As Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) implementations have matured and stabilized, these systems have come to form the de-facto backbone of the corporate Information Technology infrastructure. As a result, the focus has now shifted from new ERP implementations to maintenance and support of these now "legacy" systems.
This shift in the life cycle quadrant offers untold opportunities for organizations seeking continual benefit from their ERP systems. Now companies can add value to their existing ERP foundation (by adding incremental functionality) and lower TCO (by addressing perpetual support costs), investing the savings in expanding IT capabilities in new strategic business areas.
With ERP a significant part of the requisite IT expense in a tight economic climate, taking advantage of these opportunities takes on increased importance. The challenge is this: how do you continue to manage this mission critical systems, maintain quality, and lower perpetual support costs - all at the same time?