SIs must do more to tackle ERP project failure, says Gartner

Ninety per cent of projects will suffer from integration disorder, greater complexity and cost by 2018, analyst says

Nine out of 10 ERP projects will end in failure by 2018 as end users struggle to contend with the increasing complexity of "post-modern" ERP, according to Gartner, which has urged systems integrators to "raise their game".

The analyst says postmodern ERP represents a shift away from a single-vendor "megasuite" towards a "more loosely coupled and federated ERP environment".

Despite this shift, by 2018 some 90 per cent of firms will lack the ability to integrate postmodern applications, resulting in integration disorder, greater complexity and cost, Gartner said.

"This new environment promises more business agility, but only if the increased complexity is recognised and addressed," said Carol Hardcastle, research vice president at Gartner.

The systems integrator partners responsible for rolling out ERP solutions need to take at least some of the responsibility, she added.

Hardcastle said ERP projects are still often compromised in time, cost and business outcomes more than 25 years after hitting the market.

"The focus of postmodern ERP is on improved business agility and flexibility, for example through deployment of solutions and services that are better targeted at the business capabilities and address other needs such as user experience," she said.

"It really is time that the significant investments enterprises make in ERP solutions reap real benefits. ERP vendors and SIs must raise their game on implementation approaches, renovating and revisiting their own implementation methodologies for speed and with greater emphasis on the benefits realisation activities."