Critical Success Factors in ERP Implementation: Five Years Later

The purpose of this study is to follow-up on ERP implementation after five years. The original study of ERP implementation in five organizations was accomplished in 2000 (Sumner, 2002). The purpose of the follow-up interviews in 2005 was to identify changes in ERP planning, design, and implementation strategy as these projects evolved over time. The organizations participating in these case studies include companies implementing SAP (Anheuser Busch, Monsanto), Peoplesoft (Edward Jones, Boeing), and Oracle (Nestle Purina). As ERP evolves within these organizations, ERP increasingly runs the business, and ERP project management is a part of managing the business. ERP implementations increasingly support common processes across business units on a global scale. Implementation of standardized, “common” processes are a strategy for cost-reduction, data integration, and crossfunctional process integration. As ERP evolves, organizational initiatives evolve to facilitate enterprise-wide integration through business process managers and cross-functional teams. Project management becomes a critically important discipline, and business effectiveness outcomes are continuously monitored through regular meetings of steering committees and management reviews.