The integrated management of core business processes using common databases. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) often refers to a category of business management software that companies use to collect, store, manage, and analyze data from different business activities.

The purpose of ERP is to track business resources such as cash, raw materials and production capacity as well as the status of business commitments such as orders and purchase orders. Individual applications within ERP share data to facilitate the flow of information across different departments in an enterprise, including sales, manufacturing, purchasing, and finance.

ERP software has evolved from early Material Requirements Planning (MRP) systems that managed production planning, scheduling and inventory to cloud-based enterprise-wide systems that manage everything from sales and order processing to finance and customer service.