The Strategic approach to ERP System design and implementation

The use of modern information technologies (IT) will be successful only if information system (IS) development is closely connected to a business processes development strategy. Despite the fact that ERP systems are complex application packages with full functionality, they cannot be implemented immediately "from the shelf". The only way to maximise business ejJects, using modern IT for enterprise resources planning, is through the deliberate and extensive alignment of ERP capabilities with the business system (ES) development strategy. In this way, support for the business processes and enterprise resource planning (ERP) can be maximised. Such an approach is usually regarded as the strategic planning of the information systems (SPIS). There is no unified methodology which could be applied white performing SPIS. There are several methods, techniques and templates that should be inventively integrated to develop an optimal approach to ERP system design and to develop the implementation development of each particular manufacturing system. Thus, SPIS and ERP implementation appear as two parallei and closely connected projects, and the main outcome is a reengineered business system, supported by modern IT. This paper illustrates how this integration of SPIS and ERP can be performed in order to obtain a consistent methodology. This methodology has been proved and applied in six largescale projects in very different business systems. In this way, the theoretical approach was confirmed and extended by the new experiences presented in this article.