In order to better identify, target, and isolate sources of food contamination and alert consumers who may have purchased these goods, Agency Y is considering implementing an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system. ERP is the process of using technology to streamline the management of main business functions.
Key Considerations:
- Agency Y is a massive organization that maintains hundreds of office locations across the country.
- Agency Y works very closely with a variety of external third parties, including agriculture suppliers, vendors, farmers, manufacturers, and wholesale exchanges to ensure that products meet national regulatory standards.
- The ERP system should maintain capabilities to automatically track shipments, producing both electronic and paper records.
- IT infrastructure varies widely across Agency Y's office location, including various versions of software and hardware which poses a challenge to developing a standardized implementation plan to deploy the ERP system from Agency Y’s offices.
- Agency Y is also challenged by fluctuations in their annual budget which has led them to request a plan that minimizes overall implementation costs.
- The information that will feed into the ERP system is stored across multiple, separate systems across the United States.