A decision support system for ERP systems implementation in Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs)

Abstract

Small medium enterprises (SMEs) face considerable challenges in implementing enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, however due to their benefits ERP systems are becoming an essential and integral part of SMEs business strategy. This study investigates the implementation of (ERP) systems in SMEs and the role played by certain critical success factors (CSFs) in its successful implementation. Based on primary data collected, the relationship between the variables of time, coast and performance realised is established. A simulation model based decision support system (DSS) has been proposed and developed. The DSS model developed assist in decision making process during implementation by running different implementation scenarios and opting for most optimised solution which give higher performance at a reasonable cost at optimum time. By drawing upon this model, we can relate to how SME can better utilise and prioritise different CSFs and resources by choosing the best implementation strategy before real life implementation thus saving time and money. © 2011 Springer-Verlag.