Skills shortage is biggest impediment to successful ERP

Its research shows 57% of respondents saying that finding people with the right level of skills and expertise is the single biggest problem with ERP implementations – far more important than cost constraints, which were cited by 40%. “It is clear that, despite the economic outlook, organisations are prepared to continue investing in their ERP and enterprise solutions so that they can more closely match their business needs,” observes Cliff Mills, NCC’s research manager. “However, the limiting factor may well be ensuring that they have sufficient skills to achieve their objectives.” Meanwhile, most organisations still say they intend to continue investing in enterprise solutions, with 43% planning enhancements or upgrades over the next 12 months, 20% buying new standalone packages and 13% looking at brand new ERP solutions. Most (82%) companies also feel that their ERP/enterprise solutions need to become more agile and responsive – specifically citing a requirement for greater flexibility from the software to respond quickly and effectively to changes in business requirements. NCC says this is corroborated by the finding that more than a quarter (27%) of companies view their enterprise systems as a barrier to change, while 57% believe they can be an enabler of change. Returning to skills, though, Mills confirms that the level of customisation required to make an ERP solution fit any company’s needs varies greatly – also borne out by the survey findings, which suggest that in 17% of cases, customisation has been ‘very significant’ and ‘significant’ in a further 17%. And he adds that it’s not just about implementation, but also how easy it is to modify a system to cater for the inevitable changes in business processes. Too few companies see this as being ‘very easy’ (3%) or ‘easy’ (17%) while the largest number (44%) find it ‘moderately difficult’. At the other end of the scale 10% say that it is ‘very difficult’ and 23% ‘difficult’.