A Case Study on the Successful Upgrade of ERP System

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions have been implemented by many companies rather than system development on the promise of improving processes and feasible strategic benefits. Typical feasible benefits include an adoption of global standards and processes through a proven integrated system, continuous version upgrading by vendors, and thus relatively easy system maintenance. The objective of this research is to propose a conceptual framework of ERP implementation process and identify the critical issues and factors for the successful upgrade of packaged ERP solutions. Based on the case study of five organizations that have experienced ERP system upgrade implementation, five critical factors for successful system upgrade are identified as follows: (1) clear goal statement, (2) good coordination and communications with implementation partners, (3) thorough management of customization history, (4) preparation for system requirements, and (5) role redefinition between business and IT departments.