Enterprise systems on the Web should make sure their corporate ‘glue’ is
strong if they want their project to hold together, a recent study said.
The Concours Group research
project entitled, “Project ESII: Capitalizing on Enterprise Systems and
Infrastructure,” indicated that too many enterprise systems projects have
failed to attain their business goals, or failed to reach completion,
because of a lack of managerial, organizational and technical cohesiveness.
It found that precise implementation goals, corporation-wide consensus on
business purpose, and incorporation of Web-based technology can help
enterprise systems become the integrated infrastructure that companies seek.
The research is a continuation of a 1998 enterprise systems research
project. Project ESII studied ten of the nation’s largest companies to
determine a blueprint for successful business use of enterprise systems.
The Concours Group identified methods to increase enterprise systems
integration:
- Specify desired business outcomes and create an explicit project
roadmap as a way to engage more senior management participation.
- Business models must be designed in conjunction with the chosen
enterprise system package and must be consistent with the system’s
capabilities.
- Educate the management team so that they can understand business
differently, think differently and apply integrated systems differently.
- Plan for IT organizational transformation by aligning the business and
IT functions around a common view of the business model.
- Assess the level of organizational maturity and adjust systems goals
and implementation tactics accordingly – with an eye to maximizing business
value.