The Adventurous and Practical Journey to a Large-Scale Enterprise Solution: Threading the Way to Implementing an ERP through MIDRP Practice

295 Pages·2023·15.485 MB·English

by  FANAP Studies & Research Center

The Adventurous and Practical
Journey to a Large-Scale Enterprise
Solution
The high failure rate of enterprise resource planning (ERP) projects is a pressing
concern for both academic researchers and industrial practitioners. The challenges
of an ERP implementation are particularly high when the project involves
designing and developing a system from scratch. Organizations often turn to
vendors and consultants for handling such projects, but every aspect of an ERP
project is opaque for both customers and vendors.
Unlocking the mysteries of building a large-scale ERP system, The Adventurous
and Practical Journey to a Large-Scale Enterprise Solution tells the story of
implementing an applied enterprise solution. The book covers the field of enterprise
resource planning by examining state-of-the-art concepts in software project
management methodology, design and development integration policy, and
deployment framework, including:
■ A hybrid project management methodology using waterfall as well as a
customized Scrum-based approach
■ A novel multi-tiered software architecture featuring an enhanced flowable
process engine
■ A unique platform for coding business processes efficiently
■ Integration to embed ERP modules in physical devices
■ A heuristic-based framework to successfully step into the Go-live period
Written to help ERP project professionals, the book charts the path that they
should travel from project ideation to system implementation. It presents a
detailed, real-life case study of implementing a large-scale ERP and uses storytelling
to demonstrate incorrect and correct decisions frequently made by vendors and
customers. Filled with practical lessons learned, the book explains the ins and outs
of adopting project methodologies. It weaves a tale that features real-world and
scholarly aspects of an ERP implementation.

The Adventurous and
Practical Journey to a Large-
Scale Enterprise Solution
Threading the Way to Implementing an
ERP through MIDRP Practice
FANAP Studies & Research Center
First edition published 2023
by CRC Press
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and by CRC Press
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ISBN: 978-1-032-43993-8 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-032-41175-0 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-36980-6 (ebk)
DOI: 10.1201/9781003369806
Typeset in Garamond
by MPS Limited, Dehradun
Contents
Preface. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
Acknowledgments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
Contributor Biography. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi
1 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
2 ERP Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3 MIDRP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
4 Project Management Methodology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
5 Software Architecture. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
6 Business and System Analysis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
7 Design and Development. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
8 Integration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
9 Integration Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
10 The Intelligent Future. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279
v

Preface
Hedging against the high failure rate of enterprise resource planning (ERP)
projects has been the main concern of both academic and industrial practitioners.
The challenges of ERP implementation are exacerbated when it comes to its design
and development from scratch. In this respect and according to a normal
condition, the customer would appoint a well-experienced vendor to accomplish
its requirements under the umbrella of an integrated enterprise solution. However,
what would be happening if the previous experiences within the target region as
well as the underlying limitations cast doubt about employing a popular ERP
vendor? How could a fresh vendor surmount the challenges of the ERP
implementation to satisfy the requirements of the customer with a large-scale
business? In this circumstance, every aspect of an ERP accomplishment project is
opaque for both customers and vendors. The related literature on the detailed and
comprehensive procedure for conducting an ERP project is not significant since it is
tied to commercial issues. Due to the fierce market competition, the websites of the
popular ERP vendors avoid sharing the necessary data about the main issues and
challenges and the way of coping with the problems. Meanwhile, what should be
done by that fresh vendor in the significant lack of practical data? The corresponding
fresh ERP vendor has to go through a broad spectrum of commercial and scientific
documents in order to derive the appropriate methodology while using trial-and-
error to put that methodology into practice. This can be a time-consuming and
burdensome task for the involved parties.
To unlock the adventurous mysteries of running a large-scale ERP from A to Z,
the current book articulates the story of implementing an applied enterprise
solution with the cooperation of MIDHCO and FANAP companies. The book is
designed in a way to meet the needs of ERP participants in practice by illuminating
the whole path in the most digestible and comprehensive form. The book focuses
on a real case study of implementing a large-scale ERP up to the smallest detail
using a storytelling tone. Such a tone is to clearly reflect the influence of adopting
wrong and right decisions that may be adopted by fresh vendors and customers in
the context of an ERP. By gathering a package of practical lessons learned, a
newcomer in the field of ERP implementation would probably adopt correct
decisions instead of prohibitive wrong ones. Accordingly, the cost of trial-and-error
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viii ▪ Preface
would be reduced, and thereby the failure rate for the participants of these types of
projects could be minimized. For instance, the current book implies how and why
the ERP’s participants should adopt an initial project methodology and then
switch to a matured counterpart under certain circumstances. Notably, the book
weaves a complicated plot that follows both adventurous and scholarly facets of
being engaged with an ERP implementation project. The adventurous tone of the
content is mainly employed in describing the onset involvement at the beginning
involvement of the key story’s characters with every new step towards completing
the desired solution. Meanwhile, the rest of the content is to signal the adopted
knowledge-based practices to resolve the real challenges being captured by the
scholarly tone throughout the book.
Precisely, the book covers the field of enterprise resource planning by considering
state-of-the-art concepts in terms of software project management methodology,
design and development integration policy, and deployment framework. In the
context of project management of enterprise solutions, our book involves a new
applied hybrid methodology composed of the waterfall as well as a customized
Scrum-based approach. Regarding the software architecture, the content of the
current book provides a novel multi-tiered design being equipped with an enhanced
flowable process engine. In case of the software development, the present book
employs a unique platform for coding business processes in the most efficient
manner. Additionally, the proposed integration innovatively embeds different
modules of the ERP into the physical devices of the addressed case study. Finally,
the new facet associated with the software deployment of this book can be attributed
to the presence of a heuristic framework to successfully step into the Go-live period.
This heuristic framework is very valuable since it has been derived through an
excruciating trial-and-error in a real environment.
In terms of the potential audiences, the book fits well with the requirements of
researchers and industrial practitioners, simultaneously. The researchers-based
target audiences include undergraduates, post-graduates, and professors who are
looking for a comprehensive source with practical implications in the courses
associated with enterprise solutions. The industrial practitioners-based target
audiences also involve both ERP customers and vendors who need managerial
insight and technical information on directing such a project from scratch. All in
all, the present hoped-for study can play a workable role in streamlining business
and research-oriented activities.
Acknowledgments
Due to the case study-oriented subject of this book, it could not be prepared under
the participation of only a handful number of individuals. Generally, this book is
indebted to two groups of people: the professional practitioners who paved the way
for providing the essence of the book’s material and the intellectual ones who
gathered that material on the basis of a scientific publication.
In detail, the material of this book is a direct outcome of implementing a large-
scale software project through the active collaboration of MIDHCO and FANAP
companies under the supportive umbrella of the Pasargad Financial Group.
Accordingly, our sincere gratitude goes to Dr. Ali Asghar Pourmand and
Dr. Shahab Javanmardi as the CEOs of MIDHCO and FANAP on the behalf
of the corresponding staff, respectively. They succeeded in managing their
resources in a way that the line-by-line facts of the book could be shaped.
Furthermore, the exceptional performance of Dr. Mohammad Jafar Ekramjafari,
the consultant of MIDHCO’s CEO, is no mean feat owing to taking on the
mantle of fruitfully advancing this complex project. Let’s be thankful for the wise
resourcefulness of Mr. Ramin Amrbar, Mr. Mohammad Emami, and Mr. Peiman
Gholami, the project managers of MIDHCO Co. Their significant cooperation
with the specialists of FANAP Co. resulted in the reflected achievements of the
current study. The realization of the project also owed to the depth of experience of
POSCO ICT Co. under the supervision of Mr. Jaewoo Lim. Besides, Dr. Majid
Ghasemi, the CEO of the Pasargad Financial Group, is gratefully appreciated
owing to his grand strategy in terms of underpinning the companies to get
involved in a completely innovative and knowledge-based project. Indeed, such an
outlined strategy in the project was the cornerstone of creating the present work.
Meanwhile, the commendable original plan behind documenting the
engineering value of that project in a storytelling manner and thereby writing
this book pertained to Mr. Hamidreza Amouzegar, the deputy of Development &
Technology of FANAP Company. To properly fulfill such an idea, FANAP
Studies & Research Center undertook the responsibility of brainstorming,
plotting, and consequently writing this book via the significant engagement of
its scholar members. In this regard, special thanks to the members of the Center,
for their brilliant idea, knowledgeable leadership, and constant monitoring over the
ix