The Technological Issues Faced By Companies Dealing With Erp Systems

The future direction of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is being increasing defined by the needs of business units and divisions, less by the hierarchical requirements of IT departments. This transition is occurring with increasing speed and velocity, shifting the balance of political power in organizations to the line-of-business users, away from IT, while also drastically changing the architecture and platforms of ERP systems (Markus, Petrie, Axline, 2000). The intent of this essay is to define how ERP will develop over the next five years, also defining what ERP's development will mean for business and organizational models of public-service contractor companies and the U.S. Government. The essay will continue with prescriptive guidance of whether public-service contractor companies need to take a leadership or followership role with respect to the future of ERP.

Enterprise resource planning systems provide functions for managing business areas such as production, distribution, sales, finance and human resources management. Through Thick & Thin Sauces company my benefit from implementing ERS in their enterprise from better decion making to integration of all internal and external processes. The other benefits such as better sharing of information within the organisation, simplified support and maintenance which result in increased efficiency and quality of customer service. However ERP systems are high in costs charged by suppliers for what is a large complex system, also implementation of the major organisational change required by the systems-a major planning, training and development effort is needed to successfully introduce a system which would radically change both the information systems and the business processes of the organisation. Such a systems may be suitable for Through Thick & Thin Sauce, through the use of application programing interfaces ERP systems which allow for some customisation without requiring a whole new system. This customisation may provide a standard method of exchanging data between software and allow programmers some access to ERP software package. Mixed systems can provide capability by defining standards at the communications interface level and all software must work to a common interface. However, the choice made should be directed by the

The problem presented by Joseph-Armand Bombardier is the upcoming third round of ERP implementation in his organization. Even though a big improvement over the efficiency and success of execution between the first ERP round (Mirabel plant) and second round (Saint-Laurent plant), there is still room for improvement.

Disadvantages Koch (2005) and MacLeod (2002) state disadvantages of using the ERP are; ERP systems are historically big, complex and expensive. Thus, it may take many years to learn and understand about the applications. Difficulty in managing people such as having trained staff to understand process and system implementation better. Lengthy implementation periods because of the complex of the system. Creates internal conflict within organisations, between departments has different needs and requirement. This problem can instead bring the business performances down. Upgrading the system can create a new problem, as it cannot be done

Re-engineering of business processes to fit the "industry standard" prescribed by the ERP system may lead to a loss of competitive advantage.

Implementing an ERP system is not easy and can be very challenging. Managers should be able to recognize and implement strategies to minimize risk, if they recognize the nature and magnitude of the risks they face in the implementation process, they are able to minimize the risks by employing project management and control strategies to address the challenges they face. There are some risks involved with ERP implementation, which involve technology, organization, people, and project size.

-large scale shared, IT infrastructure is available over the internet and it is transforming the way corporate IT services are delivered and managed. In this report the focus is based on ERP systems and the result of this report are intended to facilitate a more detailed understanding of the recent transformation in the whole process as compare to contemporary organisations, then it will further discuss the techniques which are adding value to the value chain with the help of Enterprise resource planning.

Company A being a leading value added distributor for Telecom hardware platform and services in APAC can benefit largely from the implementation of an ERP system. The ERP system will be their business management tool to assist them to use a system of applications which are integrated to manage their regular activities. The ERP system will incorporate all aspects of the entire organization including finance and accounting, human resources, manufacturing and supply chain management, project management, customer relationship management, data services and control of access ADDIN EN.CITE Wallace2001619(Wallace & Kremzar, 2001)6196196Wallace, T.F.Kremzar, M.H.ERP: making it happen : the implementers' guide to success with enterprise resource planning2001New YorkWiley9780471392019http://books.google.co.ke/books?id=Wa3vIn5DKc8C( HYPERLINK l "_ENREF_10" o "Wallace, 2001 #619" Wallace & Kremzar, 2001).

Since early 1990s, most firms around the world have changed their information technology (IT) strategy from in-house developing information systems to purchasing application software, such as ERP systems. IT managers responsible for managing their organization’s ERP implementation view their ERP systems as their organizations. Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems have come out as the key success of information management and the enterprise backbone of organizations. The trouble of ERP implementations have been widely cited in the history, but research on the critical factors for ongoing and initial ERP implementation success is fragmented and uncommon.

The main purpose of this paper is to give further bits of knowledge into the selection of enterprise resource planning systems and the effects on hierarchical execution. ERP is the most recent innovative incarnation in the formative history of arranging and control based frameworks, which were initially intended to adapt to the troublesome errand of viably dealing with the data assets of firms. By using the ERP software data can be incorporated flawlessly in an organization.

Information technologies are becoming an inseparable part of today’s business world.ERP systems is one such example as they have become an important instrument without which the majority of enterprises could no longer function(Pabedinskait,2010).Successfully implemented ERP systems generate organisational synergy, which provides a motivation for the improvement of particularly efficient processes necessary for the success of an organisation. ERP implementation systems have become more popular within the last 15 years. They are now a common way of implementing organisational changes today. Organisations that successfully employ ERP systems, such as software and industry processes have enormous benefits such as greater efficiency. Companies that have succeeded in their respective ERP implementation include Cisco, Tektronix and Harley Davidson Motor Company.

Ifinedo (2007) comes up with that the size, culture, structure of the company are all positively related to the success of ERP implementation. A correct selection of ERP vendors is also another factor contributing to the success of ERP implementation (Ngai et al., 2008).

It can be said that the vulnerability of the economy across the globe has made most consumers and customers very unwilling to pay more even for high-quality products and services. This general feeling coupled with competition among various organizations has compelled them (organizations) to develop strategies that would enable them reduce costs so as to offer consumers competitive prices, while improving efficiency, performance, and quality. As a way of enhancing organizational performance, most contemporary organizations are relying on technology, such as the enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. Basically, the ERP is intended to streamline and integrate the operations of various departments or units within an organization into a

ERP can be a difficult task, it takes more than months to setup and it costs more than software and hardware, but if everything is prepared with proper resources than implementation of ERP system can be completed with in budget in a proper or required time frame and deliver

Furthermore, many experts say that over 50 percent of U.S. firms experience some degree of failure when implementing advanced manufacturing or information technology. Unfortunately, many companies have already experienced significant troubles trying to implement ERP systems, and these poorly executed implementations have had serious consequences. One recent survey revealed that 65 percent of executives believe ERP implementation has at least a moderate chance of damaging their business. Obviously, it is very important to identify and understand the factors that impact heavily on the success or failure of ERP implementation. Large IT projects such as ERP implementations have more chance to be failures than most people expect. In the last decades, many studies have identified that the success rate is approximately 25%, the failure rate is also about 25%, and partial successes and failures exist around 50%. Many failure cases about ERP implementation projects have been reported including the U.S. federal government cases such as the U.S. Internal Revenue Service and Federal Bureau of Investigation cases. The IRS launched new Customer Account Data Engine (CADE) in 1999 to upgrade its IT infrastructure and more than 100 business applications. However, most of its major projects ran into serious delays and cost overruns. The project costs have increased by more than $200 million according to the U.S. General