Putting The Enterprise Into The Enterprise System By Thomas H. Thompson

The case presents the implementation of an ERP system in Bombardier, along with all the major changes the corporation undertook for a successful transition. In the analysis I will address the challenges faced by Bombardier, the challenges associated with the integration of the large system & its benefits. I will also address how the project team managed and communicated it’s vision amongst the firm and how the new roles

As a result of technological advancements, modern businesses seek new and improved methods of conducting their business processes. Systems have been designed to augment and manage core business functions such as production, accounting, procurement, and human resources. However, even with these systems in place, information is unreliable and inconsistent if they are on disparate platforms. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software tackles this problem by integrating business processes into a centralized system.

As a result of the vast nature of the ERP implementation process, risks are always present and existent. The related risks are commensurate with the scale of the ERP system project. Risks range from broad to narrow and pervasively affect the outcome of business processes after the “go-live” date when the ERP system is fully operational and available to end users (employees, lower level managers, etc.).

In order to survive in this competitive business world, every business must produce or offer not only a better product or service, they must also offer better customer service, reduce their production costs and overhead costs, have a more well-planned management system, a highly reliable infrastructure, and the list is endless. Many of these can be achieved through a customized enterprise resource planning system (ERP). ERPs serve as “one comprehensive database to house all of the company’s corporate information”. However if these systems are not used correctly with the necessary change in management of people and technology it can result in failure.

Because Tektronix previously had problems implementing IT projects, the company was mindful that replacing their legacy systems could be a risky undertaking. Further, it was well-known that wide-scale ERP implementation would be a very costly endeavor. Consequently, Tektronix managed the risks of its ERP implementation by having a coherent, guiding vision entailing: 1) separability of the businesses; 2) leveraging shared services; and 3) staying as "plain vanilla" as possible.

The object of this research paper is to describe the implementation challenges of an enterprise system, then to analyze the changes required in its implementation and discuss the advantages of ERP over legacy systems. Some of the informational background will be discussed in this paper regarding enterprise resource planning systems. This paper will construct some examples from my research findings to show why ERP has advantages over legacy systems. This paper will also not only provide strengths of having an enterprise system, but will show weaknesses as well. And to conclude, this paper will explain why and how enterprise systems will be of benefit for organizations and business with decision-making processes.

Enterprise system Architecture (ESA) is the overall IT system architecture of an organization. This architecture is the key part of managing and evolving IT systems, and therefore the business operations, of an organization. It consists of the architectures of individual systems and their relationships in the perspective of an organization. The Air Force has a limited idea of what enterprise architecture is, how it works, and most importantly, why it is needed.

In case study III-4, titled “ERP Purchase Decision at Benton Manufacturing Company, Inc.,” describes in detail what a major manufacturing company experiences while considering a substantial investment with the implementation of an ERP (enterprise resource planning) system. Among the company’s management personal opinions vary, some doubt the need of such a system while others support and justify the expense. The question at hand; whether or not to implement a costly system with a lengthy transitioning phase? In his attempt to answer this question, Walter McHenry, CEO and President of Benton Manufacturing has formed a two man team to investigate and further

There are many things that have to happen correctly in the design phase in order for an enterprise-level business system to be effective. In order for the system to be effective, it should align with strategy, reduce costs, improve productivity, promote timely execution, enable better decision making, leverage emerging technologies, ensure acceptable levels of control and risk management, optimize the skills and capabilities of the organization, and promote collaboration across the extended enterprise. (The

An enterprise information system that would eliminate these silos and their problems would be one that would connect all systems together. This system is ERP(Enterprise Resources Planning) and implementing this system requires business reengineering because a change to the entire system must be done and it is done through business reengineering.

Enterprise Systems (ES), also called Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, are among the most important business information technologies to emerge in the last decade. While no two industries Enterprise Systems are the same, the basic concept of Enterprise Systems is focused mainly on standardization, synchronization and improved efficiency. ERP is basically the successor to material resource planning (MRP) and integrated accounting systems such as payroll, general ledger, and billing. The benefits of Enterprise Systems are very significant: coordinating

Surviving as a company, no matter being small, middle-sized or large, in today’s unstable economy beset by a severe recession, instability and uncertainty resembles fighting for your life in a battle field. Only those who are more prepared, move faster and more efficient and have strategic advantage over their enemies are the ones who get to keep their lives. Enterprise 2.0 is what is needed for companies to gain and master those skills. It helps them structure and preserve corporate knowledge, cut costs, increase efficiency, enlarge

The use of enterprise systems in this organization was motivated with various factors. According to the case study (Sohal, Power & Terziovski, 2002), the organization thus aimed to solve the following business problems:

Due to dramatic changes in organisational management, technology plays an important role in today business environment. According to Groomer & Murthy (1989) incorporation of information technology solutions are becoming increasingly important for all businesses in order to operate successfully. One way that many businesses have implemented information technology on a large scale (Groomer & Murthy, 1989) is by setting up Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems to achieve their business transaction and data processing needs. According to the business need, selecting the appropriate information system such as Enterprise resource planning (ERP) will be appropriate and suitable because it improves efficiency. However it should be borne in mind that every business has its own dimension; therefore, there is the dire need of appropriate selection and need based customizations (Kleiner et al., 1999).

Information systems play a vital role in improving the competitiveness of a company. There are many types of enterprise information software packages which are available in the market since the year of 90s till today (Mandal & Gunasekaran, 2003). Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is one of them. Due to intense competition around the world, many of the manufacturing company had decided to implement ERP. It assures one application, one database and is possible to unified interface across the entire organization. Many companies had not abstained from investing a large amount of money on ERP system, though the ERP implementation had high failure rate and well publicized (Ehie