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Comparative Study of ERP Implementation in SMEs: Benefits, Challenges and Life Cycle Perspectives Introduction Enterprise resource planning strategies or systems are an important aspect of any corporation or entity due to the wide range of capabilities that they offer. These systems, once put into effective and maximum use, contribute a larger percentage of annual profits recorded by a majority of small and medium enterprises. Many business entities are experiencing growth mainly as a result of implementing ERPs. It achieves this through enhancing competitive advantage, providing a good platform for reengineering as well as transforming the nature and function of information systems. This report carries out an extensive analysis of the latest developments being recorded particularly in as far as SMEs implementation of ERP is concerned as well as exploring the challenges and benefits attributed to this planning. Overview Enterprise resource planning, abbreviated as ERP, refers to techniques and concepts employed for integrated management purposes with an aim of improving enterprise efficiency. Originally, ERPs were generally made for use by manufacturing industries, mainly aiding such areas as sales management, accounting management, together with production and control management. However, the recent years have witnessed diversification of ERP software to cover many other industries, including small market enterprises. Many myths and misguided notions have continued to hamper the growth and performance of ERPs. For instance, managers and other players in an organisational set up still believe ERPs mean more complex work for them. The transformation needed from a traditional or manual system to an ERP still instils fears in workers and their managers as well about
