The key factors that contribute to a successful ERP implementation include: 1) Proper planning including clear requirements, scope definition, and change management. 2) The right skills and commitment of the project team, including competent project managers and business leadership support. 3) Effective training to ensure users understand new processes.

1. What makes the ERP implementations succeed?

2. “ People with the right skills and attitudes will know how to assemble the necessary information, plan and execute the project”

3. “ The research in this area has shown that program/project success is tied to having competent Project Managers in place.”

4. “ Communication”

5. “ The success I think was based on right team skills & attitude, proper planning and Scope as well as knowledge….”

6. “ Our ERP implementation had only a few Application to establish.”

7. “ I would say .. clear customers vison & requirement, strong business involvement + right team skills & attitude... make a successful Implementation”

8. “ The company needs to have a very solid ERP vision in place and it's employees need to know what is happening and why it's happening……The busieness rules the project not the other way around…”

9. “ Training, Training, Training”

10. “ W e trained 800 staff for ERP in amgen and was a great milestone to reach..the rest will be trained in the next year or so… it took knowledge and dedicated people and lots of computer station to learn it ...”

11. “ Proper planning and scope definition should drive the "right team skills and hopefully attitude". "Motivate appreciate and reward" I would see and as also an output/result of proper planning.”

12. “ Absolute commitment to succeed from top management.”

13. “ Senior business (operations) leadership support”

14. “ People make who you are by keeping them knowledgable and motivated appreciating the jobs that are being done and rewarding those who went above and beyond makes any project a success..”

15. “ The Right team would include the Skills and Character Leader, without the leader you wouldn't have a successful project.”

16. “ Over one billion USD SAP implementation, Defense Logistics Agency. xxxxx was the intergartor. I wouldn't characterize it as '100% successful.' It was hugely oversold, and has not really lived up to its advance publicity.”

17. “ I have done several ERP implementations. In every case, the commitment of the business people doing the implementation was the #1 factor in the success or failure of the implementation….”

18. “ The reason I chose (proper planning and scope) is I believe it's hard to have number I if you don't have Number 3.”

19. “ You also need the correct software for your company/product. Most ERP is not one size fits all and it is very important that find out what the software can and can not do during the sales cycle.”

20. “ Change Management and Executive Support were the keys to success.”

21. “ Plus TRUE top management direction, support and unqualified expectation that people employ the system - best done by making sure output is more useful that the effort of input.”

22. “ Although all of these are important, my view is that the "Process Driven" approach..is the most important…if the new Processes aren't understood, aligned and training completed…just newer technology on old processes and may even negatively impact the business….”

23. “ All of the above.”

24. “ More than any other factor, I would have to say it was sheer brute force that finally made the move from one ERP system to another successful….”

25. “ Sound project management practices was the biggest factor in our success. It's much easier to find people with the right technical skills than it is to find someone with the right PM skills for these types of projects.”

26. “ Planning and Implementation in accordance with the companies requirements..”

27. “ Every project will have it's challenges. Having a team that works together rather than being divisive is key. All problems can be overcome with the right attitude and intelligent people.”

28. “ The right people AND proper planning are key. You must be able to accurately map your business processes and have the right people to enable those maps to be replicated or improved within the ERP…”

29. “ I have been on 3 implementation teams - all successful. The ability for the team to execute is the reason”

30. “ Preparation of a business case that had total support from the management all the way thru coupled with good scoping, planning and execution.”

31. “ I helped roll out the Sage CRM internationally after a unsuccessful attempt ….The key success was the attitude of the sales team yet this came with proper planning and training I led.”

32. “ Experience and courage. Someone not with the ERP company who knows not just their business forward and back but how a business should be run…courage to question "Best Practices" when..can be done better in-house and stand up…when..current process can be made better.”

33. “ Well developed communications plan”

34. “ Right things in the right order.”

35. “ For those that think it is program management then I assume that program management is absent on 65% of all implementations that still fail..ERP implementations continue to be over rated.”

36. “ I can only speak for...implementation..just finishing. The training was so-so. The consultants know something..but were not..good at teaching. What worked best ……key users...small teams…we learned and conquered..software…it is unacceptable to let the others in the small team…We played, found our own solutions and...are confident..we can solve..myrid of problems..”

37. “ Well the way I see it all four categories must be met to have a success. The project engineer, project manager and the coordinating lead must have all of the traits and be in tune of the clients needs and wants…”

38. “ In my experience, even with the best system, planning, and implementation process, most ERP/IT implementations fail because organizations underestimate the committment and buy in of the stakeholders and performers (end users).”

39. Poor planning due to a "drive to the date" versus a "drive for success". Afterwards, other factors mentioned were also evident.

40. “ Pre-project skills assessment of in-house staff, is much ignored, and concomitantly leads to cost-overrun”

41. “ Correct!!! on the immediate above. SAP for example in a manufacturing firm reporting to CFO is a disaster. SAP should report to manufacturing directors. Great point.”

42. “ Don't blame the tool when the process is at fault…”

43. “ .. We are a component, a part of a machine called a company, and unless people start working together better, your going to see alot more projects fail, and firms go under as a result.”

44. What ERP projects succeed? Poll http://polls.linkedin.com/poll-results/23494/eeoxo

45. What ERP Projects suffer? Poll http://polls.linkedin.com/poll-results/22949/zxsgy

46. What makes the ERP implementations succeed? Now join the conversation… http://blog.spinact.com