CRLS: Cloud ERP for Legal Support - Business Analysis Report

This report examines the potential implementation of a Cloud ERP system for Chris and Richard's Legal Support (CRLS), an organization providing free legal advice. The report begins with an executive summary and an introduction to the organization, highlighting the challenges of managing manual processes across multiple branches. It argues for the adoption of Cloud ERP, detailing its benefits such as cost-effectiveness, scalability, and improved data management, while also acknowledging limitations like subscription costs and potential security concerns. The report includes an abridged feasibility analysis, addressing market, technical, financial, and organizational aspects. It identifies potential issues arising from incomplete requirement elicitation and process misalignment, and discusses risks associated with Business Process Reengineering (BPR) and ERP customization. The report also reviews current business processes and concludes with recommendations for process changes, emphasizing the importance of organizational commitment from management. The report leverages research to support the arguments and provides a comprehensive overview of the considerations for implementing a Cloud ERP solution in a legal aid environment.

Running head: ENTERPRISE SYSTEM
Enterprise System
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author’s note

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Executive Summary
Chris was once the High Court judge got awarded because of providing free legal support to
the community. His son, Richard, a Law graduate from Melbourne wanted to accompany his
father. They both together open an organization named Chris and Richard's Legal support
(CRLS) to help the financially backward people to get the free legal advice. Cloud ERP can
bring significant changes to CRLS. The report highlighted the reasons why CRLS should
adopt the cloud technology for the betterment of the company. It has also been showcased the
potential benefits that ERP can bring to CRLS. The limitations have been stated as well. The
organizational commitment has been elaborated on the basis of ERP and the company’s
objectives. The risks and the issues which Chris and Richard can face have been illustrated in
details. The current business has been grandstand in the report and along with that, the
recommendations have been given for the proposed changes that can be made to the business
processes.

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Table of Contents
1. Introduction............................................................................................................................3
2. An argument to persuade management that Cloud ERP is required.....................................3
2.1. The reason for change.....................................................................................................3
2.2. Alignment of an ERP with the CRLS’s goals.................................................................4
2.3. Benefits and limitations of cloud based ERPs in the context of CRLS..........................4
2.4. Organisational commitment, especially from management for CRLS...........................7
3. An abridged feasibility analysis.............................................................................................8
4. Issues that may arise due to incomplete elicitation of requirements and misalignment
between the business processes..................................................................................................8
5. Risks associated with BPR and ERP customization..............................................................9
6. Current business processes...................................................................................................10
7. Recommendations and proposed changes to the business processes...................................10
8. Conclusion............................................................................................................................11
9. References............................................................................................................................12

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1. Introduction
Chris was once the High Court judge got awarded because of providing free legal
support to the community. His son, Richard, a Law graduate from Melbourne wanted to
accompany his father. They both together open an organization named Chris and Richard's
Legal support (CRLS) to help the financially backward people to get the free legal advice.
They decided to do all the business activities manually but later they found it difficult to cope
up with the records of the lawyers and clients’ details (Gupta et al. 2017). They are now in an
ethical dilemma whether they should adopt the Cloud ERP or not.
This report will highlight the reasons why they should need the change, the issues
they faced while conducting the business activities manually have been showcased. The
report show lights on the benefits and limitations of ERP, the organization commitment,
alignment of ERP with respect to CRLS aim. The report also grandstands the feasibility
analysis, the current business activities they are undertaking and the recommendations for the
business processes.
2. An argument to persuade management that Cloud ERP is required
2.1. The reason for change
CRLS has taken the great initiative to help the financially backward people to get the
legal advice free from the lawyers. They have opened three branches in Melbourne, Sydney
and Brisbane and have recruited 18 administration staff and 30 lawyers. They have 50
volunteers working across the three branches and they all do their work manually. They are
facing the issues to maintain the records or keep things up to date; they are messing up while
handling the lawyers’, clients’ activities (Nowak and Kurbel 2016). Also, they are facing
issues to make a list of lawyers and clients and which case the lawyers dealing with. They
opted for a computerized system but due to the excessive cost of hardware and software they

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stepped back, but after attending a seminar conducted by Medium Sized Enterprise (SMEs)
they understand the potential ERP and so they are keen to use the technology in their
premises (Peng and Gala 2014). Therefore, they need a change for the betterment of the
company.
2.2. Alignment of an ERP with the CRLS's goals
The Cloud ERP provides profitable services, so CRLS can utilise their donation
money for other valuable purposes, CRLS will not require funding and even they do not have
to think about managing their data centres. They will have to pay the cloud vendor monthly
revenue or annual revenue and they can get the agile effective business.
The Cloud ERP offers flexible service and this service can be accessed from any
devices and the services can be accessed from anywhere (Weng and Hung 2014). This
approach helps them to conduct their business activities well and will help them to take
critical decisions.
The Cloud ERP provides a scalable platform that means they do not have to bear the
heavy cost purchasing hardware and software for them.
The Cloud ERP provides agile effective business solutions as the Cloud ERP is hosted
by the cloud vendors –Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure. They will keep a
complete backup of data of CRLS and also enhance the business activities. CRLS can keep
track of the court details, lawyers' details and clients' details and process their data in the most
effective way (Jain and Sharma 2016).
2.3. Benefits and limitations of cloud based ERPs in the context of CRLS
Benefits of Cloud ERP-

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CRLS will do not have to worry about the resources because all the hardware and the
software solutions will be provided by cloud vendor they only need to pay monthly or annual
revenue to get access to the Cloud. The cloud vendor will update and upgrade the system
hence their system will get updated automatically. This will increase the security of the
system and hence they will not have to worry about the security breaches.
Cloud ERP is completely cloud based and because of this SaaS offering the services
can access from everywhere and from any devices. This can help them to conduct business
activities across the three cities –Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney. The 30 Lawyers and 18
administration staff can share data and can communicate with each other at need. This can
help to take critical decision making (Duan et al. 2013). This can reduce any mishaps and
misunderstandings among the various premises and the genuine chance for collaboration
among the staff's increases. This can also offer the facility to choose between reports and
dashboards can suit them best.
CRLS do not have to take up the cost of extra charges for the hardware and the
software, so, they can use the donation money for other valuable services. Sine CRLS is a
start-up organisation since they tend to grow faster, Cloud ERP can be the best solution for
the enterprise.
Cloud ERP can provide fast efficient services to CRLS because the cloud vendors that
provide those fast services are the tech giants- Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft
Azure. Their responsibility is to provide profitable data services to the customers so that it
can be accessed easily in a fast and secure manner (Johansson et al. 2014). Hence data centres
assure the geographic diversity, the data centres also keep track of the records hence can
provide solid back-up to the data. This data is stored in multiple regions and so there is no
chance of data loss or data corruptions.

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The cloud vendors will take responsibility if any mishaps occur in the database. In
case of on-premise, CRLS will have to take the full responsibility.
The cloud vendors provide the advanced security, the great initiative of CRLS needs
great security, if the CRLS database gets compromised the sensitive information of the clients
will be hacked (Jalil and Bakar 2017). CRLS can face a huge loss for this, adopting cloud
ERP, they do not have to worry about the security threats as the cloud vendor will take the
maximum responsibility.
Limitations of the Cloud ERP
Subscription prices: CRLS will have to pay high subscription prices on a monthly
and yearly basis to use the cloud platform. In case of on-premise ERP, they do not have to
bear this cost.
Security: The security risks are associated with the cloud technology and the cloud
platform. Since the cloud technology is in beta mode or testing mode there are still many
vulnerabilities yet to explore, so the cloud vendors cannot guarantee cent per cent safety.
Strategy: Adopting cloud technology requires a lot of time and also requires an
expertise, CRLS do not have employees who have knowledge of Cloud ERP, and they will
have to rely upon Michael for the whole thing to work (Johansson et al. 2015).
Compliance: The CRLS existing architecture must comply with the cloud vendor
architecture otherwise malfunction will occur and the whole system will fail.
Competency: They will have to move each and every activity to the cloud, so other
rivals or IT department can resist their proceedings.

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Migrate in between CSPs: CSPs provide same ERP packages having varied costs,
therefore moving among the CSPs is a tough ask for the Cloud ERP clients (Miranda 2013).
Start up support: Initially CRLS can face challenges but with the assistance of the
cloud vendor or for their support they can move ahead.
Resistance from lawyers and clients: The lawyers and the clients can struggle at the
beginning and show resistance CRLS will have to deal with them, they will have to teach the
staffs, clients and the lawyers so that they can get used to this Cloud ERP (Romanov and
Varfolomeeva 2013).
2.4. Organisational commitment, especially from management for CRLS
Chris and Richard have planned to provide legal advice to the economically backward
people. They have planned to provide this service to the people across Brisbane, Melbourne
and Sydney. The cost for this initiative will be provided by the local donors according to their
plan (Haddara, Fagerstrøm and Mæland 2015). One donor has donated $100,000 and
promised to donate $25,000 every year for upcoming ten years. They have now about fifty
volunteers in the three branches. Both Chris and Richard are facing issues to keep their
database and their records up to date that is why they want a computerised system to get this
done. CRLS believe that the cloud technology can help them to know which lawyers are
dealing with which clients and for which case, also the list of pending cases, the list of
lawyers and the list of clients can be acquired easily via Cloud ERP (Usman, Ahmad and
Zakaria 2016). Michael, an IT graduate has spread his helping hands; however, before
adopting the Cloud ERP they want to make sure the usage and limitations of Cloud ERP, the
report will show the change the Cloud ERP can bring change to the organisation and why
they should adopt this technology for good.

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3. An abridged feasibility analysis
Description: CRLS have planned to install and configure Cloud ERP in their premises
to embellish the business activities.
Market feasibility: CRLS provides free legal advice to Brisbane, Melbourne and
Sydney citizens. The people are appreciating their effort and contributing money. One of the
donors has donated $100,000 already and CRLS is gaining popularity. It is hoped their
business will prosper in mere future.
Technical Feasibility: Adopting Cloud ERP can be beneficial; they can manage the
lawyers and clients with ease and can acquire information in agile and effective manner.
Also, the Cloud ERP can help them to communicate across the three cities (Gupta and Misra
2016).
Financial Feasibility: Adopting Cloud ERP can be expensive initially and they
should believe that this Cloud ERP will help them in the long run. Also, Cloud ERP will help
them to gain a competitive edge over other rivals over time.
Organisational Feasibility: Chris was once a High Court judge, Richard is Law
graduate and Michael, an IT graduate having Cloud ERP knowledge, the trio has planned to
aid the economically challenged people by providing legal advice to them (Saini, Khanna and
Peddoju 2014). Their effort is appreciable and with the Cloud ERP, they can significant
benefits in the course.
4. Issues that may arise due to incomplete elicitation of requirements and
misalignment between the business processes
CRLS objective is to help the financially backward people by giving them the legal
advice, they have initiated their business activities, they have a total of 50 volunteers working

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across three cities in three different branches, hence it is difficult to communicate with them,
and also they have recruited 30 lawyers and 18 management staffs (AlBar and Hoque 2015).
Due to lack of proper communication, mishaps will occur among the three branches, and
confusion will arise, the lawyers will not be able to identify his clients and also will not be
able to solve any cases, the clients will not get any clue where to go and they can be in
dilemma whether their case will be solved or not. There will be no record of the whole
system. In the meanwhile, the intruders or the middleman can take advantage of the chaos,
can exploit the security, also Chris and Richard will not be able to handle the whole scenario.
Thus they need to adopt the Cloud ERP for good (Zhong and Rohde 2014). Though they have
to bear the extra cost they need to understand it will help them in future. The internal staff
will need to learn how Cloud ERP works, they will have to take the help of the IT team along
with Michael to know the insights and that requires a lot of time. Therefore, CRLS can make
blunder while managing the huge flow of lawyers and clients’ data but with the due course
that can help them in the long run.
5. Risks associated with BPR and ERP customization
BRP is associated with structure, process, organization and information technologies
and BRP along with ERP can facilitate the business activities of CRLS, however there are
certain risks associated with it, they are as follows-
Price Risk: CRLS will have to deal with the heavy revenues while adopting the Cloud
ERP. This is the matter of concern to both Chris and Richard.
Implementation Risk: The Cloud ERP must comply with the cloud vendor
architecture if any mishap occurs the whole system will break down and the whole system
will become vulnerable (Bento et al. 2015).

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The risk associated with lack of expertise: Due to lack of expertise, the internal staff
of CRLS can face issues and can make blunder initially, as only Michael has the requisite
knowledge.
Risk of lawyers and clients: The lawyers and the clients can refuse to use the
proposed Cloud ERP because of the complexities, CRLS will need to understand them the
advantage of Cloud ERP (Qian, Baharudin and Kanaan-Jebna 2016).
6. Current business processes
Chris was once the High Court judge got awarded because of providing free legal
support to the community. His son, Richard, a Law graduate from Melbourne wanted to
accompany his father. They both together open an organization named CRLS to help the
financially backward people to get the free legal advice. Many local donors have come
forward to help and support them (Lee et al. 2016). They are currently conducting their
business activities across three cities- Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. They have 50
volunteers working across the three branches and they all do their work manually. They are
facing the issues to maintain the records or keep things up to date; they are messing up while
handling the lawyers', clients' activities. Also, they are facing issues to make a list of lawyers
and clients and which case the lawyers dealing with (Bento et al. 2015). They opted for a
computerized system but due to the cost of hardware and software they stepped back, but
after attending a seminar conducted by Medium Sized Enterprise (SMEs) they understand the
potential ERP and so they are keen to use the technology on their premises.
7. Recommendations and proposed changes to the business processes
Michael, an aspiring IT graduate who is specialized in Enterprise systems want to
support them. He is knowledgeable about the potential benefits that Cloud ERP can bring in

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for the enterprise. A Cloud ERP will assist to keep a record of the transactions. The Cloud
ERP can help to prepare reports and based on that report it can be understood which lawyers
are dealing with which case and of which clients. The Cloud ERP will help CRLS to know
the number of cases which the lawyers handle in a month or in a year. The Cloud ERP will
keep a record of the clients, will keep a record of the lawyers, and will keep a record of the
cases the lawyers are handling. Also, the lawyers providing advice to the clients can be
recorded.
8. Conclusion
It can be concluded from the above discourse that the Cloud ERP can bring significant
changes to CRLS. The report highlighted the reasons why CRLS should adopt the cloud
technology for the betterment of the company. Chris and Richard have planned to help the
economically disadvantaged people to provide the legal advice. The report showed that
initially the tried to conduct the business processes manually but failed to come up,
eventually, they decided to take up the cloud technology that is Cloud ERP. Cloud ERP can
help them to achieve the objectives very easily and that has been highlighted in this report. It
has also been showcased the potential benefits that ERP can bring to CRLS. The limitations
have been stated as well. The organizational commitment has been elaborated on the basis of
ERP and the company’s objectives. The risks and the issues which Chris and Richard can
face have been illustrated in details. The current business has been grandstand in the report
and along with that, the recommendations have been given for the proposed changes that can
be made to the business processes.

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9. References
AlBar, A.M. and Hoque, M.R., 2015, April. Determinants of cloud ERP adoption in Saudi
Arabia: an empirical study. In Cloud Computing (ICCC), 2015 International Conference
on (pp. 1-4). IEEE.
Bento, R., Bento, A., Bento, A. and ISTM, M., 2015. How fast are enterprise resource
planning (ERP) systems moving to the cloud?. Journal of Information Technology
Management, 26(4), p.35.
Duan, J., Faker, P., Fesak, A. and Stuart, T., 2013. Benefits and drawbacks of cloud-based
versus traditional ERP systems. Proceedings of the 2012-13 course on Advanced Resource
Planning.
Gupta, S. and Misra, S.C., 2016. Moderating Effect of Compliance, Network, and Security on
the Critical Success Factors in the Implementation of Cloud ERP. IEEE Transactions on
Cloud Computing, 4(4), pp.440-451.
Gupta, S., Gupta, S., Misra, S.C., Misra, S.C., Singh, A., Singh, A., Kumar, V., Kumar, V.,
Kumar, U. and Kumar, U., 2017. Identification of challenges and their ranking in the
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Jain, D. and Sharma, Y., 2016. Cloud computing with ERP-A push business towards higher
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Jalil, D. and Bakar, M.S.A., 2017. Adapting Software Factory Approach into Cloud ERP
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