Factors Affecting Intelligent Enterprise Resource Planning System Migrations: The South African Customer’s Perspective

Abstract

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems are a strategic component of most organisations’ information systems and have evolved to become intelligent ERPs. ERP migrations are often marked by huge costs which is a challenge for developing economies. It remains unclear what the determinants for ERP migrations by organisations are for developing economies in the era of digital transformation. The aim of this study was to identify the factors that influence the decisions of ERP customers in developing countries to adopt intelligent ERPs. The Technological-Organisational-Environmental (TOE) and the institutional theory frameworks were used as the foundation upon which these factors were studied. The study focused on adopters and non-adopters of SAP S/4 HANA within a South African context. Guided by the positivist paradigm, a sample of 95 South African based companies was selected where four employees were targeted per company to respond to an electronic survey. Data was collected using an online data collection tool called, QuestionPro. The data was analysed through the IBM SPSS data analysis tool. The findings revealed that ICT infrastructure, availability of cyber-security systems, mimetic forces, and normative pressures are the influencing factors for intelligent ERPs adoption. The contributions of this study are discussed in this paper.