Western Digital, a developer of storage devices and solutions, has grown dramatically since it was established in 1970. Based in San Jose, California, they employ more than 61,000 with locations around the world. Much of their growth has occurred through mergers and acquisitions. Managing operations and generating timely information in a multi-billion dollar, global organization can be difficult, but what happens when you combine three such companies? How can systems be integrated and processes refined, so that the business can stay competitive? Steve Philpott, CIO of Western Digital, explains that each of the three organizations had their own ERP. Some tough decisions would need to be made to integrate all three companies. Because each company had been using their own ERP, when they merged, these systems were no longer enterprise-level. Data was isolated, processes were disjointed, and efforts were duplicated. The team could choose one of the three ERPs, and the other two-thirds of the company’s employees would need to change over to the selected system, or they could start from scratch and implement a new ERP across all divisions of the new, larger Western Digital. They chose to start from scratch and implement a new ERP and related processes across all three companies. The first phase was rolled out in 2017, and the implementation is currently ongoing.

The decision to choose a new ERP was a great opportunity to update technologies and transform processes at Western Digital. They took this opportunity to redesign processes and build applications that were more likely to scale as they grew to be a $20+ billion company. Communication and collaboration are essential to integration efforts, so the team focused on setting up those standards and integrated tools first. These new tools and processes not only helped the ERP project succeed, but they removed barriers to communication across all areas and locations of Western Digital, putting them in a better position for possible mergers or acquisitions in the future. 

Critical Thinking Questions

1. Many of the benefits of an ERP can be realized through the implementation and change process. How can updating and integrating processes and activities, as part of an ERP implementation, provide benefits to the organization? Provide specific examples. 

2. What steps did Western Digital take to realize the benefits of integration as it occurred rather than waiting until the system was completely integrated? How do you think this might have been different if they chose one of the original three ERPs and had the other two companies convert to it? 

3. We tend to think of implementation as a single process, done all at once, with a clear starting and ending point, and with benefits realized at the end of the project. However, it is rarely that simple. How does a phased approach and the use of interim solutions or prototypes, like those used by Western Digital, help ensure a successful implementation? How might this strategy help the ERP provide more benefit after it is fully implemented?