Enterprise Resource Planning Systems - Essay Example

Organizations seek ERP systems for various reasons and among them are the desires to adopt better business practices, globalization, increase flexibility, and centralize information among others (Hallikainen, 3). The software infrastructure also presents an opportunity for the business to sustain a competitive advantage in the evolving world of information technology in business. This is achieved by ensuring cooperation and integration of various departments in an organization and is in line with information technology, a key aspect of effective management (Bernroider and Koch). There are various applications offered by ERP systems depending on the needs of the organization, which include supply-chain management, human resource management, customer relationship manager, and accounting applications.

PeopleSoft is among the leading ERP systems designed to provide comprehensive business and industrial solutions to organizations that desire better management. PeopleSoft boasts over a thousand features and enhancements to produce a robust solution through the use of a simple yet advanced graphical user interface. The key factors to consider while selecting an ERP system include availability, reliability, system functions, and customer support services. However, there are challenges associated with the acquisition and maintenance of enterprise resource planning systems.

One of the biggest problems associated with the implementation of enterprise resource planning relates to company goals and objectives. Most times companies seek the services of ERP systems without clearly defining measurable goals and objectives at the onset of the project and as a result, end up modifying or changing them. This follows the common belief that the implementation of ERP systems is normally an enormous upgrade. This beats the very benefit ERP seeks to provide, that of efficiency and increased productivity, which has seen most projects fail. In addition, such actions contribute to the rise in costs and delays in implementation.

Enterprise resource planning software does not offer much flexibility and as such (Almond). Companies may be forced to adapt according to the models presented by the implemented ERP. Such changes may require restructuring company policies and objectives to embrace the new system. ERP systems are known to have many features to offer, which tend to create confusion in most companies seeking to acquire the services. This can be attributed to the wide scope at which the applications function and as such, companies may not understand where to begin with the process of acquiring ERP systems. To resolve such issues, companies seek expertise from specialists who evaluate the company's needs and recommend available software options. In addition, ERP systems are expensive to acquire and maintain. This limits its use to companies and organizations that can afford it or those that are fully established to require such managerial tools. This indicates that ERP systems have not fully proliferated across all levels of businesses and organizations. The cost of implementation is also high considering that the software and applications require a certain degree of compliance with computer hardware, to reap the complete benefits of the system. As such, companies are forced to expand their budgets and afford more resources to the critical stage of implementation. Should companies fail to allocate sufficient funds, the implementation process is marred with obstacles that hinder the overall goal of the expansion project.

The other challenge associated with the deployment of ERP systems is a time when a substantial amount of it should be allocated to the project from acquisition to commissioning. As such, the period agreed upon should be followed to the letter, an aspect that sees the organization lose focus of its normal programming. This often leads to decreased productivity and customer satisfaction due to downtime associated with system upgrades. In addition, sufficient time is required when training personnel on the new systems to minimize errors that result from a lack of equitable knowledge of the system.

Maintaining a homegrown ERP is a challenge in that it causes isolation of knowledge within the company, where knowledge developed in the company remains in the company and does not spread to others. This is to mean that there is little technological and even social interaction with others translating into the company being stuck up as no other companies are attempting to build or complement the knowledge they have (Epicor, 1). As a result, the company remains with what would biologically be known as inbreeding, as there is no information flow in and out of the company on its systems. In addition, the company experiences the burden of cost despite being the best solution for the company in terms of security. About this, the company has to up the benefits for the development teams as it is not within the job description of the team to develop the systems. It is therefore up to the company to remunerate the developers and face the risk of stalling other departments as the development team remains stuck on one project leaving other projects badly wanting (Epicor, 7). Hence, because of this, the company lacks in reference of staff to handle all other relevant company business as it puts its toll on the staff to run multiple jobs with different intentions all aimed at the productivity of the company. Though this may be a positive thing, the company is challenged in terms of the cost of efficiency and finances, where remuneration must be met.