EnterpriseResourcePlanning
"Two years ago everyone was investing in ERP and CRM packages, the bigger the better. But today many companies, such as FleetBoston, TruServ and Citi Cards, are turning away from suites and investing in smaller point applications. These cost considerably less than enterprise suites and often offer more flexibility and deeper functionality. Paradoxically, it is sometimes easier to integrate a point app than it is to integrate new components from the same vendor, thanks to open architecture and standards such as J2EE or simple object access protocol. Web services is also making integration simpler and less costly than ever before. On the downside, a mix-and-match approach can be more work in terms of maintenance and managing multiple vendor relationships. Enterprise suite proponents also say long-term cost of ownership will be higher."
"the reign of vast enterprisewide application suites is drawing to a close. Taking their place are targeted point applications."
http://www.cio.com/archive/021503/erp_content.html?printversion=yes