Navy Enterprise Resource Planning Program: governance challenges in deploying an enterprise-wide information technology system in the Department of the Navy

Abstract

The United States Department of the Navy (DoN) Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Program is deploying the largest enterprise-wide information technology (IT) system seen in any public sector organization to date. Along with this landmark project is a multitude of implementation challenges for the Navy to overcome. The DoN is using private industry best practices to establish the Navy ERP Program. Some of the challenges faced by the Navy may stem from the inherent differences between public and private sector organizations. If so, the management of IT system implementations in the Navy must therefore account for these sector differences, and cannot fully rely on private sector best practices. This paper will examine the implementation challenges of Navy ERP with respect to its public sector characteristics in order to provide a baseline for developing a governance framework for future enterprise-wide IT implementations in the DoN.