Transforming the Force: A Comparative Analysis of the Department of Defense's (DOD's) Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Systems

Automated Information Systems (AIS) are Software systems that support administrative functions, such as accounting, payroll, finance, personnel, inventory control, logistics, and equipment and maintenance scheduling. An ERP system is a type of AIS that works to integrate all the different functional business areas of an organization. Since the 1990s, a large number of corporations have transitioned from legacy proprietary software to an ERP. The companies who have successfully made the transition have greatly benefited from the flow of information across the organization that is brought about by the ERP’s ability to integrate the multi-dimensional data into a single common database. The current AIS environment of the DOD is marked by a lack of systems integration. Like industry, the DOD is looking to combat this environment with ERP systems. This thesis intends to document the history of the ERP implementations in the DOD. In addition, this thesis will highlight the different approaches each service is taking to complete their transitions. The thesis will also compare the plans of the services to the plans that successful corporations executed in their transitions to an ERP. By comparing the plans of the services to industry’s guidelines on how to correctly implement an ERP, this thesis will provide new analysis to aid the DOD in this critical endeavor.