The Importance of Quality Attributes in Enterprise Resourse Planning Selection for Small Companies - A Case Study

Abstract

During the last ten years, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems have become one of the most important pieces of technology for companies, assisting in streamlining a company’s information infrastructure. As vendor technology has improved, this has led to the possibility of small companies being offered ERP solutions to implement and integrate into their existing systems, or to buy an ERP system ‘off the shelf’. All too often companies select an ERP without looking into what the needs of the company are, and particularly the Quality Attributes (QA) of a system are ignored. Identifying these attributes could assist small companies and vendors in assessing, choosing, and implementing the correct systems in the future. This study examines the QA associated with ERP systems, paying particular attention to the QA associated with ERP systems for small companies. This paper will use interviews, related work, and a thematic analysis to identify Quality Attributes, and identify which are the perceived Quality Attributes for staff at a small company, and discuss if the attributes found are useful to small companies when choosing an ERP system.