Critical Success Factors for the Transformation Process in Enterprise System Implementation

Organizations continue to deploy enterprise systems (ESs) to improve information flow, reduce costs, and increase operational efficiencies. Realization of these benefits can be enhanced if more is known about the preceding factors that enable transformation of ES data into successful outcomes. This study identifies the critical success factors (CSFs) that influence the process for transforming ES data into knowledge, which leads to business benefits from ES implementation. A multiple case study approach is used to examine how three hi-tech manufacturing companies in New Zealand have deployed an ES and, specifically, the CSFs that contributed to business benefits. The findings emphasize that benefit realization from an ES implementation is a holistic process that not only includes the essential data and technology factors, but also includes business strategy deployment, people and process management, and skills and competency development.