that it fulfills most of the crieteria defined by ERP, if not all. These software are basically business management software. They automate and facilitate the flow of information or data throughout the company. It includes various operating units like marketing, human resource, manufacturing, distribution, accounting, etc.

This software automates and integrates all the core businesses of the company. Thus, it helps in the effectiveness of any organization. It provides numerous advantages like – it provides an integration across all business process, it increases overall performance, It provides quality reports and performance analysis, etc. The key point in the ERP software is that it uses only a single database for all the systems.

CRM stands for Customer Relationship management. It is a wide concept that deals with managing customer relationships in an organized and effective way. CRM software has been designed on the basic concepts of CRM. This software helps the organizations in managing their customer relationships. This software captures all the important details for the company regarding the customers. This information is spread to various departments. These systems basically capture information of every single interaction.

In 2002, Siebel controlled 45% of the CRM market and in 2005 it was purchased by Oracle. Today, there are many vendors in the market selling both the software. SAP is renowned for its ERP software, but it also offers a very popular CRM package. CRM and ERP software can be considered as the two faces of the same coin. They differ in their core functionalities. In order to harness the advantages of both CRM and ERP, many solutions are also available in the market which integrates ERP and CRM solutions. Both offer automation, and thus help an organization in numerous ways.

Difference between ERP and CRM Software

	ERP Software	CRM Software
Full Form	Enterprise Resource Planning Software	Customer Relationship Management Software
Definition	ERP software has been designed to manage the key functions of the company in an efficient manner.	This software helps the organizations in managing their customer relationships. This software captures all the important details for the company regarding the customers.
Examples	SAP ERP	Microsoft Dynamics CRM
Benefits	Makes the business processes more efficient Aims at cutting the overhead costs Reduces the amount of capital spent on business processes	Aims at increasing profits by increasing sales volume Helps in improving customer relationships Helps in increasing brand loyalty for the company
Recommended for	Large Business	Small business with few divisions
General activities	Supply chain management Improves project planning Helps in eliminating the repetitive tasks Distribution process management, etc	It prioritize leads Manages the business contacts and business leads Automates customer service Streamlines the sales processes, Manage the marketing efforts and sales chain Track a customer, etc.