Lighthouse FAQ

Most Frequently Asked Questions

When considering deployment options for an ERP system, Lighthouse gives you Choice: On-premise, hosted or Cloud ERP deployment. Providing three deployment options gives you the flexibility to choose the best solution for your company, and your budget.

On-premise

Higher initial cost of ownership due to upfront cost of hardware and software acquisition, but the lowest long-term cost of ownership because software license is perpetual.

Hosted

Lower initial investment as hardware hosting costs are spread over time and lower long-term cost because software license is perpetual. Lowers in-house hardware IT footprint and eliminates issues with end-of-life hardware.

Cloud

Lowest cost of initial investment because software and hardware costs are spread over time, but highest long-term costs because software licenses are leased, not owned in perpetuity.

ERP Deployment Comparison Guide

Deployment Choice FAQs

Factors to Consider On-Premise ERP Hosted ERP Cloud ERP
SW License Fees Paid up front Paid up front Monthly subscription
User License Agreement Perpetual license Perpetual license 3 months paid in advance, 12 month commitment
Hardware Location Customer determined Data center Amazon Cloud (AWS)
System Hardware Provided by customer Rented in the data center Included in monthly subscription fees
Implementation & Training Paid as incurred Paid as incurred Paid as incurred
Power, Network and Environment Provided by customer Provided by the data cente Provided by Amazon Cloud
SW Maintenance & Support Fees Paid periodically by the customer Paid periodically by the customer Included in the monthly subscription fees
Backup & Redundancy Provided by the customer Provided by the data center Included in the monthly subscription fees

The application business logic contains user security layer, configuration layer, Global Logic layer and vertical business logic layer.

The front end application layer contains presentation objects such as portlets, forms and web pages.

Technical Design Architecture

erp faq

OS Platform:

PL-SQL

Database:

Oracle 10g, 11g, 12c

Development Tools:

PL-SQL

Application:

Oracle Forms and Reports , Java, J2EE

Presentation Layer:

Citrix Server, MS RDP, MS Remote Apps, App Anywhere Vertically the application is layered in three main tiers—database, application and presentation —and within the application tier the business logic is divided into two sub-tiers—the business logic layer and front end application layer.

If client have multiple locations then internet is required to access the database server, otherwise no need of internet but internal network is required.

If client want mail utility from system then internet is required.

Yes, internet connection & third party software like App Anywhere / Citrix is required to access the same.

Lighthouse ERP Web based portals or applications can be run on mobile but ERP is windows based application hence unable to access thru mobile.

Desktop can be access on mobile thru third party application like Team Viewer / Anydesk.

Our typical implementation cycle is 3 to 4 months for single location implementation.

We have adopted implementation methodology as per below:

  • Project Kick-Off Meeting
  • SRS (System Requirement Study) / As-Is Study
  • Gap Analysis, Draft Installation & Realization
  • Conference Room Pilot Run – 1 (CRP-1)
  • LHISPL Testing
  • Conference Room Pilot Run – 2 (CRP-2)
  • End User Training with Fine Tuning
  • Dry Run & Hand Holding Training
  • Go-Live Preparation
  • Post Go-Live Support

Only one IT Executive / Coordinator (having business process understanding) is required to manage the ERP implementation.

We are supporting 300+ clients across 7+ countries for last 31 years.

  • First level support over phone calls and Web conferencing tools like Team Viewer / Anydesk.
  • We have help portal to raise issues and get feedback (depending on issue complexity).

We have categories tentative response time for issues as per below:

  • High Priority - Issues related to basic input/ output of transactions – within one working day.
  • Medium Priority – Not basic input/ output with identified error/ bug – within three working days.
  • Low Priority - Not basic input/ output with undiagnosed error/ bug – within seven working days.

Yes, we are able to integrate third party tools like attendance machine/ plc / mass flow meter as per client requirement and we have done for our most of the clients.

We do not have any migration tool but we export master data in excel sheet and prepare data as per ERP structure and import the same.

Our team helps to prepare master data during migration.

Transaction data like open purchase and sales orders have to be manually created in the system.

As per our 30 year experience and 270+ ERP installations, we have trained low skilled people like security guard for security gate in / out transactions, person who working in store and maintaining inventory in register, very old person who are working in account section and maintaining day to day transaction in tally system, so this is not big challenge for our consultants.

Workflow is simple, user help is provided, List of Value/ drop downs in most processes, most data is carried forward from previous process and only limited (new) info has to be entered.

Reports can be saved and automatically mailed. Data exports facility in excel for further analysis.

Yes, this is possible thru our freeze date configuration.

Client can lock any transaction of any particular period.

Yes, the ERP can be hosted at any location like AWS or any cloud data center.
Lighthouses also provide data center for server deployment from our HO location.

We offer standard modules as per below:

  • Finance & Accounts
  • Taxation
  • Material Management
  • Sales & Distribution
  • Production Planning & Control
  • Quality Control
  • System Administration (DBA)

We provide application without account but integration is not possible with tally kind of software.

This is depending upon prospect interest.

We can demonstrate our ERP in one hour also based on area of interest.

Full ERP demonstration is required at least four to six hours to cover all process demonstration with reports / dashboards.

Yes, all type of statutory returns data can be generated thru Lighthouse ERP like GST Return / TDS Challan / IT return etc.

Tally is basically accounting softwareand very basic type of ERP software, whereas  Lighthouse ERP provides some advanced functionalities as an ERP package.

ERP provides more advanced features like data validation and data substitution. Third party software support for Lighthouse ERP is very high than in comparison to Tally.

Lighthouse ERP contains integrated modules which covers different aspects of business.

Yes. Most implementations of ERP include financial module. Every organization has a financial (fiscal) year both for internal use as well as far legal / governmental consolidation. Since the account books must be closed and financial reports prepared (including the balance sheet and the profit and loss statement) for the financial year, most ERP implementations try to synchronize their "go live" date with that of the financial year. (April 1st in India). If for some reason it cannot be on (April 1), many organizations "go live" on October 1 at the end of the half-year. Technically ERP software doesn't impose any restrictions. Any day is good enough to "go live" as long as it is not “tomorrow"!

The top management commitment in ERP is not limited to writing a big cheque, which is very much necessary. But it has to go much beyond that. The core committee of ERP needs champions who are well respected, very knowledgeable and often impossible to spare for any organization. The success of ERP implementation needs the full-time attention of these champions who must be drawn from the key functions and detained for ERP project implementation for a long period of six to nine months. ERP project cannot be managed by people who "can be spared"; it must be managed by the "indispensable" personnel. Top Management commitment must ensure the release of such key people for the ERP core committee.

It is difficult to calculate return on investment for ERP decisions, though several successful installations of ERP had dramatic returns on investment. For example, Microsoft estimates that the investments in ERP will be paid back by way of better performance in flat two years. It must be realized that the ERP is an enabler. ERP gives agility to organization, which can be exploited to improve profitability, market share or customer service. Without ERP, the organization may not be in a position to handle larger business or provide faster response to customers. The results from enlarged business or faster customer response should pay back for ERP investment. It is predicated on the fact that the organization would leverage the agility towards such corporate goals. ERP helps in pursuing such goals often successfully. But mere ERP implementation does not necessarily translate to benefits. Better health enables a human being to do things, which would have been difficult, if not impossible, without such sound health. But if the individual does not make use of his improved status towards the pursuit of any goal, he or she is not capitalizing on the improved health. ERP must also be viewed as a way of providing a better health to an organization.

This is a loaded question. Today, a large number of middle managers, supervisory staff etc, are busy chasing information, making queries, preparing reports and checking or verifying compliance to simple rules. It could be the preparation of the list of employees who are due for retirement next year or verifying whether an applicant for earned leave has enough leave to his credit. With a successful ERP in place, information will be freely available and any casual user can very easily generate any ad hoc queries or reports. The system will automatically check for the compliance for most of the standard rules. As such, a number of routine jobs will disappear. However, with the information system in place, many of the middle level managers can be empowered to perform far more interesting analysis, develop insights and suggest innovative schemes for improvement. Often these are the real benefits are ERP. If an organization is not imaginative enough to empower people to perform such analysis, obviously ERP can be discredited with creating unemployment. The Computerized Railway Reservation System in India may serve as a good example. With the networked computer terminals, one can manage the issuing of the tickets with fewer staff. However, today we have more railway reservation clerks than what we had ten years back. The average counter hours across the country have increased from 6 hours a day to 12 hours per day. We are able to cope with much larger number of passengers, thanks to the population growth. An average user is also able to make reservations from "any place to any place" from any one of the terminals, significantly improving service quality. In a way Railway Reservation System has taken away a few jobs but created many more jobs. Thus a good ERP can enable same no. of users to handle much more transactions and requests even when company grows several times in size. The goal is to provide better quality service and better quality of jobs.

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