SBM4203: Management Information Systems Proposal Report - College Name

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, focusing on their benefits and limitations. It begins by defining ERP and its role in business process management, highlighting advantages such as streamlined processes, improved visibility, and real-time data analysis across departments. The report then delves into the limitations, including high costs and data migration challenges. Furthermore, it explores the reasons for upgrading to an ERP system, emphasizing efficiency, forecasting capabilities, improved reporting, enhanced productivity, security, and cost savings. The report also provides a detailed overview of top ERP brands suitable for SMEs, including Sage Intacct, Microsoft Dynamics ERP, NetSuite ERP, Epicor Small Business ERP, Exact ERP, SAP Business One, Oracle, Syspro, Acumatica, and Deacom ERP. Finally, the report concludes with a cost-benefit analysis of NetSuite ERP, recommending it as a feasible option for the company. The report is a comprehensive resource for understanding ERP systems and making informed decisions about their implementation.

SBM4203 MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS (ASSESSMENT 3: PROPOSAL)
NAME OF STUDENT
NAME OF COLLEGE
AUTHORS NOTE
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Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Discussion........................................................................................................................................2
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................7
References........................................................................................................................................8
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Introduction
Enterprise Resource Planning is termed as business process management software which enables
a company to utilize a system of combined applications for effective business management. It is
used by businesses of all sizes because of the benefits offers such as streamlining of business
processes, entire visibility into all organizational processes across various departments of an
organization, creation of a united and single reporting system for analysing statistics in real time
across all departments of an organization etc. Though there are various limitations offered by
ERPs in the form of increased costs, difficulty in migration of data etc. but still business
organizations adopt the system for increasing its efficiency and productivity. The current report
focuses on analysing the benefits and limitations of ERP software and reviewing the various ERP
software brands which are available in the market.
Discussion
1. Enterprise Resource Planning or ERP is termed as business process management
software which allows businesses for using a system of combined applications for
effective management of the business and helps in automating various back office
functions which are technology related, service and human resources. Enterprise
Resource Planning software particularly helps in integrating all facets of an operation
such as planning of product, development, manufacturing and sales and marketing in one
database, application and user interface.
As stated by Abbasi, Zamani and Valmohammadi (2014) Enterprise Resource Planning Software
is considered to be a type of enterprise application, which is software, designed to be used by
large business organizations and it often requires dedicated organizational teams for customizing
and analysing the data and to handle upgrades and deployment. Whereas Enterprise Resource
Planning applications of smaller business organizations are lightweight business management
software solutions which are often customized for a particular business industry. In the current
era, most organizations implement ERP systems in their organization for replacing legacy
software or because no such system is available in the organization. As stated by Badewi et al.
(2018) majority of business organizations implement ERP solutions for replacing backdated ERP
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system, for substituting home-grown systems, for substituting accounting software or for
replacing non-ERP system.
The benefits of ERP software is as follows:
 An ERP software allows complete visibility into all organizational processes across
various organizational department.
 According to Oldacre (2016) ERP system allows automatic and coherent flow of work
from one organizational function to the other for ensuring a smooth transition and quicker
completion of processes.
 ERP systems help in the creation of a united and single reporting system for analysing
data in real time across various departments of an organization.
 ERP systems are more secure in nature as centralized security policies can be applied to
them.
 ERP systems are useful for management of globally dispersed enterprise companies.
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The limitations of ERP software is a follows:
 The cost associated with ERP software and other activities such as planning,
customization, testing, and implementation is very high in context of SMEs.
 Deployments of ERP system consumes a lot of time.
 The cost savings regarding using ERP software is not realized instantly and it is tuff to
measure.
 As opined by Hwang and Min (2015) there are additional costs which are associated with
implementation of ERP such as new IT infrastructure, upgradation of WAN links etc.
 Migration of present data to ERP system is difficult to achieve.
2. The reason regarding why my company should be upgraded with ERP are as follows:
 Efficiency- An ERP system helps in eliminating the same process and significantly
lowers the need to enter manual information. The ERP system will also help in
streamlining the business processes and making it easier and efficient for the
company to collect irrespective of the department they are working for.
 Forecasting- ERP software will enable the users and manager of my company, the
necessary tool which they need to create more accurate forecasts. As the business
within ERP is very accurate, therefore the company can make realistic and more
accurate estimates and forecasts.
 Reporting- As stated by Ghobakhloo, Azar and Sai (2019) the use of ERP software in
the company will make easy reporting and more customized in nature. With an
enhanced reporting capability, the company can respond to complex data requests in
an easier manner. The users of the company can execute their own report without
relying on support from the IT department of the company, which enables time
savings for using towards other projects of the company.
 Productivity- According to Kharuddin, Soon-Yau Foong and Senik (2015) the use of
ERP software in the company will also help in improving the productivity of the
company as it offers redundant automated processes, which ensures that the users of
the company have more time to work on other challenging project of the company.
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 Security- The use of ERP software in the company will help in ensuring data security
with the help of built in resources and firewalls and restrictions regarding data can
also be initiated by the system.
 Cost savings- The use of ERPs software in the company will help in reducing
administrative and operations costs as a result of single source of accurate and real-
time information.
3. The top 10 brands which offers ERP solution to SMEs are Sage Intacct, Microsoft
Dynamics ERP, NetSuite ERP, Epicor Small Business ERP, Exact ERP, SAP Business
One, Oracle, Syspro, Acumatica and Deacom ERP.
4. Sage Intacct- As stated by Peng and Gala (2014) it provides cloud-based ERP software
for automating accounting processes. It includes core financials, and also allows users for
adding additional modules or applications. It also facilitates integration of third party
software such as Salesforce, SAP concur and others. It is designed for providing accurate
financial management automation at lower costs, as well as to improve security and
productivity.
Microsoft Dynamics ERP- As opined by Yung-Yun and Handfield (2015) Microsoft
Dynamics ERP is best suited for small and medium enterprises but also can scale for
larger organizations. The software contains five primary products for business
organizations to choose from namely Dynamics AX, Dynamics GP, Dynamics NAV,
Dynamics SL and Dynamics C5. The software is designed accordingly to support
companies which are expanding their business to wider locations by standardising
processes, while Dynamics NAV is to help companies streamline specialised and
industry-specific processes. It enables business organizations to bridge processes across
business unit, helping companies manage changing markets and be more linked up
globally.
NetSuite ERP- As opined by Menon (2016) the company offers a range of other business
tools which integrates effectively with the software of the company. The cloud
computing company’s product integrates numerous business functions into one integrated
system which automates processes which comprises of managing IT costs, accounting
efficiency optimization, enhancement of staff productivity and streamlining orders
reporting.
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Epicor Small Business ERP- Epicor allows SMEs to manage and simplify their business
processes by integrating those altogether in a single database. The modular solution helps
business pick and choose functionality as they scale. It helps in connecting users with
their consumers and vendors in a single platform, so that they can exchange data for
streamlining communication and automating routine processes.
Exact ERP- Exact ERP helps in providing a trio of industry specific solutions namely
Exact for Project Management, ERP for wholesale distribution and Exact for
manufacturing and each of them offers control of projects and budget, extensive reporting
options and international support. The software also integrates completely with other
products of the company and it can be used via the private cloud, on premise or through
the mobile applications of the company.
SAP Business One- For medium sized business organizations, SAP Business ByDesign
which helps in streamlining end to end processes on more or less any device, while
midsize companies of upper level can prefer the improved ERP solution of SAP
S/4HANA for SAP Business All-In-One. SAP Business One serves SMEs the best as it
helps in covering financial, sales and management of customer, purchasing and inventory
control, planning of production, business intelligence and analytics and reporting.
Oracle- The best known ERP offering of Oracle is the E-business suite which is best
suited in context of large organizations but the brand also offers a simper service for
companies of medium sized known as ERP cloud. The product contains financial, supply
chain and procurement applications in a SaaS solution which integrates a basic interface
and personalized user experience with enterprise-grade security.
Syspro- Syspro ERP helps in providing control, integration and synchronization support
for business organizations. It is mainly suitable for companies who belong to the
manufacturing and distribution sector. The solution offers the flexibility to deploy the
software on premise or in the cloud with the inclusion of actionable business insights
which helps in integrating real-time trends for fast analysis and execution.
Acumatica- Acuamatica’s web-based ERP applications entirely operate in the cloud and
it ensures access to its diverse range of application at an affordable price. It was designed
for being scalable and adaptable for supporting any changes that occurs in the business.
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Deacom ERP- Deacom is the provider of an ERP system which is developed specifically
for manufacturers and distributors with complex requirement. The unique platform
provides an entire suite of ERP solutions from running various business and business
functions such as sales and accounting through formulation, quality control and
warehousing.
5. As stated by Mahmood and Miller (2017) the brand which is considered the most feasible
for my company other than SAP is Netsuite ERP. It is considered as the most suitable and
feasible brand for the company as it offers various features such as accounting, inventory
management, reporting and analytics and functionality across enterprise of all sizes. The
cost benefit analysis of Netsuite ERP is as follows:
Cost- The pricing which is associated with Netsuite ERP is $999 per month.
Benefit- The benefit which is associated with Netsuite ERP is that it is the market-leading
cloud ERP solution. The other benefit which is associated with Netsuite ERP is that it
enables modern and scalable implementations across all critical back office functions.
Conclusion
From the above report it is clear and evident that ERP solution offers various advantages to
business organization such as streamlining of business process and cost and time savings.
Though the various limitations which are associated with ERP solutions in the form of greater
installation costs, but the benefits which are associated with it helps in outweighing the
limitations. From the above report it can also be concluded that there are various ERP software
brand which are evident in the market and therefore a business organization needs to select a
brand which satisfies their requirement.
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References
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implementation on management accounting in iranian organizations.Education, Business and
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Badewi, A., Shehab, E., Zeng, J., and Mohamad, M. (2018). ERP benefits capability framework:
Orchestration theory perspective. Business Process Management Journal, 24(1), 266-294.
doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/BPMJ-11-2015-0162
Ghobakhloo, M., Azar, A., and Sai, H. T. (2019). Business value of enterprise resource planning
spending and scope. Kybernetes, 48(5), 967-989. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/K-01-2018-0025
Hwang, D., and Min, H. (2015). Identifying the drivers of enterprise resource planning and
assessing its impacts on supply chain performances. Industrial Management & Data
Systems, 115(3), 541-569. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/IMDS-10-2014-0284
Kharuddin, S., Soon-Yau Foong, and Senik, R. (2015). Effects of decision rationality on ERP
adoption extensiveness and organizational performance. Journal of Enterprise Information
Management, 28(5), 658-679. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/JEIM-02-2014-0018
Mahmood, A., and Miller, L. (2017). ERP system implementation in large enterprises – a
systematic literature review. Journal of Enterprise Information Management, 30(4), 666-692.
doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/JEIM-07-2014-0071
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Yung-Yun, H., and Handfield, R. B. (2015). Measuring the benefits of ERP on supply
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