IT Governance and ERP

[Former Member]

I am doing a research on IT Governance and ERP, that is Finding the measures that are in ERP system that supports governance.

For this, I have to develop a balanced Scorecard for various areas in Governace such as Compliance, Change Management, etc. and Apply the scorecard to a SAP case study.

Does anyone have any information regarding my research? Pls post it..

Help me guys...

Thanks

Sai..

[Former Member]

I have worked with a company in Canada Quest Learnings (www.questlearnings.com) and they do a lot of work in Risk and GRC.

[Former Member]

HI

Are you still researching this area as I have just started a PhD looking at STrategy Goverance and Change management within the SAP/ERP environment.

regards

MAM

[Former Member]

Hi,

Have you checked these articles? You haven't stated anything about the theoretical approach you are employing. Governance is also a form of power. You might to check the inter-functional or inter-group communication. In IS litearture there is some.

Besson, P., & Rowe, F. 2001. ERP project dynamics and enacted dialogue: Perceived understanding, perceived leeway, and the nature of task-related conflicts. Database for Advances in Information Systems, 32(4): 47.

Sia, S. K., Tang, M., Soh, C., & Boh, W. F. 2002. Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems as a technology of power: Empowerment or panoptic control? Database for Advances in Information Systems, 33(1): 23.

Gefen, D., & Ridings, C. M. 2003. IT acceptance: Managing user - IT group boundaries. Database for Advances in Information Systems, 34(3): 25

Osei-Bryson, K.-M., Dong, L., & Ngwenyama, O. 2008. Exploring managerial factors affecting ERP implementation: an investigation of the Klein-Sorra model using regression splines. Information Systems Journal, 18(5): 499-527.

Paasivaara, M. 2005. Commucational practices in interorganisational product development. Helsinki University of technology, Espoo. (this is a dissertation)

BR,

Pia

[Former Member]

Hi,

well your question is a little bit unspecific. What kind of research are you doing? Academic or in a company? What exactly do you want to do and where are the problems?

I think first you have to define what you mean by IT Governance and then identify the IT Governance processes. A score card can be developed afterwards.

Best regards,

[Former Member]

I am doing an academic project in which i have to find the measures in ERP systems that supports governance.

Can ERP system and governance run parallel?

ERP has a seperate framework and Governance has a seperate framework.. will it go with each other.???

Edited by: Sai Vignesh on Jul 15, 2009 10:21 PM

[Former Member]

Before I can answer it, can you give your definition of Governance and of ERP?

[Former Member]

Governance is a framework which is applied in an organisation which defines the rules, policies and the structure of the organisation from the top to bottom. It also definies various strategies such as change management, external compliance and internal operations.

ERP is a another framework applied which enables a transperancy of information overall in an organisation which definies the organisation structure and process. It also enables inter and intra organisation connection like CRM, SRM.

[Former Member]

Hi,

ERP is a sub set of the IT Governance.

You perform config to accomplsh the Business processes in turn to achieve the business goals [ strategic alignment]

The ERP has to deliver value in terms of availability,confidentiality and integrity [ value delivery]

Resource and Risk management in terms of Application security,planning the resources in the areas related to people,process,Techology and

Performance Apprisal - in terms of Service level agreements and other metrics.

Given the above the ERP will and should run within the framework of the IT Governance.You cant divorce ERP from the Governance framework for the simple reason that the ERP addresses the Business needs.IT Governance also does the same,namely,StrategicAlignement.

To put things simple,ERP Frame work should align with the IT Governance framework.In turn the IT Governance framework should align with the Organizational goals in terms of addressing the processes,controls,Reports etc.

Hope this helps.

Regards

Ramesh.

[Former Member]

Hi Ramesh,

Your answer was useful. As per your definition, How do i find out the measures in ERP which supports Governance?

I understand ERP is a subset of Governance, but there are certain things in ERP which enables a proper alignment with the governance.

How do i find it out?

Thanks

[Former Member]

Hi,

Frist find out for what the ERP has been implemented.Whether to improve the transaction processing across the modules,add ons like customer relationship,etc.This is the goal.

Get the scope document.Ascertain if the scope has been addressed adequately in ERP in terms of configuration.This could be just tranasactions or special Reports like MIS Report,Electronic filing of Tax Returns which is a compliance requirement or else.This requires a good knowledge of SAP.

Compare the goals with the above[ scope and config].If they congrue,this means your ERP supports the Governance.Otherwise No.

This is how you should find out the ERP's support to alignment.

In practice we use the COBIT Framework to address the above.

Regards

Ramesh

[Former Member]

Hi Ramesh,

Thanks for the reply. The information u sent was very useful. I have a doubt, Is scope the only factor to consider or is there any other factors which can be considered.

I am sorry, As far as i know COBIT is an IT GOVERNANCE standard framework. When an organisation implements ERP will they implement the COBIT standards or is there any ERP Framework to implement.

Can i use a Balanced Scorecard and Critical Success Factor Methodology to find the measures?

Unfortunately, Since this is my academic projects it should involve the techniques which is in the boundaries of my subject.

What I had proposed was, to create a framework using Balanced Scorecard for IT Governance, taking the important factors

such as IT Project, Business Process, External Compliance and Change Management.

Applying this framework to an SAP case study to obtain the results.

The research work will be evaluated by getting feedback from the experts.

I am not sure whether i am going on a right way.

Pls advice.

Thanks

Sai.

[Former Member]

Hi,

COBIT is a framework for mapping controls to ERP.This can be and is indeed very much used in SAP implementation for mapping controls.Control is one of the most important critical success factor for measuring the efficacy and efficiency of the processes.The processes are always accompanied by controls.In SAP the following are examples of controls:

Authorisation,Tolerance group,Document type,Document parking,Credit Control,Validation....All of them are part of SAP implementation.In fact some of them are mandatory.For example without configuring the document types and relevant necessary assignments you will not be able to post any document in SAP.Thus the controls and the processes go together in any classic SAP implementation.So COBIT is very much relevant in any ERP implementation.

The following information criteria,namely,efficiency,effectiveness,reliability,compliance,availability,integrity,confidentiality are the drivers of ERP implementation from the IT governance perspective.You may judiciously use them as score cards.This way you will be certainly able to evolve a framework that will inherently remain a subset of ITG.

My 2 cent.

Regards

Ramesh

[Former Member]

Please complete the following questionnaire which is used to evaluate the Balanced Scorecard IT Governance and ERP Systems.

http://www.eSurveysPro.com/Survey.aspx?id=3c4c1781-abab-42c6-99cf-5cdfc7605ebe

Thank you.

[Former Member]

Hi,

Where can I find a SAP case study to evaluate my scorecard ?

Please help ..

Thank you..