Overview on ERP Software and Vendor Selection Assignment Sample

Introduction - ERP Software Selection Criteria and Key Considerations

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The selection of ERP vendor is meant to evaluate the ERP package which is considered for better crucial steps. This selection and evaluation of the ERP are considered as:

• It has to check the all the aspects of the functional area of the business are totally covered by the ERP system.
• There should be proper checking for all the processes and the function of the ERP.
• According to Wei et al. (2015, p.50), there should present all recent information technology trends within the ERP software that are provided by the vendor.
• Proper selection of ERP can be done by checking whether the vendor has the facility to customise with the requirements and implementation ability.
• It needs to see whether the organisation can cope up with the cost of implementation of ERP system.
• Proper and effective ERP system is the technology which can return effective returns from the investment done to implement such latest technology.

Selection of ERP Vendor

There are certain points to remember before selecting the vendor who would provide the ERP system.

• The vendor must be financially sound enough since they implement the business application.
• The vendor who is prospective in nature must have some specific methodology that can be proven for the smooth move from older system to a newer one.
• The vendor must be stable for many years and providing support to various organisations. According to Bingi et al. (2012, p.12), there should be a strong base of the customers who are using their services for a longer time.
• There must be some professionalism that is visible from the market presence and through which they can be judged.
• There should be a company website for the vendors that can elaborate every detail about them and their products.
• The selection of a vendor needs a keen look after the position of the vendor in the recent market.
• A vendor having the well established reputation in the market are preferred most and can be trusted by the various organisation that are not using one or are not satisfied using older ERP system to manage all the need of the organisation (Al-Johani and Youssef 2013, p11).
• There is need to find the offers that are provided by the vendor and judge the profitable vendor for the implementation of ERP system.
• It also needs to find whether the vendor is providing service that is compatible with the cloud computing.

Issues of Selecting ERP System and its Vendor

The selection and implementation of ERP system to an organisation often face some major issues. There are poor judgements in the selection for the vendor who can provide ERP system for business managements within the organisations. According to Karsak and Özogul (2014, p.662), the selection of the ERP system often done by some person, who intentionally provide and recommend the ERP systems that are less efficient in managing all aspects of an organisation need to cover from it. The ERP systems are provided by the marketing team of the organisation that lacks from its functionality and capability. The selection processes are often started without any business objectives. The current information about the vendor is not judged properly before having the ERP system from them and this has resulted in receiving bad ERP system. Implementing the ERP system from any vendor who is lacking with the proper system is to be checked before getting one from them. Without getting the knowledge of key feature of the ERP system marketing team often get the ERP system and this result in improper function from it. The implementation of ERP system to an organisation often faces some issues such as improper use of the system by the user. The priorities of the organisation that are to be done from the implementation of ERP system were not set before using such latest technology. 

Recommendations

The selection of ERP system and the vendor are to be taken in the very serious matter. There are certain recommendations that can be suggested to the organisation or anyone who want to have one for implementation purpose for the benefits of the business. According to Umble et al. (2013, p.251), the marketing team of the organisation need to judge the present situation of the vendor and the marketplace through which it can be judged on the ERP quality. Implement the services of ERP from the vendor who has their own website that can elaborate the products and make the present status of the vendor and its market position in terms of completion in the relevant field of providing ERP services to the organisations. Before getting the services of an ERP system the organisation need to know about the key features of the system that a vendor is providing for managing the business. Yang et al. (2013, p.791) state that once the ERP system is implemented it cannot go back from it so proper judgements have to be taken for selecting the vendor. There need to set the goal for which the system has to be implemented. Look for an ERP vendor that can provide with the proper management system which would return money over investing the system for the organisation. Properly judge the licensing agreement of the vendor and the term and condition of the ERP system before taking the final decision for having such high-end technological ERP system. Getting reference, from the previous users, who can provide valuable feedbacks from their experience are the most important matter to look for receiving ERP services. There should be proper training on the ERP system to all the employees before the system start to act. Thus these are recommendations that can be followed to grab an ERP system from a vendor.

Conclusion

The implementations of ERP system are very helpful for the organisation as they provide all necessary support that an organisation have to process for the business. Implementation of an ERP system which is provided by the vendor is the most wanted from the point of concern of the organisation installing the system are required for configuration and integration of the ERP system. As the models of the ERP system are applied to the organisations it represents the case study of the relevant topic. From the study, it can be concluded that there is meaningful relationship within the business representatives and the team dealing with the technical areas of the organisations. The limitations of implementing the ERP system need to be properly judged before the actual implementation of the system to an organisation.

Refrence List:

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Powell, D., Riezebos, J. and Strandhagen, J.O., (2013). Lean production and ERP systems in small-and medium-sized enterprises: ERP support for pull production. International Journal of Production Research, 51(2), pp.395-409.

Galy, E. and Sauceda, M.J., (2014). Post-implementation practices of ERP systems and their relationship to financial performance. Information & Management, 51(3), pp.310-319.

Helo, P., Suorsa, M., Hao, Y. and Anussornnitisarn, P., (2014). Toward a cloud-based manufacturing execution system for distributed manufacturing. Computers in Industry, 65(4), pp.646-656.

Al-Johani, A.A. and Youssef, A.E., (2013). A framework for ERP systems in SME based on cloud computing technology. International Journal on Cloud Computing: Services and Architecture, 3(3), pp.1-14.

O'Leary, D.E., (2012). Enterprise resource planning systems: systems, life cycle, electronic commerce, and risk. Cambridge university press.

Magal, S.R. and Word, J., (2014). Integrated business processes with ERP systems. Wiley Publishing.

Wei, C.C., Chien, C.F. and Wang, M.J.J., (2015). An AHP-based approach to ERP system selection. International journal of production economics, 96(1), pp.47-62.

Bingi, P., Sharma, M.K. and Godla, J.K., (2012). Critical issues affecting an ERP implementation. IS Management, 16(3), pp.7-14.

Karsak, E.E. and Özogul, C.O., (2014). An integrated decision making approach for ERP system selection. Expert systems with Applications, 36(1), pp.660-667.

Yang, J.B., Wu, C.T. and Tsai, C.H., (2013). Selection of an ERP system for a construction firm in Taiwan: A case study. Automation in Construction, 16(6), pp.787-796.

Umble, E.J., Haft, R.R. and Umble, M.M., (2013). Enterprise resource planning: Implementation procedures and critical success factors. European journal of operational research, 146(2), pp.241-257.