Beyond Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP): The Next Generation Enterprise Resource Planning Environment

The Department of Defense (DoD) has invested billions of dollars in business enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. However, they are not meeting schedules, cost, or performance expectations. Senior Defense leaders are increasingly aware that the economic environment demands the DoD move from defense readiness at any cost to defense readiness at the best value. The Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA) reviewed the ERP systems to: (1) identify the best way to leverage current DoD systems that are meeting objectives (2) explore potential alternatives or add-ons to ERPs (e.g., Business Process Modeling/Management (BPM) solutions, Software as a Service (SaaS)). Situational agility, or predicting how future pipeline technologies and analytic techniques may improve on or replace current methods, must be an enabler of innovation, not a compliance enforcer, to fulfill needed capabilities. ERPs must provide a jumping-off point for integrating other beneficial technologies in the portfolio (e.g., cloud computing, mobile applications, and business intelligence).