Approach for Selecting ERP Software at Mid-sized Companies Reflecting Critical Success Factors

Purpose. In the 1990s, enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems became the state of the art tool to replace self-made legacy systems. With the trigger “Year 2000” and “Euro currency” a lot of the systems reached the final stage of further maintenance and had to be replaced. While the market of ERP implementations at big global companies reached almost saturation, the small and medium size companies (SME) are at the beginning. The decision for an IT-ERP package and its implementation is an extensive, lengthy and costly process which often runs into problems or cost overruns [1]. The acquisition process is one of the key challenges at the beginning of a longer journey. This paper aims to present a discussion of the key influencing characteristics that affect the decision making process for ERP software at a SME. Design /methodology /approach. The research is based on a literature review comparing the various decision processes and the validation of key characteristics. There is not the one set of characteristics available to use for ERP acquisition, so a literature comparison was executed. This set has been tested in a case study project, setting priorities and the correlations within the structured execution process. Findings. The identified set of characteristics has been challenged in a case study executing a structured acquisition process. The hypothesis, that the triggers in relation to the prioritisation of the characteristics are strongly dependent on a structured selection process was confirmed during the study. The success of the decision will be measurable after implementation of the system. Currently, according to business material and literature the selection process is mainly vendor driven not based on acquisition requirements and values. Originality/value. In summary a clear execution method and a structured set of critical success factors are the main scientific results of this study.