Study Of Enterprise Resource Planning

Running Head: ENTERPRISE RESOURCE PLANNING
Going Live Is Not the End of the ERP Journey
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Enterprise Resource Planning: Background and Benefits...............................................................2
Journey of ERP Systems..................................................................................................................5
Possible Stages in ERP Systems Journey........................................................................................7
Potential Benefits of Each Stage of ERP Systems Journey.............................................................8
Drivers and Barriers for Companies to Move from One Stage to Next..........................................9
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................10
References......................................................................................................................................12

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Introduction
Enterprise Resource Planning or ERP in short is a software based solution that helps a
business organisation to integrate all its features within the same operational platform. The
features that are integrated by the ERP system include customer relationship management,
customer information, business analytics, business statistics, data storage and management and
many others. With the growing need of utilising and maximising the benefits of information
technology in business, more and more business organisations are moving to implement ERP
system within their operation (Altamony, Al-Salti, Gharaibeh and Elyas, 2016). ERP systems not
only help to integrate all the features within the platform, it is also one of the main tools for the
company to go live after everything has been integrated. However, this is a slow process and
mainly involves various stages referred to as ERP implementation stages. Some companies often
have the idea that going live is the final step for ERP implementation and there is no beyond.
This is not true as ERP systems have significant potential to be much more due to the evolution
of the computing technology.
The main aim of this report is to conduct research on ERP systems, discuss the stages of
implementation of ERP systems and its benefits and issues in the current business organisations.
Enterprise Resource Planning: Background and Benefits
Since the beginning of the 21st century, the concept of ERP systems came into being as
various researchers mentioned that the ERP system is the key that can be extensively utilised in
order to mitigate various business related problems faced by the companies. The primary benefit
that can be realised with the utilisation of the ERP system would be the integration of various
features of business within the common platform that can be utilised by the company (Chofreh,

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2018). With time, computing technology further evolved and so did the ERP systems. Various
new features were added, including connection with cloud computing technology in which the
cloud offers unlimited free virtual storage for data storage and management (Chofreh, A.G.,
Goni, F.A., Klemeš, J.J., Malik, M.N. and Khan, H.H., 2020). In addition, ERP systems also
allow the companies to go live i.e. develop business portal through which they can interact with
the customers and the customers are also able to view various services and features as provided
by the business organisation.
The main benefits of the ERP system are discussed as follows.
Customisation: One of the main benefits that can be gained with the complete utilisation
of the features of ERP system is that the company is provided with the option for complete
customisation of the entire platform such that it entirely fulfils the company’s needs and
requirements. ERP system provides the platform and allows integration of all features within the
platform and the company is able to manage, rearrange, implement and uninstall features from
the platform to suit their own business needs (Costa, C.J., Ferreira, E., Bento, F. and Aparicio,
M., 2016). Other business aid software and systems do not provide such ability to customise,
they provide a platform within which, all features are fixed. Hence, ERP is much more beneficial
than other alternative software systems.
Data Visibility: Various business organisations have often suffered from the lack of data
visibility during business operations. While transferring data from one user to another (e.g. from
an employee to a manager), various procedures needed to be followed including security checks
and others. However, if the companies are able to utilise full benefits of the ERP systems, none
of these long drawn and hectic processes are required (Kosasih, W., Salomon, L.L., Doaly, C.O.,