To probe more deeply into how the vendors are doing, the survey asked IT leaders to share how satisfied they were with the level of innovation provided based on access to information, flexibility, integration, total cost of ownership (TCO) and usability. Responses to the first three categories were almost evenly split between those who were satisfied and those who were not.

But when it came to TCO and usability, CIOs reported some interesting differences. On usability, CIOs were quite happy: More than 60 percent were satisfied or very satisfied. On TCO, 54 percent were not very satisfied or not at all satisfied. "Cost of ownership continues to be onerous," Wang concurs. In fact, 26 percent of respondents who were dismantling or considering dismantling their ERP systems in favor of other models cited lowering their total cost of ownership as a primary motivator. (Just under 30 percent cited their desire for increased flexibility.)

Wang says that in order to show better TCO, vendors must deliver more value for the maintenance dollar, reduce maintenance fees and allow third-party vendors to compete.

Despite the persistent challenges and gloomy predictions for the U.S. economy, the majority of CIOs surveyed planned to spend money on ERP software in 2008. While 11 percent were making a new purchase, 54 percent planned a minor or major upgrade next year. Just over 25 percent said they weren't spending on ERP software, and 10 percent were not sure. Total annual ERP costs were split among maintenance (35%), services (including upgrades, integration and consulting work—34%) and licensing costs (32%).

It seems that there are always costs with ERP systems, even if a company isn't upgrading to the next edition. "There's always been something, whether implementing new modules, customizing or paying for ongoing maintenance," Haney says. "And if you don't pay maintenance, and then you let [the contract] expire, when you do an upgrade in the future, you will have to pay."

Into the Arms of Another Vendor?

Beyond ongoing expenses, CIOs face many persistent challenges with their ERP systems. (We didn't offer "costly implementation" as a choice, but it is sure to have been high atop many CIOs' lists.) IT leaders found themselves stymied by complicated systems integration (39%), a lack of customization around particular business strategies (38%), high cost of ownership (36%), difficulty in accessing or extracting useful information (32%), and systems that were difficult to use or not intuitive (31%).

None of this is news to Haney or Doherty. That's the cost of doing business with ERP, they say. What does surprise Doherty, who is president of the Greater Philadelphia PeopleSoft-JD Edwards user group, is that the challenges are both ongoing and so pervasive among CIOs. "It's frustrating that software firms are not jumping through hoops to fix them," she says, "because we all have the same problems."