Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems have gotten a bad reputation, as have CRM, HR and data warehouse projects. Most CFOs will tell you that large-scale IT projects always cost more than budgeted, seldom deliver on their promises, and often falter or fail before they go live. Further, the big companies that make enterprise software, such as SAP and Oracle, extract enormous profits for themselves and their consulting partners.
Bob Kaplan, Senior Advisor for HighPoint Associates comments, “When you look at academic studies, what you see is that for the past twenty years people have been writing papers on how the vast majority of big-scale IT projects either come in way over budget, under deliver, or just completely fall apart.” Does Big IT really deserve its bad rap?
Contributing Author: Bob Kaplan and Bennett E. McClellan
