Title:
Measuring Returns on Investments in ERP Systems
Abstract: Enterprise Resource Planning systems are still
increasing in popularity despite a number of high profile failures and well-documented
implementation difficulties. Increasingly, organisation are placing importance
upon technology and business systems to enable market advances. ERP promises
excellent returns for organisations that manage to overcome the often formidable
hurdles that impede the path to achieving the full benefits of these systems.
Assessing the return on investment for complex ERP software implementations
poses an enormous challenge for IT departments. Of major concern to the IT
industry is the extent that ERP implementations and ERP project budget overruns
contribute to the problem of increasing IT costs and poor returns from technology
investment. The research described in this paper identifies the returns
received on investments made by organisations attempting to utilise ERP technology.
A hypothesis formed from the literature review was investigated using a survey
questionnaire distributed to IT professionals involved with the implementation
of ERP systems. Based on these investigations, conclusions were drawn about
current industry practise in measuring the returns on investment on ERP systems.
The survey indicated that most organisations favour a cost / benefit analysis
to assess the return on investment from ERP.