Multisite Erp
42 April 2000/Vol. 43, No. 4 COMMUNICATIONS OF THE ACM
Historically, ERP systems
evolved from
MRP II systems,
which are designed
to manage a production
facility’s orders,
production plans,
and inventories.
ERP systems integrate
inventory data with financial, sales, and
human resources data, allowing organizations to
price their products, produce financial statements,
and manage the resources of people, materials,
and money. Implementing ERP systems can
be quite straightforward when organizations are
simply structured and operate in one or a few
locations. But when organizations are structurally
complex and geographically dispersed, implementing
ERP systems involves difficult, possibly
unique, technical and managerial choices and
challenges.
The complexities of what are often called
“multisite” ERP implementations are discussed
here. Like all computer-based information systems,
multisite ERP implementations can be
analyzed in terms of levels or layers (logical
versus physical, hardware versus software).
At each level there are different choices to
make and different criteria for evaluating
the alternatives. However, the layers are
interdependent: Choices at one level may
limit the available choices or affect the
performance of the system at another
level. Therefore, organizations are generally
advised to start planning multisite
ERP implementations at the
strategic level before proceeding to
the technical (software and hardware)
levels. In practice, however,
the sheer size and scale of
such implementations may
encourage organizations
to tackle
the layers
MULTISITE ERP
IMPLEMENTATIONS
The meanings of “enterprise”
and “site” vary...
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