Predicting 2012: Rapid implementation in focus
The world of IT failure is bizarre. Despite outrageous statistics that affect virtually every major enterprise software vendor and customer, from ERP to CRM and beyond, mere mention of the topic terrifies many in the industry. As a result, IT failures have become an accepted, almost expected, part of enterprise life. The time for this unfortunate situation to change is long overdue.
IT failures arise from a confluence of factors such as misunderstanding technology, poor judgment, lousy project management, politics, conflicts of interest among the Devil’s Triangle, to name just a few. Enterprise projects are hard precisely because they extend across organizational and functional boundaries; solving the problem requires a holistic view that encompasses multiple stakeholders and project participants, inside and outside the company.
As we enter 2012, three trends will drive renewed interest in improving IT success rates:
- A difficult economic climate that is less forgiving of financial waste and lost productivity
- Software as a service (SaaS), which holds the potential to simplify implementations and reduce risk, cost, and time
- Consumerization of IT, including rise of the CFO (and lines of business) as a powerful force in IT investment
These trends have placed pressure on enterprise software vendors, system integrators, and customers to improve implementations and reduce the waste associated with enterprise projects.
As we enter 2012, there is evidence of enterprise software vendors taking steps to help customers run more successful projects. This post takes a look at the rapid implementation work of three vendors: Syspro USA, SAP, and Oracle.
