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T&D Extra is an information service of Training & Development
magazine, published by the American Society for Training &
Development,
www.astd.org. ************************************************************
This is followup to the September 17 T&D EXTRA posting on Enterprise
Resource Planning (ERP) Systems.
THE HUMAN SIDE OF IMPLEMENTING ENTERPRISE RESOURCE PLANNING (ERP)
SYSTEMS
Businesses worldwide spend $10 billion annually on enterprise resource
planning (ERP) systems, such as SAP (http://www.sap.com), PeopleSoft
(http://www.peoplesoft.com), Oracle (http://www.oracle.com), and Baan
(http://www.baan.com). These systems are designed to integrate all of
the information flowing through a company. Implementing an ERP system
is extremely costly, yet an organization can lose its investment by
ignoring "the human side" of implementation, including training and
organizational change management. In fact, one group of executives
ranked human factors such as training and education number one as a
success factor in implementing ERP systems.
Reference Sources:
* Techra ERP Supersite (http://www.erpsupersite.com)
Produced by Technology Research Associates (Techra), this site claims
to be the premier site on the Web for information on ERP products and
services. It offers dozens of forums and chat groups on ERP topics,
news from leading vendors, analyses of the marketplace, and employment
opportunities. The site also lists consulting companies and training
companies for all kinds of ERP software. There's even a forum for ERP
jokes and humor.
* Datamation (http://www.datamation.com/plugIn/erp)
This site consists of several articles on implementing ERP systems.
One of the most useful is "How to Survive ERP," by Elaine L. Appleton.
Appleton's article presents case studies of ERP implementation at
three manufacturing companies: Cable Systems International, Dana
Corporation, and Par Industries. The article points out that the most
important skills in implementation may be communication skills and
team building.
Another article, entitled "Desperately Seeking SAP Support," by Emily
Kay, says out that consultants who can implement SAP systems charge up
to $2,500 a day because of a national skills shortage. The article
offers criteria for evaluating SAP consultants and provides links to
ERP implementation services.
* SAP Resource Centre (http://src.thehub.com.au)
This one provides links to SAP consulting companies, contractors,
publications, products, and clients. Published by an Australian IT
consultant named Adrian Bell, this site also provides a SAP FAQ
section.
(Source: ASTD Information Center)
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T&D EXTRA point of contact is Donna Abernathy, technology and products
editor,
dabernathy@astd.org. Find us on the Net at
http://www.astd.org/virtual_community/td_magazine ************************************************************