ERP Springs Eternal. (cover story)

ENTERPRISE resource planning; BUSINESS planning; APPLICATION service providers; AMR Research Inc.; INTERNET industry; COMPUTER service industry

This article discusses the U.S. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Application Spending Report for the fiscal 2003-2004, which was launched by AMR Research. It predicts that the number of enterprise managers planning to upgrade or buy new ERP licenses will increase slightly in 2004. At the same time, to modernize their products, top ERP vendors incorporate XML, Web services, and Java to foster easier customization and improve integration with the rest of the enterprise. During the Internet boom, ERP programs seemed inflexible, overpriced, and mired in client-server deployment. Currently, the ERP systems have migrated from client/server to Web-based technologies. Sixty-five percent of respondents to the 2004 InfoWorld ERP survey say they would be likely to choose the same vendor, while a mere 6 percent complain they're not at all satisfied. Jim Shepherd, vice president of research at AMR Research and co-author of its recent ERP report, believes that ERP's drawbacks have always been overblown and that recent product improvements have made deployment and maintenance simpler. On the other hand, only 23 percent of respondents say they are very satisfied with their ERP implementation, which suggests the absence of a viable alternative. INSET: In the Trenches With an SAP Developer.