MIS CASE

SUBMISSION
CISCO SYSTEMS, Inc.: Implementing
ERP

By Group 7,
Amit-1801069
Prachi-1801077
Malini-1801099
Shavy-1801118
Niranjan-1801122
Varsha-1801125
a) Summarize the factors that were essential for a successful implementation of ERP
system by Cisco? Briefly describe each of these factors (you may want to club some of the
points mentioned in the case together into a single factor) and their importance with
respect to implementation?

Factors essential for a successful implementation of ERP system by Cisco are:

1. Heavy involvement of the best people from the business community and also a strong
integration partner in the management team, as implementing ERP was not just an IT initiative
rather it required strong business knowledge for better integration across functionals.

2. Learning from the experience of others and then deciding on the best that suits their business,
Cisco’s business was pretty manufacturing driven so they went for Oracle which had better
manufacturing capabilities and also Oracle promised long term development of functionality in
the package

3. Extending relationship with KPMG though the end of the implementation as they are best in
the software selection process.

4. Expanding the team by including the best people from every functional unit so that better
inputs can be provided also the team is kept motivated to work hard by presenting this task as a
lucrative opportunity as in the sense of career advancement possibility, this kept the motivation
high and provided better outputs.

5. Setting up the Steering Committee to relieve the team from intervening directly in the
management as the committee was made responsible for the sponsorship for the project, to
ensure visibility, team motivation.

6. Setting up the proper intensive training and setting the technical environment for the
implementation of ERP, the training was made exhaustive keeping in mind the time constraint
to go live.

7. Avoiding modification as they were firm specific and modification can make the migration
difficult and time consuming.

8. Selecting a support package to adequately support the after sales support need of the project
as Oracle would not be able to extend the after sales support which would be a major
requirement after putting in the required modification for different accounts.

9. Testing the system with a big enough database so as to encounter any defects which may
come beforehand and have a smooth go live process.

bHow did Cisco manage and mitigate the risk of differences between what was offered by
the technology and what was desired by the business?
ERP as technology :

ERP was a software that was very significant as it integrated the important functions of business
like planning, purchase, production, sales budget , finance. But few factors were needed to be
looked into before implementation of ERP project being:

➢ Implementation time where we must check how early can all departments be well
integrated
➢ Ongoing work processes in no manner should be affected by implementation of this
technology
➢ Conversion of data from old system to new in safe manner without loss in a safe manner
➢ Cisco before choosing the ERP should check the level of customisation required and the
amount of customisation can be done
➢ We need to train the end users about how this new system will behave

Cisco on implementing ERP

Cisco’s decision to implement ERP Project was taken by managers at Cisco, whereby they were
particular of the team members who would work on the project

They also were very choosy in deciding whom to partner with, after weighing all options they
finally opted for KPMG as their integration partner

The Program manager from KPMG who headed the project was previously the director of IT
Company that had various ERP systems

Planned implementations were carried out wherein they were done in phases known as
Conference room Pilots which enabled a better control over the project

They also had the Steering committee at the top of the entire project management structure
who had roles like sponsorship for the project and visibility