Analysis of IT Security Limitations in ERP Software Systems

This report provides an in-depth analysis of IT security within the context of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software. It begins by highlighting the critical importance of IT security in modern business organizations, particularly concerning data privacy and the protection of sensitive information. The report then delves into the deficiencies and limitations of ERP software, emphasizing vulnerabilities to cyber-attacks. It outlines the core functionalities of ERP systems and discusses the challenges associated with their implementation, including selection problems, technical issues, data quality concerns, and the need for business philosophy and mindset shifts. Several failure cases are presented to illustrate the practical consequences of these limitations. Finally, the report concludes with recommendations for mitigating the identified challenges, aiming to enhance the security and effectiveness of ERP systems in business environments.

Running head: IT SECURITY
IT Security
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author’s Note

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Executive Summary
This report discusses about the various limitation of the modern software in the business
organization. In this case, the ERP software has been discussed. The importance of the ERP
software in the business organization has been discussed in the report. The deficiency and
limitations of the ERP software has been focused in the report. There are various failure cases
discussed in the report. There are recommendation provided in the report regarding mitigation of
the challenges in the ERP software.

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Background of the research.............................................................................................................3
Project Objectives............................................................................................................................4
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)...............................................................................................4
ERP Software vendors.....................................................................................................................5
Purpose of the cyber-attacks............................................................................................................6
Challenges in implementing ERP....................................................................................................6
Reports based on ERP disasters:......................................................................................................9
Recommendations..........................................................................................................................14
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................14
References......................................................................................................................................16

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Introduction
The IT security in the business organization has been an important sector in the market.
The security and privacy of the data and information in the organization has been first priority
for the company.
This report discusses about the deficiency in the modern software including ERP. The
limitations of the ERP software has been depicted in the report.
This report outlines the basic properties of the ERP and the limitations implemented in
the software for its use in various conditions. There are some recommendation provided in the
report for mitigating the issues in the use of the ERP system in the company.
Background of the research
IT security concerns to various attacks in the network server of the company. The attacks
can be performed by the hackers in order to breach into the personal and legal information of the
company (1). This includes various consequences in the privacy of the private data and
information of the company. The ERP system of any company helps in maintain the data and
information of the company in the market. Different big and small business organization have
been using the ERP systems in the market (2). The use of the ERP system has been popular in
the market that helps in mitigating the security and data storage problems in the company.
There are various advantages of the ERP system in the company. The ERP system helps
in channelizing the data and information of the company in a proper way that helps in
maintaining transparency in the workflow of the employees (3). The use of the ERP system has
helped in prioritized the workflow of various departments in the company. On the other hand,
there are various failures in the ERP software system of any company in the market. The major

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limitation of the ERP system is the security of the data and information (4). The time consumed
for implementing the ERP system in the organization becomes long for fully functional system.
The security of data in the company has been a great challenge in this field. The security analyst
has been continuously analyzing the security protocol of the network protecting clients from
hackers. The use of the ERP system have helped in centralizing the data and information of the
company. Therefore, it has become easy for the hackers to attack in the centralized data server
for breach all the data and information (5). The monitoring of the ERP system in the company.
Project Objectives
This project focuses on the deficiencies of the ERP software related to the security issues
over the internet. There are various limitation and deficiency of the ERP system discussed in the
project. This helps in identifying and resolving the limitation of the ERP software system. The
safety measures of the mitigating the challenges in the ERP software has been procured in the
project. Different cases of the failures of the ERP system has been discussed in the project.
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
The development of the ERP has its own importance in grasping the deficiencies of
product. The ERP is a software that helps in facilitating the flow of the data and information in
the enterprise. The ERP helps in facilitating the information across different units of the
organization. ERP software helps in decision-making process in the enterprise (6). The ERP
system provides the backbone of the enterprise in the market. The fundamental storage policy of
the company is maintained by the ERP system of the company. It helps in operating the
strategies of the modular applications in the business organization (7). Therefore, it plays an
imports role in the development of the company in the market. A primary benefit of the ERP

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system is to access the reliable and integrated system. The competition in the market regarding
the ERP system has been improvising the latest technology for storing the data and information
in the company.
ERP Software vendors
Various vendors are providing the ERP software services to different companies in the
market. This software are discussed below:
SAP AG
It is the leading ERP package vendor in the market having 32% share in 1999. It was
founded by German in 1972 for integrating business application software in the manufacturing
process of the company (8). The use of the SAP AG has been increasing in the market with the
implementation of the features in the system. This has helped in maintaining ERP software
market. Different companies started using this ERP software system in their business
organization. The data storage of the company becomes easy for managers of the company; the
security of the data was increased from the older versions (9). On the other hand, the limitations
of the SAP AG has been identified in the market. The security protocols of the ERP software is
not strong. The export and import system of the company have caused challenges for the security
of the data and information of the employees of the company.
Oracle
Oracle is the second largest software company in the world. It has able to build solid
enterprise applications in the business. The use of the SAP software in the market has serve over
5000 customers in 140 countries (10). The company has been a leader in the use of the ERP
solutions in maintaining the database of the company in the market. The use of the ERP software

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has helped in providing e-commerce platform for the stoners in the market. The online business
of the company have helped in providing online cloud services to the customers. It has been able
to reinforcing the ERL software packages to business-to-business solutions in the market.
Purpose of the cyber-attacks
The challenging and complex requirements of the ERP system for the sophisticated users
in the market has been emerging when there is no one in the project. The use of the ERP
implementation methodology has paid off services provided to the customers (11). The attacks
over the internet have created challenges in the ERP software packages. The use of the ERP
software packages has helped in centralizing all the data and information of the company in the
single unit that helps in enhancing access of the data and information in the company (12).
Therefore, it has helped hackers in accessing the data and information of the employees in the
company. The testing of the system lacks in the security protocols that invites the virus and
malwares to enter into the ERP software of the company leading to damaging the system.
Challenges in implementing ERP
There have been various challenges in the implementation of the ERP software in
company. These challenges are described below:
Selection problem
The ability of the managers to choose the size, shape and scope of the system helps in
providing strategies for the development of the company. The wrong selection of the software
and system might damage the growth of the company in the market (13). The functional
requirements of the company in the market has been considered in various terms of priority.
Different companies consider tis challenges and decides how to tackle this problem. Therefore,

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without concluding the problem in the ERP software, it becomes tough to resolve the challenges
in the company. The ERP selection needs to be taken under serious consideration of the ERP
system (14). This impact the company for a long period on time in the future.
Technical issues
The implementation of the successful ERP software packages in the company has been a
critical task for the operation management team of the company. The implementation of ERP
software packages in the company faces different technical issues (15). There is no technical
expert who can handle any discrepancy in the ERP system. Therefore, the technical issues can be
raised in the company the use of the technical background in the company helps in maintaining
and monitoring the ERP system of the company. The technical issues includes different
networking problems in the ERP implementation. The gap in the security layer of the ERP
software packages invites viruses and malwares into the software that causes damage to the
system (16). The use of the cloud computing in the ERP system have initialized online storage of
the data and information. The use of the cloud computing in the ERP system have created
different challenges related to the technical issues in the ERP software. The security of the data
and information over the internet has been a concerning issue in the market. The use of the IT
security systems in the company have helped in maintaining the security measures in the
company. The technical issues in the work environment of the company have created challenges
in the ERP software. The applications and software failure in the ERP system have caused
technical fault.
Data Quality Issues

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The quality of the data has been a symptomatic issue that happens during the
implementation of the ERP system. The transfer of legal and official data in the excel
spreadsheet, manual records and old applications have created issues in the quality of data (17).
During the implementation of the ERP system in the company, the use of the correct data form
the excel spreadsheet and other manually written data is necessary to feed in the database of the
company. The change in the quality of the data and information in the ERP system causes
challenges in its implementation. The time allocated for the implementation in the ERP system
have to be increased that causes delay in completing the project within deadline. The old data
and information of the company might be lost or damaged due to improper care of the data. This
might causes huge loss to the company in the market.
Business Philosophy changes
The implementation of the ERP software causes many changes in the traditional business
model of the company the daily practices of the employees in the company get changes with the
implementation of the ERP software (18). The level of responsibility of employees might be
increased to adapt with the new system and it becomes difficult to fix the human errors. There
are many new approaches for reporting of data and information in the company that changes due
to the implementation of the ERP. The managerial roles and principles get affected with the
implementation of new ERP system in the company. The main challenge is to look for big
opportunity and bring new ideas at the same time.
Mind shift Issues
The shifting of the mind and views of the employees form the traditional software to new
ERP software is a critical step in the company (19). The traditional system had various features

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and working style that is different from the new software system. Therefore, the mindset of the
employees in the company have to be changed according ti the change. The mind shift of the
employees have t be prioritized first for the operational manager in the company. The ERP
project manager gave to look for the best cases in shifting the mind of the employees from
traditional software system to new ERP system. The applications and software failure in the ERP
system have caused technical fault. Therefore, it becomes difficult for the manager to manage the
mind of the employees in the company (20). The technical issues in the ERP system arises that is
not properly handled by the employees of the company as they least idea about the new ERP
software.
The use of the IT security systems in the company have helped in maintaining the
security measures in the company. It is required to create interest in the employees of the
company regarding the new software. It is required to inform all the employees about the salient
features of the new software system. The feedback of the employees after the training process is
required that helps in communicating with the employees regarding new ERP systems (21).
Organizing training sessions with the employees helps in educating the employees regarding the
new systems in the company. The security of the data and information over the internet has been
a concerning issue in the market. The technical issues in the work environment of the company
have created challenges in the ERP software.
Reports based on ERP disasters:
This section of the report focuses on the grave mistakes that have been made by the
application of the ERP processes in a business process. The major implications included in the
problems of wrong ERP adoption includes charging of lawsuits to businesses for failed ERP
solutions or failure in customer management which eventually leads to the loss of business. This

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section includes a list of the various mistakes that were made by the big-shot companies who are
in charge of business globally.
Vodafone:
When Vodafone, a telecomm provider of the British country, implemented their customer
management system in a new platform of the Siebel, many problems were faced. The problem
that was associated included flaws in integrations of the customer bases where many accounts
were not updated (22). This process was the cause of various customers to lose track of their
account payment, as the funds to be added were not reflected in their accounts.
This problem was the cause for the company to be penalized for an amount of £4.6 million. In
addition, the problems were also associated with private litigations aimed to other companies as
well.
Washington Community College:
The students of the Washington Community College are associated with providing a part of
their tuition fees for the betterment of their college infrastructure. This includes adoption of the
PeopleSoft ERP system that was supposed to be operational by the year of 2012. Due to the
presence of delays, the students were facing difficulties with their fees (23). The identified
causes for their delay included the presence of different prospects in business in different
campuses of the college. As the prospects needed to be complied with the business standards, the
adoption of the processes was being delayed.
Moreover, the third party vendor, which was supposed to install the PeopleSoft ERP solution,
went out of business due to bankruptcy. This led to their assets being captured by another
company, named the HTC. In addition, they also sued the college for 13 million $ from the

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community college due to the presence of the internal problems in the college. As the company
was already facing a dispute about their internal operations not complying with each other, the
failed rollout of ERP process was a grave threat.
Woolworth’s Australia:
The Woolworth Company of Australia faced a grave threat accounting to data related issues.
Their main involvement included upgrading their existent solutions of the traditional process of
data collection to advanced SAP enabled in-house software (24). Due to such transitions, the
main problem that was faced was the lack of generation of the main business reports like the
accounting reports or the sales report.
The problem that accounted to this failure was the result of less business transparency that was
required in the new system integrations. In addition, the accounting activities of the day were
also not being added to the business process, which was another cause for ERP problems.
Moreover, the senior staffs were not associated to the business processes anymore and this was
an additional reason for the lack of information in the new system.
Target Canada:
Another report of ERP failure includes the Target Company, which was supposed to be made
gully functional in the year of 2013. As implications arise due to importing previous data from
the business process to a newly made system, the challenges are also faced in case of new
program development.
During the launching of the company, the supply chain was collapsed which was the root
cause of business failure (25). Troubleshooters and experts tracked the reason behind this fault,
which led to the conclusion that the fault of the ERP system was due to the lack of previous data

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in the system. The items associated were tagged with dimensionally incorrect variables including
the prices and manufacturers of the products. In addition, the data entry workers were
responsible for making changes to the system (26). These workers had very little knowledge
about a new ERP system, which was another cause for problems in the associated company.
From the report made about these issues, the amount of data that was included here was
supposedly 30% correct.
Pacific Gas and Electric:
Some cases of data analysis have been reported where newly made ERP systems are been
tested with previous data records from their archives. This is mainly done to remove the presence
of any errors in the system. However, it is seen that the newly made systems are not successfully
made as the security processes that are to be included here is very less. This increases the
problems with those previous data and makes them vulnerable to outside threats.
In the year 2016, Chris Vickery analyzed an exposed database, which belonged to the Pacific
Gas and Electric Company. The associated data set included 47,000 computers, servers, other
devices and virtual machines (27). These data was completely available in the internet and was
left unchecked. This was due to the development of an ERP based system by the use of third-
party company software. These companies were given the task to achieve ERP integrations,
which resulted in a huge amount of loss for the company.
Hershey:
A failed project is supposed to reduce the operations of multimillion-dollar Company in the
market. The company was supposed to implement a SAP R/3 ERP software project for their
product management. The failure to make the project a success caused operational problem in

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the season of Halloween for the year 1999. In addition, the investors of Wall Street were also
traumatized due to their investments.
The impact of the failed project led to various problems in SAP ERP, Siebel CRM and
Manugistics supply chain applications (28). This resulted in the company to make a loss of a 100
million$ sales. In addition, this also resulted in the company to lose their stock ratio by a
percentage of 8.
Because of constrained ERP learning, ability and poor organization administration
aptitudes, none of the organization directors could practice successful undertaking administration
of ERP usage. They concurred that an inability to design, lead, oversee and screen the
undertaking was a center factor that brought about their usage disappointment, in light of the fact
that the ERP framework was complex, and undertaking groups were required to work together
with top administration, unique offices, clients and specialists amid execution process (29). The
ERP organization was considered by the organization troughs to challenge and requesting, as it
included overseeing frameworks, individuals and additionally re-outlining business forms.
For Beta, Gamma and Delta, the over-tight and doubtful task time plan what's more,
inadequate human asset depleted the undertaking colleagues and clients in adapting with the ERP
usage. Exercises of the distinctive stages could not be led completely. The technical issues
includes different networking problems in the ERP implementation. The gap in the security layer
of the ERP software packages invites viruses and malwares into the software that causes damage
to the system. Clients could not comprehend the new framework or adjust to the new business
process inside the over-tight plan. None of the undertaking administrators in these examinations
could practice powerful organization administration control, particularly in overseeing
specialists, and detailing usage issues to top administration at whatever point fundamental (30).

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It is imperative for the organization director to adequately deal with the experts, for instance, in
assessing their correspondence and preparing execution, when directing BPR, and when testing
framework execution. In fact, in this investigation, the majority of the organizations' undertaking
colleagues needed ERP encounter. However, the external advisors were not ready to give
proficient exhortation thus drove a fizzled execution. Top administration and task chiefs need to
guarantee sufficient knowledge related to the ERP implementation.
Recommendations
The interrelationship between the elements ought to get more consideration in future
research. Earlier research has shown that basic achievement variables can influence each other in
a strengthening way. It would be advantageous in future research on basic disappointment
components to consider how certain variables influence each other in a strengthening way. It can
be recommended that poor ERP specialist adequacy and poor task administration viability could
be the reasons for low quality BPR, which adds to clients' protection from change. In future
research thinks about, it is proposed that scientists research the sorts of expert counsel and
learning that can be given by ERP advisors in particular periods of the ERP framework life
cycle.
Conclusion
It can be concluded that the use of the ERP software in the business organization has
helped in maintaining the storage of data and information of the company. There are various
advantages of the ERP software discussed in the project. The limitation of the ERP software has
been clearly described in the report the training session of the employees is required for
educating them regarding the new ERP system in the company. . Troubleshooters and experts

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tracked the reason behind this fault, which led to the conclusion that the fault of the ERP system
was due to the lack of previous data in the system. The use of the ERP system have created many
deficiencies in the operational management of the company. There are various cases of the
failures of the ERP system discussed in the report. The items associated were tagged with
dimensionally incorrect variables including the prices and manufacturers of the products. The
recommendation has been provided at the end of the report that have helped in resolving the
challenges.

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