Midmarket ERP Customers Declining Upgrades

Just 28 percent of midsize companies are using the latest ERP release, the data shows. As for the rest: 31 percent are one release behind; 13 percent are two releases behind; and another 13 percent are three or more behind. (Fourteen percent are still in the process of implementing.)

"The 26 percent of midsize companies that operate two or more releases behind run the highest risk of falling behind in terms of innovation," Jutras writes, "but even those on the latest release of a product based on old and outdated technology are at risk as well."

Managing these risks is critical: Midsize companies that want to gain more operational efficiencies and ROIROI must standardize their ERP applications, which has become more critical as midsize companies, in general, have had to expand their operations to compete globally. In fact, the Aberdeen data found that the average number of operating locations supported by ERP jumped year over year by nearly 40 percent, from four locations to 5.6 in the most recent survey. Alles zu ROI auf CIO.de

"The complexities of a business scale with the size of a company," Jutras writes, "and these complexities grow disproportionately with multiple operating locations and exponentially as they expand in distance beyond international boundaries." (For more on this, see Why ERP Is Still So Hard.)

Deteriorating economic and business conditions have likely had a significant impact on midsize companies' ERP upgrade and standardization plans. For the second year in a row, according to Aberdeen data, the "need to reduce costs" is the top business driver influencing ERP strategies continues.