Posted on October 27, 2009
If an organization is experiencing one or more of the following business conditions, it is time to seriously consider implementing an ERP solution or replacing the current one:
- Fast and uncontrolled growth
- The company’s exact financial performance is unknown
- Unknown or inaccurate job costs
- Inventories that do not meet or far exceed production requirements on a
consistent basis
- Duplication of effort in order to capture vital data that impacts employee
efficiency
- Commonly setting inaccurate customer expectations
- Promised delivery dates are regularly missed
- Unknown operations performance
- The current system is negatively impacting the organization’s ability to grow
- Little or no ability to forecast and plan production requirements with any
degree of accuracy
Link to Resource: The ERP Selection Process Survival Guide | PDF
Source: Relevant Business Systems
Find more Resources like this in the following ERP System Buying Guide Section: Is ERP Right for Your Company?
Posted on October 26, 2009
Useful guidance when deciding how best to proceed down the ERP selection path:
1. There is no magic in ERP software. ERP’s benefits are a direct result of effective preparation and implementation, and appropriate use.
2. No amount of advanced information technology can offset the problem of a flawed business strategy and poorly performing business processes.
3. Define a business strategy that will give you a competitive advantage or, at the very least, make you competitively equal. Then, analyze your current business processes and develop your objectives.
4. Acquire flexible ERP information technology that can accommodate rapidly changing business conditions.
5. Have the implementation led by a senior executive who has the authority to make changes happen and happen quickly.
Link to Resource: Successful ERP Implementation the First Time | PDF
Source: R. Michael Donovan
Find more Resources like this in the following ERP System Buying Guide Section: How to Choose an ERP System
Posted on October 23, 2009
Benefits of ERP systems:
1) Quality and efficiency
Helps improve the quality and efficiency of customer service, production, & distribution by creating a framework for integrating and improving internal business processes
2) Decreased Costs
Reductions in transaction processing costs and hardware, software, and IT support staff
3) Decision support
Provides cross-functional information on business performance to assist managers in making better decisions
4) Enterprise agility
Results in more flexible organizational structures, managerial responsibilities, and work roles
Link to Resource: Enterprise e-Business Systems | PowerPoint
Source: James O’Brien, Management Information Systems
Find more Resources like this in the following ERP System Buying Guide Section: ERP Benefits
Posted on October 22, 2009
As part of a report on how to prepare an ERP system budget, this Resource shares the following ten steps and checklists to help organizations develop ERP project budgets:
1. Clearly define the budget scope and continuously communicate.
2. Define the cost components of the ERP implementation.
3. Identify primary software costs.
4. Identify third-party software needs.
5. Identify possible non-ERP related software needs.
6. Identify the costs of consultants.
7. Plan for an implementation “War Room.”
8. Plan for hardware equipment storage needs.
9. Do not underestimate miscellaneous costs.
10. Define your budget’s critical success factors.
Link to Resource: How to Prepare an ERP Budget: Ten Critical Steps | PDF
Source: Arthur Herbert, Collegiate Project Services
Find more Resources like this in the following ERP System Buying Guide Section: Budgeting for ERP/How Much Does ERP Cost?
Posted on October 21, 2009
An interesting, non-traditional 3-step approach to improving the ERP system selection process. From the Resource:
Ask [your likely choice of an ERP] vendor to bring in the trainer you will work with after the sale is complete, not the professional presenter. Trainers have to live with their promises after the sale, and will be quite forward about what the system can, or cannot do.
Have the trainer set up the software around your requirements and enter a sub-set of your data. The intention will be to present the system as if it were live at your facility. Offer to pay for this service. Trainers are not offered to prospective clients because existing customers are paying them to implement their projects. This “proof of concept pilot” may cost a few thousand dollars, but will be far less expensive than the time-consuming step-by-step method.
Link to Resource: How To Select ERP Systems (Successfully)
Source: Andy Pratico, BSA
Find more Resources like this in the following ERP System Buying Guide Section: How to Choose an ERP System
Posted on October 20, 2009
An interesting look at key criteria for choosing an ERP system. From the Resource:
Top Ten Criteria for Selecting ERP software by second-time purchasers:
1) Level of support from the solution provider
2) Vendor
3) Software’s ability to fit the business
4) Growth potential of software
5) Price of the software
6) Quality of documentation
7) Functionality of the software
8 ) Ease of use
9) Ease of implementation of the new system
10) Software works with existing hardware
Link to Resource: Choosing an ERP System – So Many Things to Think About!
Source: Steve Hammett, Broadpoint
Find more Resources like this in the following ERP System Buying Guide Section: How to Choose an ERP System
Posted on October 19, 2009
A look at the State of Oregon’s statewide ERP implementation with a particular emphasis on enterprise architecture. Includes diagrams, timelines, key issues and guidance on how EA/ERP creates value for the enterprise.
Link to Resource: Aligning Enterprise Architecture and ERP | PowerPoint
Source: Ben Berry, State of Oregon
Find more Resources like this in the following ERP System Buying Guide Section: ERP Case Studies
Posted on October 16, 2009
Is ERP right for your company? Read this consultant’s first-hand account of an ERP implementation to understand what the ERP implementation process entails. From the Resource:
“So once again we have changed our general approach to this project. We are now going to go big bang at each location. Each of the 4 business units will get both accounting and manufacturing for a single go-live. We are even going to space the go-lives a couple of months apart to give the accountants time to catch up after their first month-end close.”
- and -
“The accountants were worried about doing their first close on the new system at the same time as a go-live, so we spaced the go-lives two months apart. The second business unit goes live in February, so the third business unit will go in April. That allows March to be used for the first close.”
Link to Resource: Plans Change – A New ERP Plan
Source: Todd Boehm, Tatum
Find more Resources like this in the following ERP System Buying Guide Section: Is ERP Right for Your Company?
Posted on October 15, 2009
As part of an expansive study on ERP adoption in small and medium businesses, the following measures of ERP success are identified:
- Streamline business processes
- Length of time for full implementation
- Length of time to initial ‘go live’
- Process cost savings produced
- ROI
- Cost of software and services
- Visibility it provides to my business
- Automation of manual processes
Link to Resource: Benchmarking ERP in SMB | PDF
Source: AberdeenGroup
Find more Resources like this in the following ERP System Buying Guide Section: How to Choose an ERP System
Posted on October 14, 2009
An interesting and detailed look into NASA’s ERP implementation. Includes background, problem set, implementation details and much more. Interesting sections include ‘What we did well’ and ‘What we didn’t do well’. From the Resource:
What we did well
- Established clear governance structure with strong executive sponsorship
- Established single instance strategy
- Integrated right mix of NASA subject matter expertise (business and IT) with consultants
- Focused on rigorous project management
- Minimized customization
- Established central integration team and enterprise application integration strategy
- Planned and implemented information delivery strategy along with transactional system deployment
- Planned for long term sustaining support early in the project
- Benchmarked early and often
- Leveraged independent IT research firm (Gartner) to validate critical technology decisions
Link to Resource: Where No ERP Has Gone Before: NASA’s SAP Implementation | PowerPoint
Source: Donna Smith, NASA
Find more Resources like this in the following ERP System Buying Guide Section: ERP Case Studies
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