Business Information Systems:
10 Key Factors Needed for Successful Implementation

By Vinay Govande • Published January 2010

In our October '09 newsletter, we covered the process to select the right Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system for your company. ERP systems are strategic investments for businesses. They can be the foundation for significant improvement in how a business operates and grows.

However, if implementation is not carefully planned, the potential risks could outweigh the benefits. There are plenty of horror stories of ERP implementations gone wrong. Several surveys of business executives reveal the following issues:

• 51% considered their ERP implementation project as unsuccessful
• 40% of implementations failed to achieve their business objectives within one year of going live
• Poorly managed implementations averaged 25% to 50% cost overruns
(Sources – Conference Board Survey, Robbins-Gioa Survey)

How do you ensure that this doesn’t happen to you? By paying close attention to these 10 key success factors, you are on your way to having a successful implementation.