There are certain situations when for a company to move faster to increase their performance and beat the competition, it is necessary to make some practical decisions. For example, a firm’s senior management may arrive at the conclusion that if various organizational functions start sharing information, it will be easier to achieve the strategic goals and become more productive. In order to successfully and quickly install the needed ERP software applications, it is essential to develop an appropriate plan of action. The first steps for the organization discussed in the case scenario are the following:
- Determine the end objectives and scope of implementation.
- Specify implementation phases and a proper schedule for each major step.
- Define the team and appropriate budget.
The potential political necessities are related to security considerations. Since there is a possibility that fraudsters may get access to sensitive corporate data, it is crucial to foresee any problems and timely and efficiently secure personal data and information related to different departments of the organization. Therefore, according to the Statement on Standards for Attestation Engagements #16 (SSAE 16) and ISO 27001, before choosing a cloud provider, it is required to ensure that they are audited, meet security process requirements, and “implement a management and control framework related to security risks” (Kavanagh & Johnson, 2018, p. 106).
The next steps of the plan for data sharing of the various organizational functions of the large retailer involve:
- Determine the information that will be stored in the system and the particular groups of people who will be accessing it, as well as their needs regarding the data they will be using.
- Decide whether “best of breed” is the right option.
- Ensure the system will be easily accessed on mobile devices.
- Think through possible security challenges and the ways of eliminating them in advance.
- Test the system to make sure it works correctly.
- Migrate the organizational data and information.
- Plan the go-live and make sure all the employees are prepared for the change.
If each step of this plan is made correctly and timely by professionals, it is feasible to have the new systems operational in nine months.
Reference
Kavanagh, M. J. & Johnson, R. D. (Eds.). (2018). Human resource information systems: Basics, applications, and future directions. SAGE Publications.