Using Analytic Network for Selection of Enterprise Resource Planning Systems (ERP) Aligned To Business Strategy

The choice of an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) must be made judiciously by the high costs involved in the acquisition of such systems. Managers in areas such as accounting, financial and information technology need support and tools that help in selecting an appropriate ERP for their business. With this article, we present a study aimed at investigating the possibility of a Decision Support System (DSS) to be used for this selection interrelating evaluation criteria, which could allow to contemplate the strategic alignment between Business and Information Technology. From the literature review 28 factors related to the selection of software packages, with special emphasis on ERP were identified. For the research procedures, the qualitative ones were adopted, in that the 18 factors considered relevant to a good selection of ERP were classified with the Delphi technique and used as input in a DSS: Analytical Network Process (ANP), applied as a Case Study in a small business that hired the ERP. The results showed that the ANP was efficient in interrelated criteria and evaluated the strategic alignment between Business and Information Technology.