HI5019: Strategic Information Systems - Gracious Industries Case Study

This case study report examines Gracious Industries, a hardware and supermarket supplier, and its need for an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system. The report outlines the company's business requirements, key business processes, and control risks associated with its operations. It explores system requirements, potential ERP features and functionalities, and discusses software and vendor selection, including Oracle ERP, SAGE, and SAP Business One. The analysis covers vendor selection criteria and identifies the most suitable ERP vendor for the company, with a focus on how ERP can help achieve business objectives. The report includes an introduction, business requirements analysis, key business processes, control risk assessment, system requirements, ERP features, software selection, and vendor selection, along with conclusions and references.

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Strategic Information System

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Executive summary
This report includes information regarding the gracious industries, which works in the hardware's
and supermarket. The company supplies the electronic parts of the computer in the business
market. The report based on the ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) to manage the business
process properly. All the requirements of the company are discussed in the report. The report
includes the business requirements that define the various needs of the company that used for the
business. The several control risks are also used in the company for proper business
management. These requirements discussed in the report are essential for doing the business. The
whole report based on the features of Enterprise Resource Planning.

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Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................4
Business requirements.....................................................................................................................5
Key business process of Gracious Industries...............................................................................5
Control risks for the business process.........................................................................................7
System Requirements......................................................................................................................9
Possible ERP features and functionalities that achieve business objectives...............................9
Software Selection.........................................................................................................................12
Description of Oracle ERP........................................................................................................12
Description of SAGE.................................................................................................................12
Description of SAP business one...............................................................................................13
Vendor Selection...........................................................................................................................15
Features and functions of ERP software packages....................................................................15
Most suitable vendor for the company......................................................................................17
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................18
References......................................................................................................................................19

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Introduction
The Gracious Industries description is included in this report. This industry is a private limited
company, which supplies the electronic parts to the various business organizations mainly
hardware products used in this process. The Enterprise Resource Planning is included in the
description of the report. ERP is a type of software that combines the various integrated
applications for the proper management of the business. The various system of the business is
included in this report. The description of Enterprise Resource Planning for Gracious Industries
described in this report.
The several requirements for a business like major control risks; the key business process briefly
defined in this report. The brief description of the system requirements, software selection and
vendor selection are included in this report. Business requirements are the critical activities that
need to meet the organizational objectives that include customer needs and expectations. The
business needs and requirements play an important role in the process of gracious industries. All
of the process managed by the Enterprise Resource Planning system. The system requirements
included in this report, which defines the various features and functions of the ERP. The
software is a very important part of the ERP system and the description of software selection
discussed in this report. The vendor selection also described in this report.

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Business requirements
Key business process of Gracious Industries
The business process is a combination of the different steps used by the stakeholders of the
company to attain a particular goal. The business process of Gracious Industries includes several
steps that need to define the particular business. The various issues of the organization related to
the particular business process (Hammer, 2015). The business process has various advantages in
the large business organization as this maintains all the activities and functions of the business
organization. The proper management of the business process also does resource maintenance.
The business process of gracious industries improve the overall efficiency of the organization
and recognize the important tasks that help to achieve the required goals for the business.
The key business process of gracious industries are described below-
 Defining goals
The defining goals are one of the important processes of business that decide the required
goals of the company (Rosemann and Vom Brocke, 2015). This clarifies that what is the
purpose of the process, why it is created and the process that makes the business
successful. This is the first key business process of Gracious industries.
 Plan the overall price
This section defines the process that helps in achieving the goals. Various strategies of
business provide support in the achievement of the goals. This process known as the
roadmap process.
 Make particular actions and assign the actions to stakeholders
In this process, the actions are set that needs to be implemented by the team of the
organization and the members of the team needs to execute the plan. The various factions
of the business process are set in this process of the business.
 Test the overall process
The performance of the process examined in this part. The process runs on a small scale
and recognizes the performance (Gerasimov and Gerasimov, 2015). The gaps among the
business identified and several adjustments made in the organization.

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 Process Implementation
The process implemented in the live environment of the business. The communication
with the stakeholders done in this phase of the process. The training provided to the
stakeholders processed in this particular system.
 Examine the results
The results achieved by the actions examined in this process. Review the whole process
of business.
 Repeat the process
If the process achieved the goals then go for it otherwise replicate for the future
requirement.

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Control risks for the business process
The major control risks of the business process used to overcome the risks created in the business
process of gracious industries. Risk control includes the set of methods that are used to evaluate
the loses and take particular steps to decrease or remove these threats (Conforti , et al., 2015).
These controls provide help and support to the company to manage the income of the
organization. The gracious industries need to manage the control risks for increasing the income
process. The risk controls used to control the risk and implement the risk management of the
specific organization. The risk management is the most important part of the industry that
manages all the risks occurred in the business process (Seethamraju, 2015).
The major control risks for the business process discussed below-
 Prevention of Loss
Loss prevention is the process to control the risks occurred in the overall business.
Instead of avoiding the risks, it is better to prevent before they create a loss in the overall
company. This technique used to accept the risk and decreasing the loss of the company.
 Avoidance
Avoidance includes in the best means of losing control as it used to avoid the risk
completely (Antoniadis, et al., 2015). If this technique is successful in the business then
there is no loss occurred in the overall company. That is why it is mainly used by
organizations.
 Separation
The dispersing key assets are involved in this technique of risk control. This shows that
the bad impact of one location is limited to that location only and it did not affect the
overall business. This technique separates the locations in the organization that is why it
is known as a separation technique.
 Duplication
In this technique of risk control, the backup plan is used. The backup plan is also called
the duplication process as it includes the duplicate process of business (Tenhiala and

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Helkio, 2015). This technique runs with technology and its failure affect the overall
business.
 Diversification
It is also a risk control technique, which used to allocate the various resources of
business.

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System Requirements
Possible ERP features and functionalities that achieve business objectives
ERP software includes several applications that used in the management of the business process.
The various activities of business like sales, purchasing, human resource, accounting and CRM
included in the applications that used by the ERP in the process of planning. This software
mainly used for the management of business functions (Monk and Wagner, 2012). This process
used for both organization either small or large and it is a great software that manages all the
activities and functions of the business. With the help of ERP, one can collect, store, manage
and interpret data related to the various units. The use of ERP in the overall process increases the
profitability and managing all the solutions of the organization. By using ERP, the overall capital
of the organization increased. ERP has many features and functions as it helps in achieving the
business objectives and profits for the company itself (Chen, et al., 2015). All the applications
are integrated at one place with the help of ERP software. The main features of the ERP software
are described below-
 It promoting the collaboration
ERP used to break the walls among the departments and data’s are easily integrated
because of this process (Unruh, 2015). The collaboration among different teams become
easier with this process and makes ERP successful. The collaboration becomes easier
with the use of ERP software. This feature also helps in increasing innovation.
 It increases the efficiency in the business
By using ERP software, efficiency increased in the business organization. All the
business process like accounting, sales, CRM and many more integrated at one platform
and it maintains the profitability in the organization. The stakeholders get a quick
response with this feature of ERP.
 It helps to maintain the regulations

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All the regulations are included in the ERP software and it creates many problems in the
organization (Lobaziewicz, 2015). The ERP software helps to maintain all the rules and
regulations related to the business process. Several solutions related to the ERP helps the
company to maintain all the laws and regulations.
 It increases the operational flexibility
Saas ERP helps to manage the flexibility in the operations run in the business process.
The workflow can be easily maintained by the various apps related to ERP and it results
in a flexible situation.
 It decreases the operational costs
The ERP is also helpful in cut down the costs related to the several operations used in the
business. The cost related to the manufacturing and distribution includes in the operation
of gracious industries and the use of ERP reduces the cost of manufacturing and
distribution. The real-time data used in the overall process of the ERP system and
successfully managed all the tasks.
 It helps in making accurate forecasts
The lack of forecast is the very wrong process that affects the overall system of the
organization (Nafkha, 2015).ERP provides several solutions related to this problem by
using a centralized database. This process increases data integrity. The data integrity
process help managers to manage the accurate forecasts in the management of the
business.
The above features define the main features of ERP that provide several functionalities to
the users and manage the business process. These features are very helpful in the
organization of gracious industries and make the business successful. ERP software has
many types like Generalist ERP, Small-business ERP, Vertical ERP and Open-source
ERP (Badewi, et al., 2018). These different types of ERP software perform different
types of functions in the business process and improve overall functionality related to the
business. This software is integrated and improves the specific functions of the
organization. The overall functions like HRM finance and sales used this software to

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make their work easier and to reduce the workload. All of the processes become proper
by using ERP software.

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Software Selection
Description of Oracle ERP
Oracle ERP Cloud is an ERP software, which used to manage the enterprise business processes.
It manages the security, functionality and integration of the several applications to achieve all the
required objectives of the business. It is very innovative ERP vendors provide various
management solutions of the business. All the planning and management of the business
manages by this ERP software. This ERP provides useful and reliable applications that increase
the sustainability of the business and manages all the process at a low cost (Al-Sabri, et al.,
2018). All the process of the business improves by the use of Oracle ERP as it increases the
productivity of the organization. The technology becomes flexible by the use of cloud in this
ERP software.
The Oracle ERP has many clouds and which works differently. One of the clouds is Oracle
Financials Cloud. This manages all the financial management system properly and offers a
various analytical solution. The gracious industries use this ERP software to maintain all the
process and increases the profitability and productivity in the organization. The other main
module of Oracle is the Project Financials Management Cloud. This cloud helps in giving
information that is essential for the management purpose (Haddara, 2018). This cloud also offers
better execution tools that improve the overall system of the oracle.
Description of SAGE
This platform used in the process of resource management mainly used in the small and mid-
sized business. ERP toolkit used in this process, which is very effective. The operational and
financial functions improved with this SAGE ERP. The manufacturing and inventory features
managed by using this specific ERP. All the functions of the organization like financial
management, CRM, HR and project management are managed easily with the use of this specific
ERP (Chuprunov, 2013). This ER can make dynamic production process and secures the
effective management of manufacturing activities. This system provides various advantages in
the overall process of gracious industries as this makes an ability to use make-to-stock and build-
to-order jobs. The pricing process of this system is also flexible. This ERP software is much
better as compared to other software. All the requirements of the organization achieved by the