EVENTS

LMI Research Institute to Hold Fourth Executive Forum on February 14, 2006

“ERP: Integrating and Extending the Enterprise”

McLean, Virginia, February 1, 2006—The LMI Research Institute will hold its fourth Executive Forum on February 14, 2006. Senior members of federal government agencies contemplating or implementing enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems will gather to discuss their benefits and the potential pitfalls of implementation.

ERP systems are integrated business software and processes linked by a common data repository. Private-sector organizations began implementing ERP systems in the late 1980s to increase competitiveness. The federal government lags behind industry in implementation: while the private sector has incorporated second-generation features such as extended collaboration with customers and suppliers, many government agencies still seek first-generation functionality.

Several civilian agencies have implemented ERP in individual functional areas, such as personnel or finance, preserving existing organizational structures yet limiting full accessibility to information. The Department of Defense is pilot-testing several systems, each in a limited functional area or organization and with legacy systems often intact. The remaining challenge is to integrate these ERP systems with each other and legacy systems, to truly enable efficient business processes and create common access to information. This Executive Forum offers senior managers from a variety of government agencies an opportunity for frank, not-for-attribution discussion of ERP benefits and drawbacks.

LMI established the LMI Research Institute in 2004 as a center of innovation that seeks to produce breakthrough ideas for advancing the science of government management. It strives to add rigor, precision, and greater predictability to all aspects of government decision making.