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CHAPTER 10.2

INTEGRATING PM AND ERP

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) vendors have jumped on the projects
bandwagon with new integrative releases that allow operations and projects to
find common ground.

It was only about five years ago when I noticed an increased level of activity
between vendors of project management software (PMS) and the developers
of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. My first impulse was This is
getting too complex. It’s hard enough to keep up to speed with all the PMS
products and associated issues. Now, I need to know about several ancillary
(and complex) applications and their associated products. Maybe it’s time to
retire, I thought.

But, as often happens, a common theme keeps on reappearing. And repeat-
edly, this issue of connecting PMS to these ERP products appeared on the radar
screen. It just couldn’t be ignored. I had to find out what was going on. Was there
a real need? By whom? For what? Ever the skeptic, I had to find out. Was this in-
tegration of PMS and ERP really paying dividends or was this merely a great con-
cept with unfulfilled potential?

What Is ERP?
Before I started looking into this topic, I had a better idea of who is providing so-
called Enterprise Resource Planning solutions than of what it really is. Vendors

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