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Discusses the acquisition team formation, the interdisciplinary nature of the teams and the roles of the steering committee, MIS, purchasing and users for an ERP solution. The goal of the paper in presenting these is to make you aware that the composition of the acquisition teams is a critical factor that affects the acquisition process.

This paper aims to present a discussion of the critical success factors (CSF) that affect the acquisition process for enterprise resource planning (ERP) software.

The research strategy was a multiple‐case design with three organizations that had recently completed the acquisition of an ERP solution. The rationale for the multiple‐case design was that, as a research strategy, the focus could be directed to understanding the dynamics and complexities present within each case, these being critical success factors of the ERP software acquisition process within the organization.

This study identified ten factors critical to the successful outcome of acquiring an ERP solution. Their omission would have resulted in a less than optimal outcome for the organization. For each of the three cases, the elements that stand out the most are as follows: clear and unambiguous authority, a structured, rigorous and user‐driven process, its planning, the establishment of criteria, and the sense of partnership that the team works to establish not only with various user commitments, but also with the potential vendor.

It is important to note that no one CSF alone is going to make an ERP acquisition successful. It is rather the combination of several critical factors that will result in its successful outcome.

Decribes how ESC, a holding company for a gas and electric utility and non‐utility energy business, completed the acquisition of Oracle’s enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution (finance and related applications) at a cost of US$6.5 million in March 1997. From initiation to completion, the acquisition took approximately six months. The structure of the acquisition process that emerged from the data revealed six distinctive iterative, recursive and inter‐related processes that, together, form a complex web of activity and tasks for the acquisition of ERP software. These activities and tasks are described and analyzed as a function of the six processes. The ERP acquisition process developed by ESC for this acquisition was non‐typical of their normal procurement practices and proved to be a significant learning experience for the entire organization. This case provides a useful illustration of “good practice” and sets forth the framework for the ERP acquisition process.

Keller Manufacturing, a mid‐sized furniture manufacturer, completed the purchase of an enterprise resource planning (ERP) software solution in August of 1996 at a cost of US$1 million. From 12 individuals who participated on Keller’s acquisition team, the four principals were interviewed for this case. The structure of the acquisition process that emerged from the data revealed six distinctive iterative, recursive and inter‐related processes that, together, form a complex web of activity and tasks for the acquisition of ERP software. These activities and tasks are described and analyzed as a function of the six processes. The ERP acquisition process developed by Keller for this purchase was atypical of their normal purchasing practices and proved to be a significant learning experience for the entire organization. This case provides a useful illustration of “good practice” and sets forth the framework for the ERP acquisition process.

This paper focuses on the influences and characteristics of the enterprise resource planning (ERP) acquisition process (ERPAP) that were found during a multiple‐case study of four organizations that had acquired ERP solutions. From organizational buying behaviour (OBB), Webster and Wind’s (Prentice‐Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1972) served as the basis for categorizing the influences that surfaced during the study. While Webster and Wind’s model presents a broad scope of variables that might affect organizational buying without distinguishing those variables that are dependent on specific buying situations, the research herein highlights variables (influences and characteristics) specific to the buying situation for ERP software packages. Numerous influences emerged, among the most notable of which was the influence of users. Five prominent characteristics were also noted. A future study of these influences could examine the extent to which they impact the ERPAP and could serve to help organizations minimize those that are shown to hinder it.