ERP Implementation Success: Odds Are Stacked Against You

What if I told you that your next enterprise software project had only a 7 percent chance of coming in on time, would more than likely cost more than what you estimated, and would very likely deliver very unsatisfying results.

In addition, you have a little better than a 50 percent chance that users will want to and, indeed, actually use the application.

Is that something you’d be interested in? And would you go forward with that software rollout?

According to new survey results, that’s what those organizations that sign on for ERP implementations can expect. The new study and survey results by ERP consultancy Panorama Consulting Group show that 93 percent of ERP implementations take longer than expected.

Nearly two-thirds (59 percent) of implementations cost more than initially planned.

And just 13 percent of respondents characterize themselves as “very satisfied” with their company’s software implementation.

There were plenty of other low-lights from the study, which based its findings on more than 1,300 online survey respondents and focus group participants who had implemented ERP within the last three years.

Nearly 40 percent of respondents said that a “lack of employee buy-in” was the biggest challenge facing ERP implementation teams. One-third identified “lack of ERP expertise” as another large problem.

And even once the ERP software was up and running, more than half (57 percent) of participants suffered operational stoppages. Just 21 percent realized 50 percent or more of their projected benefits. (To read Overstock.com’s ERP saga, see “Overstock.com’s Four-Year ERP Nightmare.”)

So, now that you know how much the odds are stacked against ERP project success, are you still going to do it?