University ERP Preparation Analysis: A PPU Case Study

The Enterprise Resources Planning (ERP) systems are one of the most frequently used systems by business organizations. Recently, the university sectors began using the ERP system in order to increase the quality of their academic and administrative services. However, the implementation of ERP is complicated, risky, and no factor can guarantee a successful system. Previous studies were primarily concerned with Critical Success Factors (CSFs) in business organizations and organizational success factors. This produced plenty of information about these topics. However, the university environment and structure is different, which encourages us to study its specific technical critical success factors. In this paper, Palestine Polytechnic University (PPU) will be our case study. Our attention is concentrated on technical success factors at PPU. Firstly, the paper focused on the technical problems which current systems in the PPU suffered from, in order to extract the particular CSFs which are needed to implement ERP systems. Secondly, the paper focused on the most technical critical factors that ensure successful implementation of the ERP project. Thirdly, a study of the degree to which PPU’s technical staff uses software engineering practices during the development process has been conducted by focusing on phases activities. Our main aim is to get a pool of parameters related to a successful preparation of universities’ ERP systems. Keywords—Enterprise Resources Planning (ERP); University ERP; software engineering practices software engineering phases activities; critical success factor; technical success factors; ERP implementation; successful ERP


I. INTRODUCTION
Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, also named integrated information solutions, or integrated application packages, give us the ability to control all the main functions of a business by using integrated information architecture. The main goal of implementing ERP systems is to connect all units of the business and all organization functions into a unified or integrated computer system that meets the needs and satisfies the users of the entire organization [1]. (ERP) is information system software that aims to integrate all business processes and functions in a central database. This boosts the management of business resources (finance, production, human resource, materials, etc.) in an effective, efficient, and productive way [2]- [5]. Moreover, the universities ERP system is defined as "an information technology solution that integrates and automates recruitment, admissions, financial aid, student records, and most academic and administrative services" [6]. University administrative services include human resources, billing, accounting, and payroll. On one hand, academic services include deployment, admission, registration, and all aspects of student records [7]. On the other hand, university ERP systems that are implemented for academic purposes provide all administrative and academic functions. Universities have made important investments in ERP implementation in order to improve their business operations planning.
The usage of ERP is not new; it started in the 1960s as accounting software named Inventory Control (IC), in the 1970s it was developed into Material Requirements Planning (MRP) which developed into planning and control of the production cycle. After that, in the 1980s, MRP was advanced in Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP II) which used to increase the efficiency of manufacturing by technology integrations for information. Then, MRP II extended to ERP systems [5], [8], [9]. Table 1 depicts the evolution of ERP systems. There is no single critical factor that can guarantee the success of the ERP system. ERP requires a mix of critical factors to achieve the desired outcomes. From an ERP point of view, CSFs are the important areas that organizations should focus on in order to achieve successful performance [10]- [12]. Previous studies identified plenty of critical factors which had an impact on ERP implementation. These factors guided, influenced, and helped achieve desired goals. Nonetheless, 60% to 80% of ERP systems failed to meet expected results in the university environment [13]. On the other hand, it will be a way towards failure, when an organization misunderstands of how the software is implemented, and how efficiency and system functionality are to be maintained [14]. In addition to www.ijacsa.thesai.org that, ERP system implementation practices will be full of devastating implementation stories. Implementation processes had never been on time, budget, and achieving goals [15]. So researchers define software engineering as "an engineering discipline that is concerned with all aspects of software production" [16]. This paper focuses on the university's situation during preparation for ERP system implementation. In addition, we will concentrate on technical success factors' that influence building ERP at PPU and also the critical success factors that generally conform to gain a successful university ERP in broader context. More specifically, we studied to which degree software engineering practices are used during the software development life cycle process at PPU. The results of the study can be used as guidelines to support the structure that must be followed during the implementation of university ERP systems.

II. UNIVERSITIES' ERP CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS
Critical Success Factors (CSFs) are among the important issues that ERP literature focuses on. Approaches and issues of CSFs by case studies were studied, developed, proposed, identified, and analyzed. CSFs are defined as a set of activities which need constant attention in order to plan and implement an ERP system [11]. Despite the differences that exist between organizations' environments, the main categories of technical CSFs discussed in this paper are a concern of almost all universities. In [17] they identified the CSFs in a case study of higher education, and organized factors into categories: organizational, technical, vendor, individual, cultural, social, political and national. Hence, this paper focused on technological aspects. These CSFs include [17]: We conducted our experiment using qualitative analysis, which entails studying the current phenomenon as real. We saw that qualitative analysis through the form of questionnaires was the best way to conduct this research. Also, we used some quantitative analysis to collect some of the factors to get more specificity to the PPU.
The qualitative method affirms our understanding of situations and allows us to analyze them critically without any bias from information based on previous experiences of the research [18]. Such methodologies are good when the subjects have previous research done in the same area with the same exploratory frame. Quantitative methodology is quite different from qualitative methodology because it affirms and strongly depends on testing and verification. Also, it focuses on facts and hypothesis testing, and is generalizable to the population [18].

A. Study Methodology
This research was conducted by using three questionnaires in total. The first two aimed to study CSFs; one specifically focused on the technical problems which current systems in the PPU suffered from, in order to extract the particular CSFs which are needed to implement ERP systems. The other simply focused on the most technical critical factors that ensure successful implementation of the ERP project. These were extracted from the previous literature and the first questionnaire. The third questionnaire studied the degree to which the technical people utilized standard software engineering practices and activities during the PPU's systems' implementation. After completing the questionnaires, verifying their validity, and measuring their reliability, we printed and distributed them amongst the sample of the study. The completed questionnaires were statistically analyzed and recommendations were extracted.

1) Population
The population studied was technical people at PPU, who are responsible for developing system inside the university.

2) Sample
Consists of (11) technical people who have a significant effect on the development process. Table 2 shows the demographic information about the sample.

3) Validation of questionnaires
The validity of the questionnaires was verified by presenting it to a group of experienced professors at PPU. They made a number of observations and notes on some of the paragraphs and questions that were taken into account when directing the study in its present form.

4) Study reliability
To verify the reliability of the study, the internal consistency coefficient was extracted in order to measure the degree to which software engineering practices were utilized during the systems' implementation process at PPU. The Cronbach's Alpha was 94.7%

5) Statistical processing
After collecting the data, we reviewed it in order to prepare and did the required statistical processing. Statistical analysis of the data was done by extracting figures, percentages, mean, standard deviations, and t-test using SPSS.

6) Scales
-Questionnaire number one and three uses 5 levels Likert scale as: (1=extremely disagree, 2=disagree, 3=undecided, 4=agree, 5=extremely agree). -Questionnaire number two uses 5 level Likert scale as: (1=extremely not critical, 2=not critical, 3=undecided, 4=critical, 5=extremely critical) in order to study the criticality and importance of factors. www.ijacsa.thesai.org The aim of this survey is to study the technical problems where current systems at PPU suffer from. These problems are extracted from literature reviews according to the success factors that affect the university's environment and form the internal reports. Each problem is translated into one success factor. Our objective is to specifically investigate the possible ERP factors in this university. The objective of an open question is to indicate additional factors that must be taken into consideration during the implementation of a new system.
The questionnaire includes 18 questions aimed at studying different technical problems of current systems, and how much of the staff actually adheres to the details and concepts associated with the development process.
The subjects of the questions were: complexity, network reliability, flexibility, efficiency, system's response time to users' requests, data quality, analysis, and conversion mechanisms, minimum customization, user friendliness, help menu and documentation, visibility of the system's status, robustness and error prevention, software development, software testing and troubleshooting [17]. In addition to internal documentation, additional factors are added: data redundancy, process workflow, and System alerts.
To answer the previous question, the mean and the standard deviation of the study questions were extracted as shown in Table 3.
According to results shown in Table 4, the factors which were less than 3 must be taken into consideration. They are: menu and documentation, processes workflows, system alert, and data redundancy. www.ijacsa.thesai.org The current systems are designed to provide useful and needed alerts System alerts 3.0909 1.04447 The use of the current system is efficient. System efficiency 2.9091 .83121 The current system was designed to be less complex structures System complexity 2.8182 .98165 One of the current systems' characteristics is prevention errors Error prevention 2.7273 1.00905 The current system interfaces are designed to be user friendly User friendliness 2.64 1.120 One of the current systems' characteristics is robustness System Robustness 2.6364 1.12006 The current system was designed to be flexible. System flexibility 2.5455 .68755 The current systems have an easy data conversion mechanism Conversion mechanisms 2.4545 1.12815 The current system responses to user's requests quickly System's response time to users' requests 2.4545 .93420 The current system's status is an aspect is always you concern to be visible to user Consequently, the factor of process workflows is converted to the Business Process Reengineering (BPR): because there must be a change of some of the work processes to optimize the implementation of ERP systems [6]. The factor of data redundancy was merged with system integration because it will be eliminated when the integration is achieved, so it is converted to system integration. Also, the system alert merged with system integration because the needed alerts will be provided and automated easily when integration is successfully accomplished. In the "undecided answers" pool, we noticed that there was a problem of technical people not being able to choose answers regarding their systems' aspects, specifically the systems that they themselves are working on. Consequently, we decided to cover the factors which earned a high rate of undecided (>2.5). They were: System efficiency, System complexity, Error prevention, User friendliness, and System robustness.
Moreover, the questionnaire also included open questions that sought additional factors that the staff thought must be considered as technical aspects of the systems at PPU. The results were: 1) Security.
3) Business process reengineering.  Table 4, the literature review, internal documents, and response of the interviewees to the questionnaire and interview, we found that the critical success factors which we should be concerned with when studying the implementation of new ERP systems in PPU are: 1) Complexity.

2) Second: Technical CSFs for PPU case.
The aim of the second questionnaire was to study the question of "which critical factors were the best at ensuring the technical successful ERP project implementation". These factors were extracted from the first questionnaire and literature review as explained in the previous section. Table 4 was created which includes the results of the mean and the standard deviation for each technical factor.  Table 6 shows that the dominant answers were between "agree and extremely agree". In order to verify which critical success factors at PPU were more critical and effective, the sample t-test method was used, where the null hypothesis H0 is μ<3 and the alternative hypothesis H1 is μ≥3. Following t is the used statistic test [6]: The results of questionnaire are shown in Table 5.
Therefore, according to the questionnaire results which were shown in Table 5; the 14 critical and effective CSFs of ERP implementation in PPU, arranged from more critical to less critical, which are: 1) Security.
3) Data analysis.  The aim of this questionnaire is to study the degree of software engineering activities which are utilized during systems process implementation at PPU. All theoretical information is extracted from [16].

a) Software Specification or Requirements Engineering
Requirements engineering activity is the process that is responsible for developing and extracting software requirements. The specifications are designed to communicate the system needs of the users with system developers.
In our research, we studied main sub-activities that must be done during this phase. These include: 1) Feasibility study.
2) Perform elicitation and specification of requirements.
3) Making a scenarios and prototype constructions.

4) Constructing system models.
The percentage PPU technical staff utilizing this stage was 41.9%. Results of mean and standard deviation for subactivities that were included in the phase of software specification are represented in Table 6. The results are listed in order from the most to the least applied. Looking at the data, the feasibility study is the activity that is most applied.
Here, according to [16] elicitation requirements will keep us away from facing problem and errors in the next stages. b) Software Design The next stage that our research deals with is software design, in which design face describes the structure of the system intended for implementation, indicates data models which will be used, and determine interfaces between components, etc. In our research, we studied the main subactivities that must be carried out during this stage. They include: 1) Applying an architectural design.
2) Applying an interface design.
3) Applying a component design.

4) Applying a database design.
The percentage of PPU technical staff utilizing this stage was 40.9%. The results of mean and standard deviation for sub-activities that are included in this phase can be found in Table 7. The results are listed in order from the most to the least applied. Looking at the data, the architectural design is the activity that is most frequently applied. c) Software development The software development stage is responsible for converting system requirements and specifications into an executable system during the process of software development. In our research, we studied main sub-activities that must be carried out during this stage. They include: 1) PPU project developers' team members.
2) PPU technical team members who are well skilled 3) Availability of technology tools which support the capabilities and productivity. 4) Making system documentations.

5) Conversion plan.
The percentage of PPU technical staff utilizing this stage was 45.5%. The results of mean and standard deviation for sub-activities included in this phase can be found in Table 8. According to results, we see that "Availability of technology tools which support the capabilities and productivity" is too low which indicates that the staff needs more resources besides the skills which must be developed.

d) Verification and Validation
Software validation is the process of verifying that the system complies with its specifications and it meets the real needs of system users. In our research, we studied the main sub-activities that must be carried out during this stage: 1) Test plan 2) Development testing

3) System testing 4) Acceptance testing
The percentage of PPU technical staff utilizing this stage was 45.5%. The results of mean and standard deviation for www.ijacsa.thesai.org sub-activities that are included in this phase are shown in Table 9. The results are listed in order from the most to the least applied. Looking at the data, creating a test plan is the most applied activity. We always do acceptance testing 2.5455 .82020 We always do a system testing 2.4545 .93420 e) Project management All systems should be developed using a clear development process. The university must plan the development process and have clear and complete ideas about what will be developed and what is the outcome of the development process and when it will be completed. Accordingly, we decided to focus on the project management as a stage. In our research, we studied the main sub-activities that must be done during this stage which include: 1) Determine project's activities by milestones 2) Frequently sending the project progress reports to the manager by employees 3) Setting project schedules (e.g. activity chart, bar chart)

4) Creating project risk management plan
The percentage of PPU technical staff utilizing this stage was 40.9%. The results of mean and standard deviation for sub-activities included in this phase can be found in Table 10. As summary, Table 11 represents the fundamental software engineering activities for any software development process which are done by PPU staff. They are listed in descending order from most to least applied. We concluded that the most applying activity is project management, then software development, after that software specification, then software design. At the table shows that verification and validation activity to be the least applied.

IV. CONCLUSIONS
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) or integrated information solutions provide a controlling ability to all main business functions of organizations and companies using integrated information architecture. Thus, universities exploit ERP system to take its advantages and to improve the information systems they possess. In this paper, we took Palestine Polytechnic University (PPU) as a case study in order to help preparation of ERP implementation, and to improve the information system at PPU. The current situation is fragmented and non-integrated system, in addition to different data identification and redundancy. This paper focused on the university's situation during the preparation of ERP system implementation. In addition, the study concentrated on technical success factors' influenced on and important to PPU case. The critical success factors that generally conform to gain a successful ERP system are also mentioned. More specifically, we studied the degree that software engineering practices are used during the software development life cycle process at PPU. The results of the study were used to support the structure that must be followed during the implementation process. The final list of technical CSFs of PPU includes: In the case of software engineering practices, we found that the most applying activity is project management, then software development, after that software specification, then software design. At the end we find verification and validation activity is the least applied. www.ijacsa.thesai.org A potential future work is to empirically use these results to improve a PPU's ERP framework in order to prepare and plan to implement an efficient ERP system.