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96 Chapter 4 • Development Life Cycle

Traditional ERP Life Cycle
Like the traditional SDLC, which we discussed earlier, the traditional ERP life cycle approach
has a deliverable at the end of each stage (e.g., a report with supporting documents) that is
reviewed by management and upon which a decision is made either to continue with the project
or not. End-user or people involvement is critical in both SDLC and ERPLC; however, there are
other variations to the traditional SDLC process. The emphasis in ERP implementation is on
customizing the software as well as on changing the organization’s business processes, rather
than determining the user requirements for developing new applications (as in the traditional
SDLC). This may seem like a small deviation, but it requires a major change in the thinking
process as well as team composition and skill level of people involved in the development
process. Furthermore, the ERP life cycle, as shown in Figure 4-5, iterates at a much faster pace
than in the traditional SDLC.
The traditional ERP life cycle includes the following major stages:
Stage 1. Scope and commitment stage. This is similar to the investigation stage in SDLC
discussed earlier. In addition to conducting the feasibility study, however, one of the
first steps is to develop a scope of ERP implementation within the resource and time
requirement. A number of task parameters or characteristics of the ERP implementation

Scope
Initiation and
Planning
Analysis
Statement of what the scope and
and the implementation design
plan
Acquisition
Changes in and
purpose, scope development
or schedule
Analysis Implemen-
Design
tation
ACQ and
Development
Operation
Realization that the
ERP system must be
changed before implementation
can be completed
Implementation
ERP system in
operation completes
the business process
Realization that the
implementation needs
upgrades and
patches
Operation

FIGURE 4-5 Traditional ERP Life Cycle