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An ERP who owns who

If you have been around even a short time in the ERP software business as either a user or a provider, you are sure to know of the latest acquisitions. The big ones of course are all the companies Infor bought as well as the Oracle mega mergers of PeopleSoft/JDE. Here is a website dedicated to tracking these acquisitions, called fittingly enough The ERP Graveyard.

The ERP Graveyard has a spreadsheet of acquisitions going back to the 1990’s. So if you are interested in what happened to so-and-so software, you might find your answer to dead ERPs here.

The top 20 ERP implementation tips

Stumbling through various ERP websites, we came across this article that shows some of the key factors for doing an implementation correctly. You should probably read this one…

The top 20 ERP implementation tips
By Jan Stafford, Site Editor
22 Jun 2005 | SearchOpenSource.com

An enterprise resource planning ERP software project can be daunting for first-timers or veterans handling a migration. Get started on the right foot with the top 20 ERP implementation tips from Linux users, consultants and vendors.The top 20 ERP implementation tips

ETO ERP: Making the Wrong Choice

ETO ERP: Making the Wrong Choice
Roger Meloy

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems offer great benefits to engineer-to-order (ETO) companies looking to increase productivity and decrease cost. According to TR Cutler, spokesperson for the ETO Institute, ‘These benefits come as a result of a successful implementation, but not every implementation is successful.’ Cutler asserts that, ‘One reason some implementations are not successful is the selection of the wrong system.’

The ETO Institute has just published a white paper, ‘Why Do Companies Choose the Wrong System?’ This document is written with engineer-to-order companies in mind. It highlights the problems facing ETO companies trying to find and evaluate a new ERP system. The while paper provides some time and simple steps companies can take to reduce the chances of making a critical mistake. (www.etoinstitute.org)

Cutler, who authors regular columns for Industrial Connection magazine (www.industrialconnection.net) and InMFG magazine (www.inmfg.com) is looking for case study profiles of ETO manufacturing companies and their ERP experiences. ‘The good, the bad, the ugly. I want to know what ETO manufacturers think about the ERP selection process, what companies have served them well and which have not. This will provide an interesting profile for the members of the ETO Institute.’

The ETO Institute specifically highlights some of the problems ETO manufacturers face when searching for an ERP system. Go to www.etoinsititute.org and learn more. Registration is free of charge and more than a thousand ETO manufacturers are expected to join in 2005.

Thomas R. Cutler ETO Institute 954-486-7562 www.etoinstitute.org e-mail protected from spam bots

5 Minute Guide to ERP

Natalie Aranda

Information technology has transformed the way we live and the way we do business. ERP, or Enterprise Resource Planning, is one of most widely implemented business software systems in a wide variety of industries and organizations. In this short article, well try to concisely explain the basic yet important concepts relevant to ERP.

What is ERP – ERP is the acronym of Enterprise Resource Planning. ERP definition refers to both ERP software and business strategies that implement ERP systems. ERP implementation utilizes various ERP software applications to improve the performance of organizations for 1) resource planning, 2) management control and 3) operational control. ERP software consists of multiple software modules that integrates activities across functional departments – from product planning, parts purchasing, inventory control, product distribution, to order tracking. Most ERP software systems include application modules to support common business activities – finance, accounting and human resources.
ERP Systems – ERP is much more than a piece of computer software. A ERP System includes ERP Software, Business Processes, Users and Hardware that run the ERP software. An ERP system is more than the sum of its parts or components. Those components interact together to achieve a common goal – streamline and improve organizations business processes.
History of ERP – The history of ERP has been more than 20 years. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is the evolution of Manufacturing Requirements Planning (MRP) II in 1980s, while MRP is the evolution of Inventory Management & Control conceived in 1960s. ERP has expanded from coordination of manufacturing processes to the integration of enterprise-wide backend processes. In terms of technology, ERP has evolved from legacy implementation to more flexible tiered client-server architecture.
Benefits of ERP – ERP software attempts to integrate business processes across departments onto a single enterprise-wide information system. The major ERP benefits are improved coordination across functional departments and increased efficiencies of doing business. The implementation of ERP systems help facilitate day-to-day management as well. ERP software systems is originally and ambitiously designed to support resource planning portion of strategic planning. In reality, resource planning has been the weakest link in ERP practice due to the complexity of strategic planning and lack of adequate integration of ERP with Decision Support Systems (DSS).
ERP Failures – We couldnt conclude our brief guide to ERP without mentioning ERP failures. The failure of multi-million dollar ERP projects are reported once in a while even after 20 years of ERP implementation. We have identified the four components of an ERP System – 1) ERP software, 2) Business Processes that ERP software supports, 3) Users of ERP systems, and 4) Hardware and Operating Systems that run ERP applications. The failures in one or more of those four components could cause the failure of an ERP project.
Natalie Aranda writes about business and information technology.

ERP – Army Style

Stumbling around the web, we came across a great ERP reference site. This site is the US Army’s ERP/SOA Resource Center. Its own description is as follows:
As the Army embarks on transforming its warfighting capabilities, it is imperarive that the Business Capabilities / Enablers / Processes transform to support the warfighter. ERP systems provide an integrated suite of Information Techonology applications that support the end-to-end business operations of an entire organization. The ERP Resource Center is designed to provide Enterprise Process Owners, Program Executive Officers, Program Managers, and others involved in the Business Transformation of the Army with detailed information, supporting documents, and tools and techniques regarding the use of ERP systems.

This site is filled with useful information.Â It is not helpful if you are a small company looking for an ERP system other than to guide you in an overview of what ERP is and does.Â There is a glossary online there too, but it is government focused.Â If however you are implementing a Tier 1 package, then this gives a lot of good information.

Manufacturers Don’t User Most of Their ERP Software’s Features, Says Aberdeen

Published: September 18, 2006

by Timothy Prickett Morgan

Based on a detailed report put together by Aberdeen Group and commissioned by a bunch of ERP software suppliers, companies with ERP software don’t use most of the features that have been painstakingly woven into their software.

Aberdeen based its analysis on a study of more than 1,000 manufacturers. The study was underwritten by Infor, Lawson Software, Plexus Systems, QAD, and SoftBrands, and presumably they provided some of the customers that Aberdeen talked to as well as the cash to do the survey and report that resulted from it. Aberdeen also talked to customers using other ERP suites, including those who have deployed Oracle and SAP suites.

According to the study, called “The ERP in Manufacturing Benchmark,” two thirds of the manufacturers surveyed said that they make their choice of which ERP software to use based on features and functionality, but then, on average, they use only … Read More

7 Ways to Fail in an ERP Selection

by Chris Shaul

The best way to fail at an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) implementation is to choose the wrong software up front. Choosing software without following some basic guidelines is a sure-fire method for disaster. Probably the worst thing that someone has done (that we know of), was to buy their ERP software at a tradeshow, thinking it would be the cheap and easy way to solve their problems. They ended up spending more than they expected in finding ways to force the software into their business all because of a failed ERP selection.

Below are some ways that will set you on the path to fail at your choice. In other words, they are ways that you can insure that you will choose the wrong system for your company.

ERP Selection Failures

1. Choose ERP software without understanding your requirements. First, you should ensure that you are getting the best fit for your company by documenting your requirements. The requirements should cover the strategic, reporting, functional, and technical aspects of what your company requires to run the business. Choosing software without these documented and without using them as a benchmark to compare the software against is a strategy for problems. Do not run an ERP Selection without well defined requirements.

2. Select ERP software without paying attention to business processes. There are certain ways that you run your business. Not all of them are rocket science, but there are certain things that make your company unique and successful. Choosing software without understanding how things flow in your company will create big problems in the implementation when the software processes information contrary to how you run your business.

3. Choose ERP software because your Friend/Neighbor/Relative is using it successfully at their firm. Another nightmare scenario that has actually occurred is that decision makers have purchased software because their ____ (fill in the blank) has used it and it worked great at that company. That company is not your company. On the surface they may seem similar, but just because one company is running well on the ERP system does not mean that yours will. You may have a special process for getting your goods out the door. The software may not support that method. Perhaps there is some information that you must have because of financial, regulatory, or supply chain requirements. The other company may not have that issue. Perhaps you need to track lot numbers and the _____ ‘s company does not. There are too many business issues that can create havoc in an information system, if the system is not carefully matched to the requirements (see #1).

4. Not having the ERP vendor prove that it will support your business processes. ERP vendors have one goal. Sell you software. Do they care if it fits, can successfully operate your business, or even if it will be a huge burden on your staff? Not really. In fact, if you buy software that requires a lot of care and feeding because it is not a good fit, then the vendor is the one who supports it and makes a handsome flow of income off your company. You can find a software that best fits your business with a free ERP Selection consultation from SoftwareAdvice.com. Get the vendor to demonstrate that it meets your requirements and can transact information in a method that is aligned with your business processes.

5. Choosing ERP software because it looks cool. You may laugh at this one, but the user interface is a sexy selling point of many systems. Is a plain old green-screen as nice to work in as a really colorful Windows screen? Probably not, but does the Windows-based system really address your issues? Your goal should be aligning a perspective system with your business needs. If it comes with a cool interface great, if not, can you live with it?

6. Let the ERP vendor tell you what you need to be doing. Related to number 4 above, having the ERP vendor guide you in your selection is a roadmap to hell. You need to guide them. Tell them what you want and expect. Too many times has a single vendor gained the trust and confidence of a decision maker and guided them to a particular system, without any concern for how close a match is it to the business requirements and processes.

7. Take the ERP vendor’s first offer without negotiating. You can generally negotiate with a vendor several times and get a more than fair price. But the key is to follow good negotiation tactics. Don’t forget that most everything is negotiable. The software, the services, the maintenance, the timing, etc. In the ERP industry, the best time to do an ERP selection is at the quarter or year end according to the vendor’s financial calendar.

The key thing to understand is that there is a path that can lead you to success and many routes to failure. Know thyself first. Understand your business and document it. It is not enough to think you know it. Talk to all levels of users and managers. Ensure that everyone’s needs are defined and a priority is placed upon those needs. If you are not sure of how to run an ERP Selection, then get outside help from a consultant who is non-biased towards systems and can guide you. Be careful of assistance from a company that has an SAP practice, or an Oracle practice, etc. They have internal motivation to help you choose their flavor of software.

Most importantly, understand that you need to drive the process. It is your selection and you need to live with the results. As any good project manager will tell you, start with the end in mind. What do you want the system to do for your company now and in seven years from now? Understand this and go forward in your ERP selection.

Chris Shaul is a Senior IT Consultant who is a regular contributor to ERPandMore.com

ERP Selection Help

ERP Selection

ERP and OS Security Concerns

An interesting topic concerning ERP is which platform to run on. This is one of the first questions that needs to be asked in deciding on an ERP system. But the answer is not always as simple as you think. Below is an interesting article about Operating Systems and their security. More so, how it can affect and ERP system.

Security Concern

Which operating system is most secure open source or Windows? For manufacturers that all depends, says John Harney

According to most experts, vendors of the dominant enterprise manufacturing applications like ERP, supply chain and CRM have long-proven, proactive patch and other security programs. Instead, problems arise due to security vulnerabilities in the operating systems (OS) they run on or the applications (their own suite modules and related apps) they support.