Journal of Cases on Information Technology Volume 22 • Issue 1 • September 2018 1 Copyright © 2018, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited. CLOUD ERP SYSTEMS FOR SMALL-AND- MEDIUM ENTERPRISES: A CASE STUDY IN THE FOOD INDUSTRY Amir Zadeh 1 , Bolaji Akinyemi 1 , Anand Jeyaraj 1 , Hamed M. Zolbanin 2 1 Wright State University, U.S. 2 Ball State University, U.S. ABSTRACT Organizations recognize the need to adopt Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) in order to become more competitive, efficient, and productive, although the adoption and implementation of an ERP system is a costly and risky endeavor. Recently, cloud computing has become a viable and competitive means by which most organizations, especially Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), can implement an ERP system in a short time frame and cost-effective way. Our research examines the feasibility of cloud-based ERP systems for SMEs through a case study. The case emphasizes the potential of cloud-based ERP systems for SMEs as well as some of the challenges and peculiarities involved in their efforts to obtain an affordable and versatile ERP system. Our findings can potentially guide SMEs to make well-informed decisions throughout their cloud-based ERP adoption process. Keywords: Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Cloud ERP, Cloud Computing, Software as a Service (SaaS), Vendor Selection, Business Processes, Supply Chain, Case Study INTRODUCTION Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) play an important role in the socio-economic development of nations by creating jobs and boosting the economic recovery, which are important to the creation of wealth (Coyte et al., 2012). In order to expand their business initiatives, reduce costs and improve on production capacities, SMEs need to adopt new innovations that can bring about the desired boost to their business models (Alizai & Burgess, 2009). The enacted capabilities of SMEs’ Information Systems (IS) could play a crucial role in this process (Bhatt et al., 2017; Salleh et al., 2017). As such, a reliable and responsive supply chain is one of the principal drivers of achieving these goals, and enterprise resource planning (ERP) happens to be one of the primary vehicles to help drive supply chain objectives. An ERP system can offer multiple values to any organization planning to streamline their operations to achieve profitability and gain an edge over their competitors. Many organizations adopt information technology solutions, such as ERP systems, to efficiently manage their business processes and to streamline the flow of information between units within the enterprise, as well as to collaborate with suppliers, partners, and customers. Therefore, the successful adoption and deployment of ERP systems are crucial for the competitiveness and survival of organizations. However, the selection and implementation of an ERP system presents a huge challenge for SMEs,