Chinese tech giant Huawei Technologies announced on Thursday that it has developed an in-house enterprise resource planning (ERP) system called 'MetaERP' to replace the software management systems it previously sourced from US vendors. The move is seen as a triumph over US sanctions that once threatened the company's survival.
An internal ceremony celebrating the transition to MetaERP was held in Dongguan, south China, with Huawei's rotating Chairperson Meng Wanzhou in attendance. ERP software is crucial for businesses to manage operations ranging from accounting to supply chain management.
Tao Jingwen, a Huawei board member and president of its quality, business process, and IT management department, said, "We were cut off from the old ERP system and other core operation and management systems three years ago. Today we are proud to announce that we have broken through that blockade, we have survived!"
Huawei revealed that its in-house MetaERP system has already been implemented in 80% of the company's business operations. Although Tao did not mention any plans to commercialize the ERP system and compete with major players like Oracle and SAP, the development of MetaERP opens up a potential new business avenue for Huawei as it adapts to US pressure.
In May 2019, the US Commerce Department added Huawei to a trade blacklist over alleged security concerns, which the company denies. The listing and subsequent trade sanctions hindered Huawei's ability to source items made with US technology and cut it off from servicing and patches for ERP tools it primarily purchased from Oracle Corp, according to an individual familiar with the situation.
Tao described the cut-off as a "massive crisis" for Huawei, as the old system had been central to the company's operations for over two decades. Huawei's MetaERP system is a cloud-native product that leverages the company's cloud-computing systems for increased efficiency compared to traditional ERP products.
Tao said that while the older system was like "a massive old building in disrepair," the new system has been thoroughly tested and is processing 15 million lines of accounting entries daily.
