Can Altay-Day 1 Learnings

Hi everyone,

Each and every one of you just wrote and wrote. I will add a few lines to this “epic” (çevirisi olarak destansı da diyebiliriz) blog J

* ERP is the software that links each business unit of a company in one common database.

* It has a modular structure; different modules (such as marketing, finance, human resources, supply chain management etc) exist and are connected to the database.

* The database is working on real-time; any changes made by one department is reflected immediately to the database

* SAP has industry specific solutions, as well as softwares that work in different currencies and different languages

* 3-tier system: OS, BASIS (which requires specific IT knowledge that is different than those of the implementers) and Network. The hardware-side is also three-tier system: (1) Database Server, (2) Application Server, (3) Presentation Server.

* It is possible to implement single modules to create cheaper alternatives for companies

* It would not be a good idea to analyze and reengineer your business processes first, as different departments may come up with different business processes that may ruin the overall workflow of the company and create a totally different structure, which may not fit with the ERP system.

* It is important to know what you need before contacting the consultants for ERP implementation.

* If everybody is implementing ERP, you do not have to! It’s just a tool and your need of implementing an ERP system depends on the size and needs of the company.

* A cheaper alternative for smaller firms would be the ASAP, a special system provided by SAP. Roadmap to ASAP: Project Preparation, Business Blueprint, Realization, Final Preparation, Go Live & Support.

* An ERP system may create integrated solutions, which may increase the level of communication through the supply chain and even give you the chance to empower your suppliers in terms of inventory management. (You can let your suppliers/distributors control your level of inventory with the help of the system).

* Also, you can avoid duplication by creating integrated systems.

* There are major players (SAP, Oracle, PeopleSoft) as well as small players and even open-source software (Compiere). Each has advantages and disadvantages. Major players are well-known, trusted and have strong support, but are not very flexible. Small players offer cheaper and more flexible alternatives to major players, but are not well-known and probably will not be selected by bigger firms. Open-source software is totally free and can be customized by yourself, but has support-security and development speed issues.

* Core Team for the implementation process:-Someone who knows the workflow -Top management-Consultants-IT Managers-Champion (go-getter)

* 70% of all IT implementations fail – Yeliz’s criteria for failure:

- Meeting the requirements
- Budget
- Time
-Resistance to use
However, projects that are implemented (actually the projects that Yeliz implementedJ) may still fail according to this interpretation. Therefore, the failure of the implementation depends on both several internal and external factors.

* An ERP implementation should not be treated as an IT implementation! Best example is the Y2K problem.

* Data Mining enables you to turn the data into knowledge that you can use through correlations, patterns, trends etc. This tool is very important and I will have to learn it for my Marketing Research studies.

* By SAP’s audit trail option, you can track what is done by whom in the company. It is a good way to enable transparency within the organization and across the business units.

* Installing an ERP system requires you to consider the trade-off between the possible reduction in operational costs vs. the potential increase in hardware costs after the implementation.