Never Ending ERP Systems

University of

Enterprise Resources Planning (ERP

The Never Ending Process

December 2006

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP

Introduction

Enterprise Resources Planning (ERP ) is a computerised system that integrates the activities of a business . According to Wepopedia Computer Dictionary it is defined as a business management system that integrates all facets of the business including planning , manufacturing , sales , and marketing ' The term ERP was first coined by Gartner Group in 1990 when introducing their version of MRP II software (Barton , 2001 However , `Material Requirement Planning ' was introduced in 1960s

br by Case , a company manufacturing tractors , and IBM . In 1972 a software company - SAP was established in to produce and market standard software for integrated business solutions (Stein et al , 2003 ) Recently ERP systems have developed into an industry with a number of competing vendors for its software

A definition that describes the ERP of today is provided by Deloitte Consulting (1998

An Enterprise Resource Planning system is a packaged business software system that allows a company to Automate and integrate the majority of its business processes Share common data and practices across the entire enterprise Produce and access information in a real-time environment

Indeed A recent IT innovation that is enhancing organizational performance through providing end-to-end connectivity is Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP ) Systems . ERP software , which attempts to integrate all departments and functions across a company into a single computer system , is one of the fastest growing segments in the software market , and one of the most important developments in information technology in the last decade (Somers Nelson , 2001 . While its efficacy is widely confirmed and its application is increasing every day , ERP brought some concerns to management particularly that it has become a `never ending ' process . Yet looking at it as an infrastructure and a strategic foundation it is believed to be a managerial tool for building on for future needs and adequately addressing the organizations ' increasing information needs

What is ERP

In 1980s the gigantic mainframe computers co-existed with the desktop personal computers . Yet each served a different and separate purpose . The mainframes with the tailor-made software provided calculations and records mainly for the finance and materials departments . On the other hand PCs were used by departments for their own purposes either by writing their own software or buying commercially available ones . However , their disadvantages then were a big information management problem

Mainframes were not good at providing relevant , timely information in an easy-to-use format . PCs could not store huge databases of corporate information or simultaneously serve multiple users . And because there was no easy way to connect the two on a timely basis , it lead to a massive information management problem - how to co-ordinate all the data in all the databases around a company (BBC Edited Guide Entry : Guide ID : A3488637

Need for an ERP system

The need for a system to solve this problem resulted in the marriage of MRP II (Manufacturing Resource Planning ) systems and client /server technologies (BBC Edited Guides . With the right decision of...