Citation
McGaughey, R.E. (2007), "Internet editorial", Benchmarking: An International Journal, Vol. 14 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/bij.2007.13114dag.001
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2007, Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Internet editorial
The editorial team of Benchmarking: An International Journal is committed to helping those working at a senior level in industry, the public sector, consultancy, or academic institutions, to stay current on developments in the areas of Quality, Technology, and Benchmarking. The focus of the journal is on “topics that have substantial management content, rather than being primarily technical in nature.” The Internet editorials will center on sites with a similar focus. I examine sites believed to be of interest to BIJ readers, and I attempt to be fair and objective in reviewing them. This editorial focuses on ERP performance. I have attempted to identify sites to help BIJ readers learn more about ERP performance including benchmarking, best practice and performance metrics.
ERP systems are multi-module application software packages that assist in integrating business processes to create value and reduce costs by making the right information available to the right people at the right time to help them make good decisions in managing organizational resources. These large, automated, cross-functional systems support decision-makers in accounting, manufacturing, human resource management, purchasing, inventory management, inbound and outbound logistics, marketing, finance, engineering and more, to bring about improved operational efficiency and effectiveness through integrating, streamlining and improving business processes. Traditional ERP systems were back-office systems, but newer ERP systems have moved beyond the back-office to support front-office processes and activities as well. Firms implementing ERP typically do so in hopes that they can replace diverse functional systems with a single, multi-module, integrated system that does it all faster, better, and cheaper. Most Fortune 500 companies use ERP and the list of users is growing. Some ERP vendors offer packages affordable by SMEs, so they too are joining the growing list of manufacturing operations and non-manufacturing operations (like universities) that have, at least to some extent, implemented ERP, or they are planning to do so. Some firms have been successful with their ERP efforts and some have not, and most have not achieved the level of success hoped for by management. What can, or should be done to improve ERP system performance? The process must start with measures of ERP performance in order to have a yardstick for comparison. ERP performance metrics, benchmarking, and best practice are thus important topics for managers in companies using, or planning to adopt ERP. This editorial is devoted to identifying web resources that might be helpful to those managers as well as researchers and others interested in ERP system performance.
The searches
In identifying sites used in this editorial, I used Google, which is my search engine of choice, and the Yahoo search engine. This was my first time to use the Yahoo search engine in an editorial. Yahoo has been around since 1994 and is the second most popular search engine (measured by usage) – Google is still a solid first. In 2002, Yahoo implemented a crawler-based listing (provided by Google) for its main results, and then in 2004, Yahoo started using its own search technology. Other search engines used in past editorials namely Overture, AllTheWeb and Alta Vista were acquired by Yahoo, and the best features/capabilities of these three engines were combined with those of another crawler from UC Berkeley called Inktomi in creating the “new” Yahoo used in this editorial. The Yahoo search engine looks and works much like Google and my search results using the two produced much overlap in their respective hit-lists. I used the following four search phrases for this editorial: “ERP benchmarking,” “ERP best practice,” “ERP metrics,” and “ERP performance.” My Google searches produced 4,220,000, 20,200,000, 2,780,000 and 32,600,000 hits, respectively. My Yahoo searches produced 354,000 hits for ERP benchmarking, 2,110,000 for ERP best practice, 891,000 for ERP metrics, and 8,230,000 for ERP performance. The sites featured herein were identified using either Google and Yahoo (most appeared on the hit-lists produced by both). These sites should be of interest to BIJ readers, be they practitioners, consultants or researchers, who want to learn more about ERP performance. Inclusion of sites in this editorial should not be considered an endorsement of the goods or services of the entities that own or sponsor them.
ERP performance: benchmarks, best practice and metrics
ERP Evaluation Center
http://erp.technologyevaluation.com/
The ERP Evaluation Center is one of several evaluation centers associated with Technology Evaluation Centers, Inc. (TEC). Since, 1993, TEC has acted as an “impartial” advocate for end-users and buyers of enterprise software solutions. The on-line evaluation centers and knowledge bases support decision makers from around the globe in software acquisition and implementation. TEC research and education centers are frequented by top level managers, consultants, functional mangers, and IT professionals.
The ERP Evaluation Center provides decision support for ERP system choices. Perhaps the first thing one should do in visiting the site, to understand the purpose of the ERP evaluation process, is to view the “Web Tutorial” (see like-named link). The tutorial explains (audio, not text) how to compare software side-by-side based on business requirements, evaluate strengths and weaknesses on-line using unbiased data, examine detailed features and functions that matter most to one's firm, pinpoint solutions that best meet business needs, and produce a shortlist of vendors offering appropriate solutions to meet one's business needs. The first evaluation is free, but in the process one must register, which consist of supplying an e-mail address and little more. If one intends to do the free evaluation, one should set aside adequate time as the final phase, the detailed evaluation, takes approximately two hours. Other potentially valuable resources pertaining to ERP performance can be found on the TEC parent site at the following url: www.technologyevaluation.com. If one selects the ERP link on the TEC homepage, one will find links to research, an article archive, white papers, a vendor/solution showcase, and a link to the ERP evaluation site. The “Research” link, the “Articles Archive” link, and the “White Papers” link all access pages with articles, documents and data of interest to potential and current ERP users. The ERP Evaluation center focuses primarily on the choice of ERP and implementation, and not ongoing ERP performance, but this is where sound ERP decision making starts – with the selection of the right ERP system for the business. All the benchmarking, best practice, and performance metrics in the world would not help a company that opted to purchase an ERP system poorly suited to its needs. Appropriate ERP selection criteria, because of their obvious importance in ERP success, might be altered for context and serve as performance criteria for an ERP benchmarking program. The ERP evaluation site is a good site for companies getting started with ERP, or purchasing a new ERP system to replace an existing one. It could also help a firm identify key performance areas for a benchmarking program. I found the site to be quite user friendly and current.
The Kelley School of Business Enterprise Resource Planning Center
The ERP Center and Indiana University was established to take advantage of the many research and teaching opportunities created by the spread of ERP. Key elements of the Center's charter include the following:
- •
Provide opportunities for academicians, students, business leaders and practitioners to link together through research and teaching of ERP management practices and ERP systems.
- •
Broaden the training of future business leaders and practitioners to include ERP management practices and ERP systems.
- •
Broaden the training of the next generation of scholars in ERP management at the PhD level.
- •
Provide support and resources for research initiatives in ERP management practices and ERP systems.
- •
Disseminate ERP information and research findings through the ERP Center's web site.
The Indiana University ERP initiative was started in 1998 with acceptance to membership in the SAP University Alliance Program. SAP provided the Kelly School with key resources, including a complete version of the R/3 system and a training database, for teaching and research, and with personnel training and technical support. ERP research at the Kelly School focuses on pre-implementation, implementation, and post-implementation issues and concerns, and how firms evaluate an ERP implementation. Site visitors can examine specific research questions by following the “Research” link on the ERP Center's homepage. After viewing the research questions during my site visit, I followed the “Publications” link, hoping to find some good articles addressing the research questions, but was disappointed to find that the Publications page is still under construction. The ERP Links page was likewise under construction. While one will not find much of value on the ERP Center's site at present, it holds promise for the future. If the research conducted by the Center answers the research questions posed, then the resulting publications should be valuable to practitioners and researchers interested in ERP performance. We shall have to wait and see!
I would like to note here that I found reference on the web (news items) to an ERP Benchmarking Consortium at Texas A&M University. I visited the University's web site in hopes of including that site in this editorial, but I could not locate a web page with information about the consortium. One would think that such an initiative would warrant a web site, or at least a webpage on the University site. If it was there, I did not find it!
AMR Research
AMR Research, founded in 1986, is a popular advisory firm focused on supply chain, enterprise applications, and infrastructure. AMR Research provides advisory services and peer networking opportunities to supply chain and technology professionals in the manufacturing and retail sectors. AMR personnel conduct leading-edge research on both established and emerging technologies, including ERP, and “provide some of the best quantitative data in the industry.”
The AMR site is not devoted exclusively to ERP, but is a good source of information on ERP and related issues and concerns. The hit lists produced by my web searches contained links to numerous articles residing on the ARM site, so I visited the site to see what was available on ERP. Among the ARM site features one will find Peer Forums, Resource Centers, and Assessment tools, all of which could be valuable to those interested in ERP performance. For instance, in the “Peer Forums” area, one will find an “Oracle Best Practices” forum, a “SAP Best Practices” forum, and a “Supply Chain” forum. The forums start with opinion pieces written by AMR personnel or affiliates. A “Forum Consensus” is posted under each listed forum. Only AMR members see the forum discussion details. Some of the forum events – many are scheduled – should be valuable to one interested in ERP performance. Under the “Resource Centers” heading, one will find a link entitled “ERP and Supporting Infrastructure.” That link accesses a page containing links to many articles, research summaries, and other documents of interest pertaining to ERP generally, and some related to ERP performance specifically. To get right to targeted information on the site, the “Search” feature is very useful. For example, site searches on the phrases “ERP best practice,” “ERP Benchmarking,” and “ERP Metrics,” yielded 654 hits, 121 hits, and 436 hits, respectively. While not all of the articles were highly relevant, many were interesting and relevant. Using the search feature to find targeted information certainly seems advisable, as it is much faster than perusing the other site features hoping to find something of interest. Membership might be worthwhile for practitioners or researchers desiring participation in forums or research projects. The application form is relatively short and takes only a few minutes to complete. I completed it, but my registration failed for some unknown reason. I did, however, receive an e-mail confirmation of my registration, so it did actually work. The AMR site is a good site for information on ERP generally, and for ERP performance related topics like benchmarking and best practice. One will also find information about supply chain management, product innovation, compliance and performance management, and more on the AMR site. The ARM site is tastefully designed, well maintained, easy to navigate, and generally worth the visit!
The ERP Fan Club and User Forum
The ERP Fan Club and User Forum site is somewhat unusual, and the discovery of the site was a bit of a surprise. I hardly imagined that enterprise systems could inspire a fan club, but here it is, and there are others! Interestingly, there are a series of related “if” conditions that the creator of the site intends to exclude some from the ERP Fan Club. Basically, all except Baan, Oracle, PeopleSoft and SAP fans are invited to join the “Club,” and fans of those other products are directed to the “Fan Club” sites of their “preferred” products.
The left navigation bar on the ERP Fan Club and User Forum homepage houses links to forums, chat rooms, news items, ERP information, articles, links and more. The “Forums” link accesses a forums page where one can register, examine and sign up for user groups, create a profile, check for private messages (if you are a member), and of course participate in forums. While some of the forums were on topics related to ERP, some discussions were not ERP related at all, but rather mindless rambling on various topics. Many of the postings to the forum were very current, so it would seem that it is quite active, a real advantage for any forum. I did not join the chat room to examine its contents, but it could allow ERP users to exchange ideas in much the same way as the forum does, but in a more direct fashion. The “ERP Info” link seems useful. It accesses a page with links to objective (third party) descriptions of the products of more than 20 vendors, including lists of benefits, major features, and more. The “Articles” link accesses a page with links to many articles contributed by various authors, some of which are relevant to ERP performance, best practice and benchmarking. Following the “Hot Links” link takes one to a page with links to other ERP Fan clubs (like Baan, Oracle, etc.) and ERP Vendors. One would think that this “Fan Club” site and the others might be a good place to network with others for the purpose of sharing information on best practice, benchmarking, and ERP performance metrics. Last, the “News” link accesses a page with links to hundreds of ERP-related news items, some of which are vendor news releases, but others are more general in nature and address issues important to ERP users. Most links access news sites, so one can opt to view current news or examine archives. This was a unique and interesting site. While there is not a wealth of information on the site pertaining specifically to ERP best practice, benchmarking and metrics, the site certainly presents one with opportunities to network with other ERP users for the purpose of discussing these topics. I found no linkrot while examining the “Fan Club” site, and other indicators of currency suggest that the site is well maintained. I feel that this site is a must see for serious ERP practitioners actively involved in ERP system acquisition, implementation, use, and maintenance, and for researchers interested in ERP.
ERPWIRE.com
The ERPWIRE.com site strives to be an information hub for explaining enterprise operations in depth, thus serving all parties interested in ERP, not just software professionals and business analysts. Assorted articles help readers understand ERP basics as well as advanced ERP topics. Coverage includes everything from ERP history to current ERP issues and concerns. Site promoters hope soon to launch a regular forum for sharing and exchanging ERP information for the benefit of academicians, software professionals, ERP business houses, students and the general public. The site targets anyone interested in ERP.
Because of the site name, I expected ERPWIRE to be an e-zine, but it was not. The articles accessible on the site do not identify authors, but they are interesting and useful. I have studied and researched ERP for a number of years, and it is my opinion that the ERPWIRE articles are generally factual, and well written – whoever wrote them does possess a sound understanding of ERP. The articles (accessed via the titled links on the left navigation bar or the site map) cover a wide range of topics including ERP best practices, costs, implementation guidelines, choosing software, methods of implementation and more. Many of the articles relate to best practice either directly or indirectly. Potentially important areas for benchmarking can be extrapolated from the text of many articles. Beyond the articles, the site offers little more than a few links accessed via the “Resources” link. Perhaps the greatest advantage of this site is the style of the articles. I found them to be quite easy to read and believe they would be so for visitors with or without extensive ERP knowledge. Should the forum come to fruition, it could be a valuable resource for information exchange to support the dissemination of best practice, and for collaborative benchmarking. This is a good educational site to learn/teach about various aspects of ERP. The organization of the site makes it quite easy to use.
CIO Magazine ERP Center
The CIO web site has been featured in previous editorials and is a very good source of information about a variety of IT related business related topics. I decided to include it in this editorial on ERP because so many links in the hit-lists produced by my web research pointed to articles on the CIO site. CIO has a number of resource centers (see buttons at top of CIO homepage). Among the centers one will find a Leadership center, a Security center, a Knowledge Management/Storage center, Technology center, an Enterprise center and more. ERP related articles and resources are primarily located in the Enterprise center, along with resources pertaining to CRM, SCM and E-Business. If visitors will click the “Enterprise” button on the homepage, then upon arriving at the Enterprise center, select “ERP” from the drop down list entitled “In this Center,” they will find themselves looking at a webpage full of ERP resources. Within the “Enterprise ERP” area one will find many ERP resources organized under the following headings: features, hot topics/special reports, columns, research reports, case studies, analysts, related links, and events. The case studies, research reports and special reports seem most promising for those interested in ERP performance, in particular benchmarking, best practice and metrics. Some of the “must reads” on the right side of the ERP resources page also seem interesting – the list of must reads changes periodically. While one could find resources of interest in the Enterprise center, the fastest way to find targeted materials is to use “Search CIO.com.” The search feature can save visitors much time in locating resources. I recommend using the “advanced” search. If one refines ones searches so that the matches “must contain” certain key works, one will waste less time sorting through irrelevant materials. A “standard” search using a multiple word search phrase pulls up articles that may match only one of the words, so hit lists are very long and contain too many links to irrelevant materials. If one wants to use one's time efficiently on the CIO site, the Search feature, and more specifically the “advanced” search is the way to go. The CIO site houses a wealth of information on ERP and one can find numerous articles pertaining directly or indirectly to ERP benchmarking, best practice and performance metrics. At first, because the site is quite busy, visitors may be a bit overwhelmed, but once they learn their way around the site, they should find it to be a valuable resource. The CIO site is a good site to bookmark because, as an information source for IT management related topics, it is second to none. While visiting the CIO site, one might wish to sign up for relevant newsletters. They are delivered via e-mail. I receive CIO newsletters and find some to be quite interesting – others I just delete.
ERP5
ERP5 is an Open Source ERP solution, which means transparency, flexibility and evolutivity (their word, not mine) for customers. The alleged advantages of ERP5 include “no risks of forced upgrades, guaranteed lifetime maintainability and of course no license and no requirement to stay with the same vendor or service company forever.” These advantages are among the important ones driving companies toward open source solutions to meet their software needs – ERP and other software, too.
The open source community of users is growing rapidly, and so to is the popularity of open source ERP software. An implied and important motive driving the Open Source “revolution” is the promotion of and dissemination of best software/system practice. Firms using open source software are free to make changes to source-code that improve the software, and ideally its function in support of business processes. Improvements and ideas can be shared with other company business units and with other companies, thus encouraging a large-scale, mutually beneficial, collaborative effort to improve applications. ERP5 has its own user community with which ERP5 users can interact to get assistance, share ideas, and collaborate. One can get an idea of the kind of support available for ERP5 users by following the “support” link on the ERP5 homepage, then the “community” link on that page. Support and opportunities to collaborate are available through the “report mailing list,” the “users mailing list,” and the “developers mailing list.” These lists support dialog with other like-minded users, developers, and others using ERP5. Most other Open Source ERP Products have similar support networks, and users also have access to the Open Source Community at large. While one will not find links on the ERP5 page to articles on benchmarking, best practice, or performance metrics, the site was not included in this editorial for its content, but rather to exemplify a concept. Open Source ERP is gaining popularity and the whole open source concept is becoming more accepted in industry. I believe the Open Source “revolution” has the potential to promote the dissemination of best practice, encourage collaborative benchmarking, and expedite the development of common performance metrics for assessing performance of ERP and other systems as well, because the Open Source “mindset” encourages firms to help each other. The ERP5 site was included in this editorial as an example site. Others such as Compiere at www.compiere.org/ and Tiny ERP at tinyerp.com/ offer Open Source ERP solutions. I believe that firms that adopt the “right” open source ERP will have significant opportunities to work with other firms to make their ERP better. Note I added “right” Open Source ERP. As is the case for proprietary ERP systems, not all Open Source ERP systems are the same. The choice of Open Source ERP should be made with great care. The ERP5 site was un-cluttered, easy to navigate and current.
KnowledgeStorm: enterprise resource planning
http://erp.knowledgestorm.com/
The KnowledgeStorm (KWS) site contains more than ERP, but the focus here is on the ERP Resource site. KnowledgeStorm promotes itself as the “internet's top-ranked search resource for technology solutions and information.” The primary mission of KWS is to help technology vendors reach potential customers, but the site affords visitors access to many useful ERP resources. One can tell rather quickly that the site is designed to showcase products, but the kind of information available on products, vendors, and services could be helpful in identifying best practice and ERP performance metrics, and for developing benchmarks for various aspects of ERP performance.
One can opt to click on the many links under “top requested categories.” An “enterprise resource planning ERP” link can be found in the list, as can links for “supply chain management,” “inventory management,” and “shop floor” control, just to name a few. If one follows the ERP link, one will be transported to a page that displays many resources pertaining to ERP, including reports, white papers, case studies, and more. One will also find links for sponsoring companies, where one can explore proprietary ERP products. One can narrow down the volume of resources to peruse somewhat by selecting the “research library” link in the navigation bar. Doing so, removes some of the advertisements from the hit-list (featured vendors remain in a box above the search results), and one can further restrict output to “case studies,” “articles,” “analysts reports,”, etc. by using the drop down list below the navigation bar. Be forewarned that one must register to access materials. Registration is free, and the form takes only a few minutes to complete. KWS wants simply to collect certain customer information by requiring the registration of users, but this has become commonplace on the Web. One can expedite one's search of the site by using the “search” feature (near top of all pages). I recommend the “advanced search,” because it allows one to refine the search, limiting results to particular types of research results like white papers, research reports, etc. Searches I conducted on ERP benchmarking, best practice and performance metrics produced 119, 165 and 158 hits, respectively, when opting for “all research reports,” as per the advanced search feature options. While much of the information has the flavor of an advertisement, there is more than enough information pertaining to the topics of ERP benchmarking, best practice and performance metrics to make the KnowledgeStorm ERP site worth the visit. While the site was a bit busy because of all the advertisements, it was still easy to navigate and quite current.
W3J (corporate governance: news, plans & documentation)
W3J.com describes itself as “a specialist portal for business and technical journals, documents, standards, templates, plans and information, particularly with respect to corporate and IT governance.” The W3J portal is intended as an information hub for all such documentation. W3J publishes its own documents and it provides access to the documents/materials of a growing number of internationally recognized publishers and developers. On this site one will find standards, toolkits, frameworks and methods, all organized under like-named headings on the W3J homepage. For ERP related materials, the simplest and most direct route is to go to the “toolkits” area, then select the “ERP toolkit” link. The “toolkit” link accesses the ERP Toolkit page which has a navigation bar containing links to samples of the various ERP resources contained in the toolkit. Expect only to see a portion of what is available in the toolkit and not the entire toolkit – to see the entire toolkit one must buy it at a price of $199.
Among the potentially valuable resources available in the toolkit was a report on “ERP drivers and critical success factors.” That 10-page report was based on a literature review that attempted to identify the CSFs of ERP implementation and the key business drivers that influence ERP success. The Planning Toolkit had modules that addressed social issues in implementation, the ERP project plan, vendor selection and more. While the toolkit seemed useful, my comments should not be construed as a recommendation to purchase it. The most notable thing about the W3J site was not what was available, but rather what is planned. The site developers plan a number of sections that should be valuable to those interested in ERP and more. One section that is planned would provide access to select journal articles and newsletters on topics such as ERP, ISO standards, balanced scorecards and more. In short, the site promises more value in the future than it provides at present. Developers say the site will be evolving rapidly, so it may be worth a visit in the future more than it is at present.
AUPeC
Aupec Ltd describes itself as a global authority on energy sector economics and benchmarking that “provides a unique blend of creative consultancy services designed to assist companies and countries alike in delivering their optimum economic goals.” This is a proprietary site, so their primary objective is promoting their own services; however, the AUPeC site was one of few sites found in researching this topic that directly addressed ERP benchmarking.
To examine the AUPeC sites ERP benchmarking resources, one can select the “Benchmarking” link in the list of primary services that appears on the top right portion of the homepage. On the next page, under the same “Benchmarking” link selected on the homepage, there appears a list of benchmarking areas, one of which is “ERP Benchmark.” It one selects that “ERP Benchmark” link, it accesses a page devoted to the consultancy's ERP benchmarking study. Among the opportunities afforded Benchmarking study participants are the following:
- •
Obtain exclusive assessment of ERP system support.
- •
Understand relative position versus peer and competitor companies.
- •
Identify ERP support performance gaps.
- •
Establish real ERP Performance Improvement Targets.
- •
Network across peer companies in the specialist area of ERP.
AUPeC has a data model, described on the benchmarking page, containing statistics collected over the life of its ERP benchmarking study (started in 2001) that can be used to help companies benchmark their ERP performance. While study data was originally collected only for the oil and gas industries, the study was expanded to include chemicals, utilities and other sectors. Contact information is provided for those who wish to inquire about study participation or to gain access to study details, reports, etc. One can request a free sample report or a document that provides free insight into the ERP support and maintenance benchmarking reports. To obtain either, one must fill out a request form. Electronic delivery via e-mail can be expected within one business day. Besides resources available on the Benchmarking page, one can follow the “publications” link on the top of the home page and find other ERP benchmarking resources. The Publications page contains a list of publications that can be ordered. Like the other reports, one must fill out a form to request documents and one can expect next business day electronic delivery. While this site did not contain a great deal of information on ERP benchmarking, at least some area of the site was devoted exclusively to ERP benchmarking. Some information on ERP benchmarking is available, and visitors who are willing to take the time to fill out the form can obtain that information free. I did not request details about the ERP benchmarking study participation, but I would assume that, since it is a consultancy site, participation does come at some cost. The site was interesting and well organized. Navigation was quick and easy, as it should be on the site of a respected consultancy trying to attract business with its site. If one is interested specifically in ERP benchmarking, this is a good site to visit.
Conclusion
The focus of BIJ is on “topics that have substantial management content, rather than being primarily technical in nature.” ERP performance is certainly a topic consistent with that focus. It should be important to managers in both the public and private sectors. ERP systems have become commonplace in large corporations and their spread continues, with SME and public sector ERP adoption increasing, as vendors recognize the market potential of those segments and develop products tailored to their needs and budgets. When I started the research for this editorial, I expected to find many sites devoted to ERP performance, be it in the area of benchmarking, best practice or performance metrics. While I found ERP performance-related research, articles, and even tools on sites visited in preparing this editorial, I was surprised to find not a single site devoted exclusively to any of the three areas. ERP-savvy researchers and practitioners understand that there is ERP “the process” and ERP “the system.” The ERP process is multifaceted, involving multiple functions and inter and intra function processes. Companies do attempt to originate, identify and emulate best practice and they benchmark performance in many key areas of enterprise resource planning and that is important. Then there are the ERP systems and the many modules that comprise those systems. The systems should streamline, improve and better integrate business processes to make enterprise activities and processes more efficient and effective. Measuring the extent to which the ERP systems do indeed have the desired organizational impact does seem warranted, and some firms certainly do undertake assessment to determine if their systems are meeting expectations and paying for themselves, but most of the attention seems focused on implementation and not ongoing ERP use. One would think that ERP benchmarking, best practice and metrics would warrant a web site devoted to all or each of them. I will concede the possibility that such sites do exists, and that I simply failed to discover them in my Web research. If this was the case, then perhaps they should be better publicized or better designed to insure that they are picked up by major search engines. The site Indiana University, as well as the one I read about at Texas A&M but could not locate, may evolve into sites that help to disseminate information on ERP best practice, benchmarking and metrics. They, however, have not yet “arrived,” and it seems to me that there is a need for a site or sites devoted entirely to ERP performance. Perhaps this editorial will inspire someone or some organization to launch such a site. If I overlooked existing sites in my research, perhaps BIJ readers would contact me and provide me the URLs of those sites, so that I might publicize them in future editorials. Whatever the impact of this editorial, it is my hope that BIJ readers found it interesting and useful.
With each Internet editorial I write, I strive to meet the needs of BIJ readers. Your views are important to me and will influence the format and content of future editorials. Any assistance you can provide to help me achieve that goal is appreciated. If you have a site or know of a site that you would like to see featured in future editorials, please e-mail me your suggestions. Send your comments and suggestions to Ronald McGaughey at: ronmc@uca.edu
Ronald E. McGaugheyInternet Editor