A recent Accenture survey, New Growth from Enterprise Systems: Achieving High Performance through Distinctive Capabilities, found that companies continue to expand their foray into enterprise systems. We found that top performers are more likely to implement modules broadly across business functions. By executing enterprise systems expansively and deeply, top performers gain benefits on a wider basis. More importantly, extending enterprise system capabilities gives top performers more complete and consistent information, helping managers make better and faster decisions.
Financially successful organizations view their systems as part of an ongoing program rather than a single project with just one specific goal. Our 2006 survey reveals that most organizations plan to add more system functionality over a two-year period. Specifically, companies are most interested in expanding their capabilities to build customer relationships, manage the supply chain and enhance analytical capabilities.
Top performers are more likely either to have implemented industry-specific modules already or plan to implement them in the next two years. However, most organizations in our study have not yet begun to implement industry-specific modules and have no plans to do so.
Accenture recently conducted a survey revealing that financially successful organizations are more likely to take steps that contribute directly to business value. Unlike low performers, top performers are also more likely to implement their systems widely throughout the entire organization rather than on a piecemeal basis. They also are more likely to use enterprise systems to integrate the organization, optimize processes, and use data and analytics to help improve decision-making.
Our research shows that organizations should focus on these three goals to realize the full benefits from their enterprise systems:
As organizations gain more experience using their enterprise systems, they attach greater importance to analytical capabilities. A wide variety of businesses are using analytical and reporting tools today. Our survey found that a majority of businesses use the following applications:
Most organizations look toward integration as the chief goal in adopting new technologies to enhance their enterprise systems. Enterprise application integration is the most commonly employed integration technology used in conjunction with an enterprise system. Companies also employ service-oriented architecture and Web services to allow them to quickly and efficiently integrate new functionality.
Service-oriented architecture holds great promise as a means to allow companies to integrate information and systems within and across their organizations inexpensively and seamlessly. They are also beginning to use service oriented architecture to enhance their distinctive capabilities by incorporating differentiated features and industry-specific processes.
New Growth from Enterprise Systems: Achieving High Performance through Distinctive Capabilities is the result of collaboration between thought leaders in Accenture's SAP and Oracle service lines Textand the Accenture Institute for High Performance Business. For more information, please contact the author: Jeanne G. Harris, an executive research fellow and director of research at the Accenture Institute for High Performance Business.