Front and back office application

A front office application is any software that has a direct relation to customers. It provides functionality and data necessary to take orders, configure complex products and provide effective service and support to customers. It includes customer relationship management (CRM), sales force automation, customer support and field service. [1] In turn, a back office application has no such direct relation. It provides functionality for internal operations such as enterprise resource planning (ERP), inventory control, manufacturing and all of the supply chain activities associated with procuring goods, services and raw materials. If an ERP system includes order entry and customer service capabilities, that system would bridge both back office and front office.[2]

Examples

The software enabling the customer to order a product from a company is considered a front office application. If a salesperson is typing the order into the application, it is still considered a front office application even though the customer is not directly interacting with the software.[1]

If the company uses different software to order the product from a manufacturer, it is considered a back office application.[2]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "front office application Definition". PCMag. Retrieved 16 November 2013.
  2. 1 2 "back office application Definition". PCMag. Retrieved 16 November 2013.


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, July 16, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.