Why is ERP not the answer?

Many of our customers have switched to SuccessFactors after having tried (sometimes over many years) to install a Performance & Talent Management system based on their ERP solution. Building from ERP systems seems like a good idea - so why doesn't it work?

We've learned 3 three real reasons why ERP systems like Oracle and SAP and others just don't get results:

ERP systems are designed for domain experts, not everyday employees. They were intended to be used by a few highly trained users to accomplish role-specific tasks. For Performance & Talent Management systems to be effective, they need to be intuitive to every employee at your company with minimal training. ERP just isn't built that way.

ERP systems are designed to be customized, not configured. What's the difference? Customized systems are built to your specs. What's wrong with that? Build a customized system and you are both completely alone and completely dependent on your software company. You're alone because no one else has a system like yours. Have a support issue? It may never have been seen before. Want a new feature? No one but the provider who's intimately familiar with your system can make updates or changes. Don't like the service, the high fees, or the results? Tough.

Configured systems are completely tailored to your company and your processes, but are part of a larger whole. When fixes are made, they're made for everyone. When updates and upgrades are put in place, everyone benefits immediately.

ERP can't match capabilities. Performance & Talent Management is small potatoes to an ERP company. Since it doesn't generate huge revenues, it doesn't get all that much attention. ERP offerings tend to be limited and not often updated with new capabilities.

Your HR department should be the ultimate decision-maker about which Performance & Talent Management system is best able to move the organization forward. The ERP system may do a great job at addressing your Finance and IT departments needs; however, ERP is ultimately more expensive and less effective that SuccessFactors for the purpose of Performance & Talent Management.

You wouldn't let your HR department select computer hardware; so don't let your IT department or Finance stymie your efforts to move your company forward by moving your people forward because they are attached to the ERP system. Ultimately, choosing ERP is more expensive and less successful than choosing SuccessFactors.