Why have Enterprise Resource Planning systems been failures in some companies?
ERP systems are complex pieces of software and their installation requires large investments in time, money and expertise. The technical challenges are not the one primarily responsible for failure of ERP systems but the biggest problems are the business problems: Companies fail to reconcile the technological imperatives of the enterprise systems with the business needs of the enterprise itself. This leads to nothing but aimless implementation of the ERP system only to discover later on that the processes are in conflict with the strategy of the company. It also means elongated or never attainable ROI periods for the company. The implementation itself is very time consuming, expensive and arduous task. More than the technological aspect it is riddled with organizational issues like changing the culture, dealing with internal politics and the need for general consensus to accept the company wide information processing system. These factors only prolong the implementation process. ERP sy
