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158 Chapter 5 • Implementation Strategies

Servers
The selection of servers is often based on input from the ERP vendor, which is similar to the
relational database selection. Servers that make up the infrastructure will need to grow as the
system grows and expands. The planning for an expanding infrastructure is another critical com-
ponent to a successful implementation. The infrastructure team is responsible for selecting the
right-size database, as well as the application and Web servers, with enough storage to ensure
that data are quickly retrievable.

Network
Most businesses today have a reliable and secure network in place. Network connectivity and
speed from the end user to the server environment needs to be assessed. Some businesses out-
source the server and the database environment. In that case, providing connectivity to the
outsourced site should be a part of the outsourced contract.

Security
To ensure that the ERP system is secure from unauthorized access, several technical and not-
so-technical components must be installed and implemented. Desktop PCs must be set up to
ensure that viruses, Trojan horses, spyware, and any other type of PC infiltration tools can be
arrested before they take hold in the environment. Businesses have often developed standard
PC configurations for users that ensure the desktop PCs are well protected.
This does not fully prevent security exposures and breaches. Security awareness is critical
to any system’s reliability and integrity. The majority of serious breaches of access to systems are
through user error including writing down passwords, choosing passwords that are easily
guessed, and the sharing of user IDs and passwords. All of these security issues should be a part
of end user implementation training.

Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity

Last, and it does not happen very often, but planning for a disaster and providing business
continuity is a part of every ERP implementation. There have been instances where this kind
of planning was valuable and was put to use. The 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York and
Washington DC, in addition to Hurricane Katrina, brought the importance of disaster and
business continuity planning for businesses to the forefront. A plan essentially needs to be
developed and tested based on several types of disasters. Business managers and senior
management must identify mission critical transactions and make them available as quickly
as possible after a disaster. Although it might initially appear that disaster recovery and busi-
ness continuity is just an IT issue, it is not. It involves both IT professionals and functional
users and senior management to put together an effective plan. There are many documented
processes for developing a disaster recovery or business continuity plan that a business can
use. The main concern in this book is that this type of planning must be addressed with the
implementation.

IMPLICATIONS FOR MANAGEMENT

An implemented ERP system can create opportunities for a business to grow and change for the
better. The risks and rewards for a company depend both on the system selected and on all the