Comparative study of ERP implementation strategies

Abstract

Enterprise Resource Planning, ERP software has come a long way since its inception as Inventory Management and Control Systems of 1960s. The value of ERP Implementation Strategy has been stressed over the years and it has been included as an important Critical Success Factor, CSF, as recorded by previous researchers. Traditional ERP implementation followed more or less a sequential approach akin to the Waterfall Model. Researchers over the years have categorized ERP Implementation methodology and developed frameworks. These are based on varied ERP Implementation observations. Given the variety of methodologies and frameworks available, the real-world ERP implementation demands the development and adoption of a strategy as a guiding principle for underlying methods. This paper suggests a new classification approach based on the ERP implementation strategy that can be categorized as custom-made, vendor-specific or consultant-specific. This research paper also conducts a comparative study of leading vendor-specific ERP implementation methodologies along-with their example cases. It then discusses how the principles of Agile Methodology as laid down in the Agile Manifesto [1] are being incorporated in ERP implementations.