Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems attempt to integrate several data sources and processes of an organization into a unified system. A typical ERP system will use multiple components of computer software and hardware to achieve the integration. The benefits of an ERP system are obvious, only if it was successfully implemented and seamlessly integrated with other information systems. Organizations face many challenges in ERP planning, implementation and integration. We summarize the challenges as follows:
Organizational Challenges
Organizations face lot of challenges right from choosing ERP vendor. ERP failures that arose in an organization were never analyzed or studied. Lot of excuses were given on the failure of ERP like the organization was not yet well equipped to accept ERP, there was deficiency in service on the part of vendor and so on. All this only led to skirmishes within the organization and outside. The top organizational challenges are:
Lack of project resources
Lack of employee buy-in
Budget limitation
Lack of ERP expertise
Not enough executive support
Lack of employee buy-in
Budget limitation
Lack of ERP expertise
Not enough executive support
Deployment of ERP Modules
Packaged ERP software consists of many functional modules (production planning, inventory control, financial and HR). Ideally It is the best for an organization to install modules from the same ERP vendors in the initial ERP implementation. However, the implementation of ERP systems could last many years. For many reasons, the integration of ERP modules could be either the integration of modules from different vendors, or the different versions of the modules from the same vendor.
Integration of ERP modules with E-Business Process and Applications
E-business practice is the combination of strategies, technologies and processes to electronically coordinate both internal and external business processes, and manage enterprise-wide resources. E-business software systems generally fall into four categories: Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Supply Chain Management (SCM) and Knowledge Management (KM). To get the most out of ERP systems, ERP should be tightly integrated with other e-business software - Supply Chain systems, CRM, knowledge management, B2B exchange and ecommerce storefront on the Internet.
Integration of ERP with Legacy Systems
For any company, legacy systems have accumulated vast amount of data vital to the survival, operations, and expansion of corporations and non-profit organizations. Integration of ERP systems with legacy systems is more complex than the integration of ERP modules and Integration of e-business Applications. It routinely requires the installation of third-party interface software for the communication between ERP software systems and legacy systems.