Information technology is a critical component of almost every business process today because information flow is at the core of every process. A class of information technology applications called enterprise systems is a set of information systems tools that many organizations use to enable this information flow within and between processes across the organization. They help ensure integration and coordination across accounting, production, customer management, and supplier management functions. Some are designed to support a particular industry, such as health care, retail, and manufacturing. Computer systems in the 1960s and early 1970s were typically designed around a specific application. These early systems did not interface well with each other and often had their own version of data. When systems needed the same data, a second set of data was built into each system. The systems were designed to support a silo approach, and they did so very effectively. 

Organizational computing groups were faced with the challenge of linking and maintaining the patchwork of loosely overlapping, redundant systems. In the 1980s and 1990s, software companies in several countries, including the United States, Germany, and the Netherlands, began developing integrated software packages that used a common database and cut across organizational systems. Some of these packages were developed from administrative systems (i.e., finance and human resources), and others evolved from materials resource planning (MRP) in manufacturing. These comprehensive software packages that incorporate all modules needed to run the operations of a business are called Enterprise Information Systems (EIS) or simply enterprise systems. Enterprise systems include Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Supply Chain Management (SCM), Customer Relationship Management (CRM), and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) systems. Two of the most prominent vendors of enterprise systems are German-based SAP and California-based Oracle. Initially, SAP defined the ERP software space, and Oracle was the database system supporting it. But in more recent history, SAP has moved to its own database system, and Oracle has acquired many other small vendors, creating their own suite of enterprise software solutions. Please identify a leading EIS vendor and discuss its key software features (i.e., 24/7 support, mobile apps, reporting/analytics, manufacturing management, financial management, customizable, secure hosting with Amazon Web Services, electronic funds transfer capabilities, point-of-sale tools). 

Based on the found information, please identify at least one original (specific and unique) improvement suggestion you would make to the vendor. What do you see as the future or next generation of Enterprise Information Systems (whether it be emphasizing the need for scalable, reliable, extensible, flexible, highly available, and maintainable systems architectures providing ubiquitous, plug-and-play, secure, interoperable, and networked solutions to realize smarter and collaborative systems or something else)?