Kishore Banerjee - We implemented SAP version 4.6C on the first of May 2003. The process of implementation began on September 2002. Our experience with SAP wasn’t new. Before re-implementing SAP 4.6C with 12 modules we were already using SAP 3.1H for a few modules and there were a few modules running on Sybase, FoxPro & other applications.

Kishore Banerjee - There were a number of factors that contributed towards our choosing an ERP. Firstly, when you’re looking in the market for an ERP, you must understand your own business requirements. One has to be well informed as to what are the company’s business processes and what kind of functionality one requires from an ERP. Another important feature we expected form our ERP vendor was on-line & long term support. Quick response with solution for change in taxation rules of your country also helps a lot when, it is supported by the vendor. We made sure that we choose a vendor who has a firm foothold in the market, so that we could be sure that may be ten or twenty years down the line, our vendor does not sell out or run out of business. One should also consider which vendor is consistently investing major amount in R&D, because if a vendor does not invest in R&D, the vendor will not understand their customers’ needs. R&D would involve research on complex and rapid changing business environment resulting change in business processes, best practices, etc. This also enables them to provide better support. Another important point when you are implementing an ERP is that you have to invest in new hardware and select your implementation partner. The ERP vendor should have strong collaboration with leading hardware and implementation vendor.