Consult Figure 1 for a listing of the potential causes of database performance degradation. All of these problems can negatively impact the acceptance of the ERP solution within the organization. And all of the problems are avoidable with proper up-front database planning. Improperly defined indexes can significantly degrade application performance, particularly for high-volume OLTP applications. Although the actual code in the ERP application cannot be modified without risking the loss of vendor support, indexes can be added, removed and changed to optimize data access.
Some packages enable customers to specify their own keys.
In this situation, the DBA must create supporting indexes because the ERP vendor does not have the necessary information to supply the appropriate indexes. Yet, it is important to create only those indexes that are required to maintain uniqueness or enhance performance because irrelevant indexes incur DBMS overhead thereby degrading overall application performance. Of course, this is only one example of how DBAs can optimize an ERP implementation. Tweaking any or all of the items in Figure 1 potentially can improve performance. As part of the planning process the DBA group will need to ensure that the appropriate database management tools are in place to support the ERP application.