Organisations are only running 50% of the functionality
implemented in their enterprise resource planning system, and are
paying for functions they never use, according to research
published by Butler Group.
The report, Exploiting Enterprise Applications, was based on
data collected on ERP usage in 60 large organisations. It found
that a significant portion of the unused functions had been coded
specifically for the individual business.
Teresa Jones, senior research analyst at Butler Group, said,
"ERP is complex and getting end-users in the business to use it is
still a big challenge."
She urged IT directors to conduct a health check of ERP usage
every six months to audit which parts of the system were being used
and identify any additional end-user training that might be
required to ensure the system's full functionality was
exploited.
Without regular audits on usage, Jones warned that IT directors
could find that ERP users request modifications because they have
never used the built-in functionality of the system.
The Butler Group study follows a report last year from analyst
AMR Research which found that 46% of ERP licences were unused,
leaving many users with unnecessary support and maintenance
bills.
AMR puts this down to companies buying licences up front,
attracted by volume discount deals, but overestimating their
requirements. It also points to the impact of economic
slowdown.