How are IT and Enterprise Software Decision Made?

Many years of both project experience as well as research supports the hypothesis that IT decision making in both the US and internationally is poor. Some evidence for this is the following:

  • ERP never had evidence that it improved the condition of companies, yet it was widely adopted.
  • The average fit between the application purchased and the actual business requirements is poor.
  • IT project success ratios continue to be low — and are not improving

Why is This the Case? 

Some of the poor IT decision making is buyer based — that is the decision makers and advisors within companies lack either the domain expertise related to enterprise software, or they are out of touch with their business requirements. However, another major component to the problems in IT decision making is that the advice available to purchasing companies is of an extremely poor quality:

  • Consulting companies recommend not the best software, but software which maximizes their profits — that is software for which they have resource for which they can bill hours. 
  • IT analysts like Gartner are paid off by software vendors — and they do not actually test or implement the software they recommend.
  • The editorial content to IT publications are sensitive to the major advertisers. They are less focused on informing their readers versus keeping them on a treadmill “trendy” information.
  • As close as can be to no entity of any influence really provides a historical overview of various enterprise software technologies and initiatives.

Our Books

Our books address these major issues with respect to problems with IT decision making.

If you want to get more out of your Gartner research subscription, this book is for you.

Gartner and the Magic Quadrant: A Guide for Buyers, Vendors and Investors

What the Book is About

Whether you are a software buyer, a large or small vendor, or are wondering how Gartner can help you make better investment decisions, this book will give you new insights to Gartner’s research. By studying the methodology behind such popular analytical tools as the Magic Quadrant, you will understand how a vendor earned its rating and whether or not the ratings are justified!

Starting with the history of Gartner and how it compares to other IT analyst firms, this book gives a realistic assessment of the value of Gartner research to a company and provides ideas about other resources that could complement Gartner’s analysis.  (see more)

 Enterprise Software Selection: How to Pinpoint the Perfect Software Solution Using Multiple Information Sources

What the Book is About

Essential reading for success in your next software selection and implementation.

Software selection is the most important task in a software implementation project, as it is your best (if not only) opportunity to make sure that the right software—the software that matches the business requirements—is being implemented. Choosing the software that is the best fit clears the way for a successful implementation, yet software selection is often fraught with issues and many companies do not end up with the best software for their needs. (see more)

Enterprise Software TCO: Calculating and Using Total Cost of Ownership for Decision Making

What the Book is About

Total cost of ownership is critical to good software decision making. However, TCO is both infrequently performed, and often poorly performed when attempted. However, a lack of use of TCO has been behind some of the great errors in software decision making, including the over-investment in ERP systems. This book explains both how to use TCO as a decision making tool between various applications within the same category, but also how to make the broadest IT decisions in a far more informed manner. (see more) 

Enterprise Software Project Risk Management: How to Control the Main Risk Factors on IT Projects

What the Book is About

This book is tied to is Enterprise Software Selection, because the first place to manage risk is during the software selection phase, which is the opportunity to connect the best available application to the business requirements. However, there are of course many other risks that require management after the software is selected and implementation has begun. (see more)