Cisco Systems Inc. -: Implementing Erp

Pete Solvik, the Chief Information officer posed the question, how well did the implementation of the ERP system go? Originally they weren’t willing to change to an ERP process. But as they continued to expand, anything they did ran out the legacy systems that were in place. In which they decided to go ahead and implement the ERP system. Throughout, the project was risky due to the given time frame, budget and objectives that were set. Multiple factors would have influenced whether this was a success or a failure. Generally, when implementing a new system, having a motivated, cooperative and synergistic cross-functional team is essential. Cisco Systems Inc. throughout implementing the new ERP system received this support and cooperation. Mainly due the conservative views of the board, they were concerned that the project would get out of hand and deliver sub-standard outcomes. Overall, they rationally estimated their project requirements (budget and timeline) and were able to  stay focused on the objective.

The main problems that Cisco Systems Inc. encountered with the implementation of Oracle was with the planning and employee training methods. When transforming an information system, the people are affected greatly by the change. To compensate they are given comprehensive training so that they are able to seek and exploit the benefits of the IS earlier on. However with Oracle, the training methods were poorly executed as Cisco requested that Oracle compress their standard five-day class into two 16-hour days. The objective with this method was to have a quicker learning curve, but crash courses on major changes do not allow for enough time to digest, understand, and apply to a real life scenarios. The result of this decision was that employees had many questions and concerns that were not answered. From the get-go there should’ve been more effort put forward in investing in and training the employees to make sure the ERP system was useful to them. In addition, there was poor resource management in regards to human capital. This negatively affected the IT department as they were not able to fully commit to working on Oracle due to prior commitments. If their time and projects had been delegated more efficiently, this would have created less unsatisfied IT employees.

In the end, Solvik made rational decisions when deciding on a vendor for the ERP project. The greatest decision made was the recruitment process for the ERP project. This decision was risky since the project has complex and demanding needs due to the deliverables and time frame set. There were multiple problems encountered along the way, with some being the constant need for additions, modifications, technical concerns such as shut-downs. This is where the requirement of having positive, bright and motivated human capital payed off. Having a team that is capable of tackling issues in demotivating scenarios, allowed for the successful implementation of the ERP system.