A study by the Aberdeen Group sought to determine some of the reasons enterprise resource planning (ERP) platforms are resisted by decision makers. To assess the pressure points for ERP implementation, the authors of the study divided enterprises into three categories:

• Best-in-Class, or organizations whose implementation of ERP have led to superior industry performance, represented the top 20 percent of the survey. 
• Industry Average organizations represented the middle 50 percent of the sample, with average industry performance. 
• Laggards represented the bottom 30 percent of the participants, resulting from below average performance.

Overall, the survey found that organizations looking to graduate from average to superior performance faced many of the same challenges as those looking to move from below average to average performance. Pressure to reduce costs was a leading motivation to adopt ERP or improve ERP integration. Other concerns were optimizing the customer experience, improving response time and managing growth expectations. 

"Industry Average and Laggard companies with ERP were fairly consistent when compared to each other," says the study. "But as we look for where companies with ERP deviate from companies without ERP, we see areas around customers and growth start to stand out. overall, companies without ERP feel they need to be easier to do business with and they are concerned about managing their growth."

The study shows that quality of deployment is critical to the success of an ERP platform, as many that had nominally deployed a system still faced many of the same challenges as those that hadn't. This is why it's critical to have the support and expertise of a third-party service provider that can help navigate these barriers to successful integration. Contact Accent Software today to learn more about how our solutions can revolutionize operations at your enterprise.