Software That Can Make a Grown Company Cry

http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/11/biztech/articles/08soft.html

This article about ERP systems starts by mentioning "the pain of installing those monster, run-the-whole-show software packages that coordinate a manufacturer's entire business from the time raw materials come in the door to the time the customer pays the invoice. Yet companies find the software's promises of slashed costs and supercharged productivity irresistible, so the programs, known as enterprise resource planning software, or ERP, are spreading fast. AMR Research, a research firm in Boston, estimates that worldwide sales of enterprise software and related services like maintenance and training totaled $10.9 billion last year. And the Gartner Group, a research firm in Stamford, Conn., expects sales to keep growing by at least 20 percent a year."

Questions:

1. Use the ideas in the various system life cycles to explain the problems encountered by Brother Industries.

2. Use the ideas in the various system life cycles to explain the approaches being used by Cultor Food Science and Visteon Automotive.

3. Think about the advantages and disadvantages of the various system life cycles. How are these advantages and disadvantages reflected in this article?

4. What should be the system life cycle for an ERP project?

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