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Jairam Krishnamurthy
graduated from department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering in
November 2000.
Thesis title: Enterprise Resource Planning System Implementations.
(May 2002)
Abstract
| Many companies use Enterprise Resource Planning
(ERP) systems to run their businesses. The process of buying an
ERP system, installing it and implementing it to run a business
is extremely complex and cumbersome. In most cases a company
buys an ERP system, conducts workshops to define and improve on
its existing business processes and then tries to fit these
improved business processes into the ERP system. One concern is
the company has already spent millions of dollars buying the ERP
system and then spends time identifying their true requirements
and tries to fit these in the ERP system. Even if it assumed
that the ERP system would meet all of the requirements of the
company, unless a structured methodology is followed during the
implementation, and the implementation is managed and executed
well, there will be no significant gains. There are various
factors involved before, during and after an ERP implementation
that govern the success of companies that decide to use ERP
systems to run their businesses. Current implementation
methodologies do not have an integrated approach as activities
start only in the post-sales cycle after the software has been
purchased by an organization. The proposed methodology not only
integrates the pre-sales (activities that occur before the ERP
software is purchased) and post-sales cycles, but also explains
and emphasizes activities that need to be performed even before
the pre-sales cycle starts. Activities before the pre-sales
cycle entails planning, analyzing and documenting the core
requirements of the business and identifying all of the future
requirements of the business. This ensures that companies are
fully aware of all their requirements before the pre-sales cycle
begins, and they make a well informed decision on what
functionality to look for in an ERP software during the
pre-sales cycle. Additionally the proposed methodology suggests
the level of detail in which the functionality of the software
should be examined during vendor demonstrations based on a high
level to-be process flow defined by the customer, attendees to
the vendor demonstrations, as well as defining the project team
in the pre-sales cycle itself from a customer and vendor
perspective. Finally, the methodology proposes performing
activities that are usually conducted as part of the post-sales
cycle in the pre-sales cycle like conducting the to-be process
flows and involving the post-sales consultants in pre-sales
activities. As part of the post-sales cycle, the importance of
good project and issues management, support from a consulting
resource perspective are highlighted. This process shortens the
execution activities of ERP implementations and eliminates
uncertainty and assumptions regarding software functionality
both in terms of applications and technology. |
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