Beyond ROI: The Convergence Of Quantitative And Qualitative Measures Of Success
While most vendors have been able to construct comprehensive ROI models for their products, these models largely fall short in their ability to accurately measure the total value of an enterprise software investment. This is due to the fact that most ROI models are focused on quantifiable measures of return. While this is a useful and often necessary function, the focus on purely quantifiable measures leaves little room for a discussion of more qualitative success factors that are often difficult to fit into a fixed economic model. A more complete analysis of return can be had by looking at the overall payback that enterprise software can offer to a company. Enterprise software payback includes not only quantifiable improvements in bottom and top line functionality, but also more qualitative measures – such as new business opportunities, improved customer and partner relations, and improved time to market – that contribute significantly to the success of a company's enterprise software implementation and use.
Enterprise software buyers who understand the overall payback that a given product suite can offer their company will be able to make more informed choices that lead to success not just in software deployment but in overall business functionality.
One of the few companies pioneering the use of a more inclusive payback model in describing the value of enterprise software is IFS, the global enterprise software vendor, which calls this model enterprise resource payback. As part of its recognition of the value of a payback model in the decision to acquire enterprise software, IFS commissioned Enterprise Applications Consulting (EAC) to interview existing IFS customers and define the payback that these customers are achieving using IFS software.
This white paper reports the findings of EAC's survey of IFS customers and includes highlights from five of the customer interviews. While most of the customers preferred anonymity, one customer – National Semiconductor – agreed to allow its payback success to be directly attributed. The sample size, while small, provides a wide range of companies in such diverse fields as forest products, high-tech and specialized manufacturing, and services. The range of payback scenarios gleaned from these customers show that IFS Applications can offer a broad array of paybacks to a broad array of companies.