Risk Factors in ERP Maintenance Projects

Question: Discuss about the Risk Factors in ERP Maintenance Projects. Answer: Introduction The ERP implementation has been problematic for large number of organizations. According to the research, the failure of ERP in the business organizations has shown that the implementation of ERP is not so easy. The implementations of ERP are highly complex, resource intensive, time consuming and costly. The main challenge that often leaves organizations marooned when it comes to handles the complex projects and it requires huge amount of resources. Lack of skilled labors and budget amounts prevent may organizations to focus on the steps to ensure that the ERP is appropriately configured and implemented to meet the needs of the organization (Agrawal, 2009). There are many technological, people, operational and business processes issues that increase the risk of implementation of ERP. Therefore, different types of risk factors but the most critical is the people issues. The issues related to people are all along the way before, after, and during the implementation of ERP. The success of the implementation of ERP is considered to be complex process and required huge amount of resources. Discussion analysis The ERP implementation is not an easy task as it requires huge amount of resources. Management, employees, consultants, vendors and implementation team are the most critical factors that impose significant impact on the failure or success of the ERP system. The ERP implementation is a change and it is the nature of human that resists the change. Therefore, implementation of ERP faces some amount resistances. Therefore, an organization requires that their management team and employees should have the required knowledge and skill to handle the process of ERP. If the employees and other team members are not convinced and comfortable with the implementation of ERP then they will not be co-operative that can result in the failure of the ERP system (Andrzej Partyka, 2009). Thus, it is very much important that the users of the system should have the willingness to support the operational process of the system. The people issues are internal staff adequacy, change management, training, proje ct team, staffing, training, top management support, cost of ownership, consultants, resistance to change, discipline. Internal staff adequacy The implementation of ER requires large number of people from within and outside the organization. The external people are representatives and consultants of the package vendor and hardware. The ERP implementation requires skilled employees that will help to decrease employee resistance. The recruitment of skilled employees is a difficult task but it need to be done by the human resource department. If sufficient skilled employees are not available in the organization then more consultants should be hired that increase the cost of implementation (Burrow and Kleindl, 2012). Project team and training The implementation of ERP system is a very complex process which requires technological changes and cultural changes. The allocation of tasks is the responsibility of the management department and it requires appropriate strategies. The employees should be provided with adequate training which will increase their efficiency to handle the system. According to the research, many organizations neglects the training programs that should be provided to the employees and directing them appropriately. Training of the employees takes place at the end of the ERP implementation cycle (Sen, 2008). The lack of appropriate training would prevent organizations and people from extracting the full benefit from the system that can result in flawed or failed implementation. Employee re-training and re-location The development of the new processes would result in emergence of description of new job. The automaton of the manual tasks and development of the new tasks requires knowledge and skills. The employees can resist the changes and the HR manager should manage the early stage of ERP implementation. The job tasks need to be managed in a friendly and agreeable manner. The changes in the organization should be managed appropriately and to handle all the issues (Gupta and Misra, 2016). The implementation of ERP system requires strategies and the human resource management is very much important. The implementation, maintenance and operation of the ERP require skilled employees. The allocation of the tasks should be appropriately done that matches the skill and aptitude of the employees as it is considered as the critical factor for success. The benefits should be attractively fixed as there would be heavy load of work during the implementation of ERP and during the initial phase of transition or operation (Sheldon, 2005). The turnover of the employees during the transition phases and implementation can affect the schedules and it can result in the delayed implementation and high cost. Therefore, it is important for the organization to minimize the turnover of the employees during the critical stages by keeping the employees happy. Top management support The support of the top management during the implementation of ERP is necessary and important for the organization. The complex feature of the ERP projects requires huge resources during the implementation of the system. The ERP implementation requires permission and support of the top management. The support of the top management is also require to handle the resistance of the employees. If the employees feel that the top management is not supporting the implementation of ERP system that they would also not support the implementation of the system that will result in the failure of the implementation (Gupta, 2008). Consultants The consultants are the one who supports in the implementation of ERP. The consultants may not be familiar with the organizational culture and internal workings. They may also face challenges during the implementation of ERP. Therefore, in order to minimize the risk, consultants should be provided with a senior manager who will guide him and familiarizing them with the workings and culture of the company (Sumner, 2005). The implementation of ERP system can be done by solving the internal issue of a company. Discipline The ERP system requires discipline of the employees and management team. The management should monitor constantly the maintenance, implementation and operation of the ERP system and adopting corrective actions. The employees should be trained that will help them to use the system appropriately. The decision makers and managers should use the integration information in order to make informed and better decision (Zaveri, 2009). The strategies and techniques require determination and discipline that will help in the implementation of the ERP system. Resistance to Change The issue of the employees should be determine and analyzed by the management department. Many people have lot of misconception about the implementation of the ERP that it will increase the load of work, hinder innovative work, can make many people jobless. The management department should invest money and time to educate the users that can help to decrease the user resistance. The ERP system is transaction focused and used to manage necessary operational functions such as materials management, procurement planning, commercial, logistics and order tracking. The applications of ERP are multi module and it includes human and finance resource management. The ERP system would definitely change the way organizations do businesses and the way employees work. The job profiles will change and the company functions will also change such as planning, controlling and decision making processes (Das and Das, 2006). However, changing the scopes of the projects is also a major issue that will develop a lot of chaos and confusion. In order to stop these issues, project mission or charter should be clearly defined. The project required should be determined and the project team should constantly move towards their goals. Critical analysis of the case study with comparison As per the ERP implementation are considered, which is described as the enterprise business management system used with the integration of the vendor software and thereby, the application regarding the management of the systems are appropriately executed. As per the analysis of the Rosenmann, it includes the critical integration of the business solutions to the risks that are faced by the organization and thereby the main administrative functions, such as accounting, management etc. can be functioned in an appropriate manner (Jorda?o and Sousa, 2010). The comprehensive packages show the integrated management which seems to be possible with the help of the packages of the software solutions and thereby the complete range of the business process and the functions are orderly presented in an holistic manner. As per the case of the Men and Mice: A ERP Case is undertaken, it shows the financial executives outfits who are engaged in installing the ERP systems in the organization. The case study undertaken also provides the overview of the problems that are faced by the organization of The Jackson Laboratory (CFO, 2016). The causes of this type of malfunction lead to the internal information technology interruption and thereby the untested system integrators help in creating the cost overrun of the ERP systems. Due to this, the delaying of the projects, the threatening of the companys image and the customer relation is engaged which also helps in the formation of the image destruction. It thereby also leads to risks for the organization in various forms and thereby the management focus on the achievement of the goals seems to be destructed. With the identification of these risks factors of without using ERP in the organization, the inappropriate maintenance of the organization is undertaken, and thereby the natural competitiveness between the system buyer and the provider seems to be destructed leading to the hampering of the image. The appropriate implementation of t he ERP solutions can lead to the organization The Jackson laboratory to overcome all the risks identified and the appropriate research facility services provided by the organization can be fruitfully functioned. As per the solution of ERP is concerned, the level of the expertise seems to have been increased and thereby the project cost can be maintained in an appropriate manner. Henceforth the CFO of The Jackson Laboratory seems to be gaining the competitive advantage with the implementation of the ERP systems in the organization (Krause, 2006). Therefore the appropriate budget can be maintained by the organization and thereby the estimated consulting and the training facilities can be maintained. The problems that are faced by the organization seem to illustrating the situations faced by the trainers during the execution of the research programs. Henceforth the need of the ERP implementation in the system can be determined by the organization and thereby the consideration helps in depicting the appropriate enhancement of the systems of which the organization seems to be consisting of. Mitigating process regarding the risks ERP is considered as the sort of the demonstrating the appropriate value for the organization and thereby the company must take care of the customer process and the orders with appropriate executing them. It also seems to be a kind of the invoices and the revenue that is determined by the system for the enhancement of the process and thereby the ERP helps in defining the proper implementation of the CRM software in the organization. It not only handles all the up-front selling process but also intakes customers orders and provides them with a map of guidance with automating the various steps for the fulfillment of the processes (Leon, 2008). ERP also provides the same process as executed by the CRM software for the execution of the appropriate satisfaction for the employees and thereby the fruitful enhancement of the business process can be undertaken. It also helps in depicting the appropriate values for the organization with moving the process at the type of Bolt of lightning. The appropriate customer representation with the mitigation of the risk factors for the organization can be undertaken with appropriate executing the modulation for the finance part (Narayana Reddy, Appannaiah and Sathyaprasad, 2010). The variation in the department finishes the order in an appropriate order and thereby the appropriate enhancements can be undertaken with forming the various ways for the development and growth for the organization. Apart from this, the accrual benefits are supplied to the employees with depicting a faster processing nature for the organization in an synchronized manner. As per the mitigation of the risk regarding the programs are illustrated, the appropriate management of the consulting services provided by the organization seems to be responsible for the initial execution of the ERP software. Henceforth the appropriate mitigation of the problems regarding the support and the maintenance of the ERP systems are included for the mitigation of the risk factors and henceforth the mitigation of the inappropriate enhancement of the ERP issues are depicted with considering the values for the organization. With the implementation of the ERP system, the competitive advantage can be gained by the organizations and thereby the fruitful enhancement of the integrated system can be depicted (Lpez and Salmeron, 2011). The usual organization can be depicted with the enhancement of the process and the implementation of the vendor process in the organization helps in synchronizing the activities that are undertaken by the organization. Henceforth the advantages with the implementation of the ERP systems, the appropriate execution of the needs of the organization can be undertaken as per the values of the ERP systems are depicted and thereby the technical support as well as the managerial support can be gained by the organization (Monk and Wagner, 2012). The appropriate customization of the situations seems to be limited by the usage of the new directions. Henceforth the advantages help in the appropriate achievement of the prefixed goals that are considered for the development and thereby the workforce can be able to quickly adapt the systems for the betterment of the structures. Conclusion The overall report consists of the appropriate analysis regarding the ERP system and the Peoples project is explained in an appropriate manner. The analysis of the issues and the mitigation techniques are described for the appropriate enhancement of the study undertaken for this report. It also helps in depicting the importance of the adherence and thereby the upper management support is undertaken for the description with depicting the appropriate enhancement of the issues faced by the organization. The case study of the Men and Mice: A ERP Case of The Jackson laboratory is undertaken for critically analyzing the issues and comparing them with the various other perspectives of the report. The appropriate analysis regarding the case study provides a deep understanding of the risks caused and thereby appropriate mitigating factors are also mention with indicating its characteristic process (Pamungkas, 2009). It also shows the competitive advantage which is gained by the implementation of the ERP in the organization and also the appropriate impact is being depicted. The fruitful analysis is undertaken in this study regarding the explanation of the people related issues faced by the organization with indicating the other managerial issues. References Agrawal, R. 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