Part B: (11 Marks)

Read the Case* below:

After reviewing several ERP solutions for medium-size businesses from a variety of vendors, the management team decided on a package that best met Altitude Online's needs. The team considered an on-demand Saas (Software as a service)product that was stored and managed on the vendor's servers to be delivered to Altitude Online employees across the country via the Web. Ultimately, however, the team chose a full ERP solution that would be installed on Altitude Online servers in New York, backed up on servers in Chicago, and shared across corporate offices via leased lines from a telecom company. Since Altitude Online already has an IT staff and servers, it made sense for the company to select a system that it could manage itself, with some assistance from the vendor. Also, using a robust ERP rather than a Saas ERP would provide support for the company's future growth. The ERP that Altitude Online selected provides all of the core business systems in one integrated package. It includes the following services:ALTITUDE ONLINE: ENTERPRISE SYSTEM CONSIDERATIONS Altitude Online is an Online Services Company that specializes in the following: Online marketing optimization: Optimizing online advertising strategies based on target audiences and using the latest online trends Customer insight: Tracking customer decisions and media usage on Web sites Online market segmentation: Identifying a target audience by observing highly detailed characteristics mapped to online behavior Online marketing ROI: Analyzing the financial success of a variety of online advertising and marketing strategies Effective Web design: Developing and executing winning design strategies for e-commerce sites Online brand building: Tracking online conversations, engaging influencers and advocates, and calming detractors Altitude is now in the need of identifying a new ERP system that will address its needs as a growing company. Altitude Online IS staff are beginning to prepare their databases for conversion to an ERP system. Each Altitude Online regional office maintains its own database and database management system (DBMS). In addition to relying on the database for daily operations, regional managers produce weekly, monthly, and quarterly reports that they provide to corporate headquarters in New York. The new ERP system will eliminate the need for managers to transfer reports, because it will enable executives at headquarters to view real-time data from all regions at any time. Prior to the installation of the new ERP system, databases across the organization must be standardized so that they can be easily merged.All of these EHF' features draw from a central database of corporate information and are available from a single desktop portal. All of the modules also provide data to an analvtics engine that provides decisionmakers with the abilitv to spot trends and opportunities, and view critical success factors. i'vianv of the EFlF' services are also available from remote locations if emplovees need to work from home, or on the road. There is even an interface designed for handsets. Executive management support: Managers are provided with information they need for daily operational decisions while executives are provided with a corporate overview that supports enterprise level decision making. Management dashboards provide real-time customizable corporate data using easy-to-read charts and graphs. Financial management: A single up-to-date view of corporate finances is provided along with the ability to drill down into detailed financial information. Common business information is easily accessible including standard reports such as balance sheets and payments and receivables. Period-ending closing reports are automatically generated for streamlined operations and better financial planning and decision-making. Customer relationship management (CRM): The CRM features of the ERP provide a detailed view of customer profiles and activities for marketing, sales, and service departments. CRM provides valuable information that will assist Altitude Online in providing services that its current and potential customers desire. Human resources management: The HR package provides information that assists in maximizing the potential of employees. It provides employees with a personalized business portal tailored to individual job functions. It also assists HR managers in streamlining and automating the execution of regular tasks like timesheets and payroll. Supply chain management: While Altitude Online does not manufacture products, it can use the supply chain management tools to forecast demand for its services and gauge the number of staff it will require to meet that demand. Project management: Altitude Online will make good use of project management features of the ERP, which assist in estimating costs of projects and providing customers with accurate quotes. The tools help project managers keep projects on schedule and under budget while providing a transparent view of project details to team members and executive decision makers. Supplier relationship management: This module of the ERP allows Altitude Online's purchasing department to monitor purchase requests to make sure that employee needs are met within a reasonable timeframe and at minimum cost to the company. Compliance management: The ERP provides sophisticated software tools to assist Altitude Online's finance and human resources departments in complying with laws and regulations and keeping books and government reporting in order