IT directors need to plan a 15- to 20-year roadmap to
ensure a better return on investment from SAP enterprise resource
planning systems, according to the IT director at Altria, the
parent company of Kraft Foods and tobacco company Philip
Morris.
Speaking at the CIO Symposium, Erich Winkler said firms were
holding onto their SAP ERP systems for twice as long before
upgrading and needed a long-term investment plan.
"You need a clear strategy on which business processes will be
supported through SAP and what is in or out of scope," he said.
Winkler recommended that firms should review the performance of SAP
in monthly or quarterly meetings between business heads and the IT
department. "ERP has been underestimated. It is essentially a
firm's plumbing and you must remember it is a complex technology,"
he said.
