Modern ERP: Select, Implement, and Use Today's Advanced Busine

For an introduction, I have a BS degree in Computer Science from the University of Southern California. And while pursuing my MS in Information Technology at the California Lutheran University, we used Modern ERP by Dr. Bradford as our textbook in an ERP course.Modern ERP is not your typical textbook, however. It serves students, IT consultants, and industry professionals alike. It is an “easy read,” even though it can get a bit technical. With the organization and the thoroughness of this book, Dr. Bradford was able to compact this book with information that would have to be presented in at least three books otherwise. Personally, throughout my 25 years of IT experience, this is the best book I have read as it reflects real-life projects, their messiness, and their dos and don’ts. The book is very pragmatic, as it coincides with real-world applications. Dr. Bradford goes into the nitty-gritty details for the ERP systems need and the industries that could benefit from it, and she covers the ERP implementation process, revealing the good, the bad, and the ugly.During my career, I had the chance to work with companies where I gained experience as a developer and a project manager. I managed projects here in the US and abroad and have turned legacy systems into client/server applications. I have been part of developing applications from the ground up. I have planned and designed applications, architectured servers, firewalls, databases, SSLs, redundancy, and disaster recovery. I also took part in the go-live process and maintenance process. I have experienced a big bang release, a phased release, and a parallel release and support.Dr. Bradford’s Modern ERP approach reflects her lifelong experience as an ERP professor at the North Carolina State University. Her research reflects the insights she provides in her book and the examples she presents. I like how Dr. Bradford approached this book by setting up the scene in the first few chapters, establishing a foundation, then delving in-depth into the following chapters for a more advanced understanding. For the sake of practicality, she even emphasizes the frustrations that businesses face when it comes to performance and the reasons behind the need for ERP implementations. Dr. Bradford acknowledges the importance of educating and training employees and stakeholders’ buy-in as critical pieces of a successful implementation. Her use of visuals in conjunction with detailed explanations exemplifies ERP application to real-life companies such as Walmart and Proctor & Gambles.The book projects readers’ attention on the importance of limiting duplication of data and the need for the “single version of the truth.” The book covers the whole gamut of IT infrastructure, from mainframe to client/server, distributed computing, to relational database management systems. She also covers coded lock access points, supply chain, human capital management, CRM, go-live, and maintenance, to name a few. I especially value the section that covers the causes and types of ERP failures. To speak of the book’s thoroughness, the chapter on databases, Bradford covers the common database terminologies, so her readers are not left hanging when a concept progresses.On the other hand, however, I would have liked to see more on cloud ERP and the importance of IoT, which will completely change the real-time data and its effect on the ERP world. Another suggestion I would have for Dr. Bradford is to add pertinent case studies to the book chapters that enhance students’ learning experience.I find the Modern ERP book very informative: for students, it brings the reader up to date with new technical terms and methods. It is a reflection of real-life projects; it is an educational tool. The readers will learn the essential terminologies and concepts related to the ERP ecosystem—Best-of-Breed vis-à-vis Best-in-Class/Vertical Solution. It covers how to approach and plan an ERP system; it is precisely the kind of book IT professionals would want to keep around and use as a technical resource book.

I bought this book for an ERP course as a part of my Masters in Accounting program (I was lucky enough to take the course from the author). I was totally new to the topic of ERP and found this book to be a perfect companion. It's an ideal blend of smart and accessible, and very well-organized. I wouldn't have guessed just how much goes into the decisions behind selecting an ERP system and its implementation, and now I have a much better understanding of the process. I also really liked the material on business process redesign and process mapping. I've always been interested in processes and this section of the book walks through how to map out the steps in a process and identify where improvements could be made so that the ERP implementation is solving the right problems and not just putting new technology on bad, old processes.