The evolution of ERP: From operations to financial control
ERP systems originally emerged to support day-to-day operations. The earliest versions, like MRP systems such as MAPICS, early manufacturing resource planning systems and inventory management platforms, were designed for inventory management, manufacturing workflows, procurement and logistics. These systems served as the digital backbone of companies with complex supply chains or production lines. For instance, a large automotive parts supplier used ERP to track inventory, manage factory allocations and plan production schedules.
Over time, ERP vendors expanded their offerings with powerful financial modules automated general ledger (GL), financial reporting, regulatory compliance and audit-ready features. Major vendors like SAP, Oracle and others began positioning their solutions as comprehensive business platforms rather than purely operational tools. These developments became magnets for CFOs. Financial benefits are often easier to quantify and present to the board than operational ones, making finance-focused ERP systems more immediately justifiable. As a result, ERP ownership frequently shifted. It was no longer solely about streamlining operations but increasingly about centralizing financial oversight.
This shift often led to strategic design decisions that favoured finance, where all data, primarily financial transaction data, as opposed to broader operational metrics like customer behavior, supply chain efficiency or production output, sometimes passed through finance first. Operational managers across all departments (collectively referred to as RevOps throughout this article, encompassing all non-CFO/CEO stakeholders, including sales managers, operations managers, marketing managers and other departmental leaders) often found they had limited access to real-time insights, and self-service analytics were frequently delayed or gated, ostensibly to prevent misinterpretation.
