Selection of ERP System for Gourmet Chocolates AS

The Assignment is regarding ERP systems. It is a Case about a privately owned small to medium sized enterprise (SME) that sells chocolates to business customers There are 5 main task targeted in this assignment (a, b, c , d, e).

”Gourmet Chocolates AS” is a privately owned small to medium sized enterprise (SME) that sells chocolates to business customers in larger Oslo area. Ever since the company was established in 2014, sales have risen every year. Currently, the company uses several scattered systems in its departments. Those systems include Microsoft Access database application, excel, and the other department-specific software and systems. With the increase in sales and transactions volumes, and the need for timely data for business decisions and reporting, Gourmet Chocolates AS top management is now thinking of acquiring an ERP solution to integrate the departments within the company.  

The implementation of the ERP should integrate the HR, production, accounting & finance, and sales departments. The ERP systems is also expected to support the company’s basic manufacturing, supply chain operations. The company has around 100 employees, which many of them are candidates to use the ERP system. Due to its size, Gourmet Chocolates AS has limited resources.

Considerations/Constraints

1. There are some legal constraints regarding data storage laws for the company’s enterprise systems as the data center of the new ERP needs to be in Norway or preferably North Europe.
   
   
2. The company already have somewhat an IT Infrastructure of Microsoft based products such as Outlook, email service (Microsoft exchange online) and cloud infrastructure on Microsoft Azure. The new ERP system needs to be aligned with or should be able to work closely with existing IT infrastructure of the company.

3. The company have a small IT department with limited resources – employees and infrastructure. They don’t have capacity to have in house servers for deploying a new ERP.

You are hired as an external ERP consultant to aid Gourmet Chocolates AS in selecting their new ERP system. Three ERP systems are the main candidates in the selection phase, which are Dynamics 365 Business Central, SAP Business One ERP (SAP B1), and ODOO ERP. Gourmet Chocolates AS has asked you to write a selection recommendation report which includes:

1. A comparison between the 3 systems. The comparison factors could include: cost, target companysize, modules, scalability, data storage compliance (legal), compatibility with existing IT infrastructure etc.  In addition, a comparison summary is preferably presented in a tabular/matrix format.
   
   
2. Based on your comparisons, recommend an ERP system for Gourmet Chocolates AS to acquire, and argue about your choice in order to justify the major investment for the top management. Provide the selection criteria factors you will consider during the selection process.
   
   
3. Develop a change management plan on how to reduce potential employee resistance to the new system.
   
   
4. Recommend a conversion/go-live strategy and argue for your choice.
   
   
5. Discuss if the chosen ERP system supports environmental sustainability goals.

• The assignment should have introduction, body, conclusion and references. Use the Harvard style of references. This item will be delivered as a single MS Word document without attachments.
  
  
• The result should be between 1500 to 2500 words max, including everything (cover page, introduction, body, conclusion and reference list).
  
  
• You should reference your sources and use at least four references. Make sure to properly cite all the text you use from external sources, and you may use APA 6^threferencing style or a numbered style.