Looking at the current business market today, there is no doubt that the competition is on the rise. More and more Kenyans are adopting technology and becoming creative in identifying new business ideas and capitalizing on them. Every industry in the Kenyan economy now is more open to opportunities that unlock their potential and drives growth. This has largely been made possible by the new technological advancements.
ERP in Kenya is not new. Many businesses have tried to adopt it and some have reaped the benefits that come with the ERP adoption
ERP is a software that integrates all the business functions in an enterprise, giving it a practical solution for the purpose of facilitating smooth flow of common functional information and practices across entire organization. The history of Information systems indicate that many business organizations incrementally developed in-house system solutions in such a way that each system had its own files and database with loose and awkward integration. Although most of business organizations in the developed world easily adopt new technological innovations, similar organizations in the developing world face numerous challenges due to constraints related to the nature of available information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure. Additionally, the situation in the developing world is worsened by lack of investment in business research and development.
ERP in Kenya is not new. Many businesses have tried to adopt it and some have reaped the benefits that come with the ERP adoption. The first cases of ERP adoption occurred between the years 1986 and 1990 when 5% of the adopters took up the technological innovation. Between the years 1991 and 1995, the adoption remained at 5%. The period 1986 to 1995, the adoption remained constant at 5%. In the subsequent periods 1996-2000, 2001-2005, and 2006-2010, the adoption went up to 20%, 30%, and 40% respectively. Forecasting this, it therefore means that the adoption of ERP systems in Kenya will rise in future because the dynamism of business needs coupled with this advancement in technology and the ever-evolving global business environment will lead to innovative development of suitable corporate information systems.
Factors that influence the adoption of ERPs include Organizational Factors: company size, market scope, nature of the organization’s ICT resources, internal enterprise’s culture, and membership to associations. This implies that the greater the complexity of a company’s business functions, the greater the probability of ERP adoption. In the Kenyan market today, the ERP systems are scalable in a way that all the business industries are catered for, especially for the SMEs.
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*http://www.ku.ac.ke/schools/business/images/stories/research/adoption_of_erps_in_kenya.pdf