But just how much have these challenges and struggles driven IT leaders into the arms of another ERP provider? According to our survey, not much.

Just 9 percent of respondents reported using an alternative ERP model. Those models included software as a service, open-source tools and various in-house applications. Forrester's data reveals a similar trend, says Wang. "Our numbers also show SaaS adoption in the high single digits and a reluctance to make significant adoption of new models," he says.

Historically speaking, CIOs have been reluctant to take many chances with their ERP systems. (Can you imagine this conversation: "Should we try something completely untested with our company's most critical data?") Irvine Scientific is regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, which makes Haney leery of untried technologies that could run afoul of FDA restrictions or mess with the company's ERP audit trail or security functionalities. "There's some open source that I'm using in IT, but would I want to go open-source ERP?" she says. "I'm not so sure. I'm pretty conservative."

Doherty says that she's open to looking at alternatives. But with something like open-source ERP systems, she's not so sure.

"It's not proven yet," she says.

The survey results illustrate that reluctance. Nearly 54 percent of those responding said they probably or definitely would not consider moving to an alternative ERP model. And while 35 percent of CIOs said they would probably or definitely consider trying something different, they're not actually doing it. Yet.

So with a reluctance to go whole hog on a new ERP endeavor, Haney, like other IT leaders, will plug away with what she has and work to wring more efficiencies out of the core system that is the backbone of Irvine Scientific's business. "We are trying to continually use more of the products and be more efficient and give the system more functionality," she says. "We are very much dependent on it. I couldn't say enough about that."