Video: Introduction to ERP complexity

Many of the failures I describe in this blog afflict large software systems called "enterprise resource planning," or ERP for short. These systems are inherently complex because they connect together multiple parts of an organization into a unified software "organism."

To fully appreciate why IT projects are prone to fail, it's important to be aware of how ERP software fits into a company. These concepts help us understand the complexity that drives difficulties on many projects.

The video focuses on SAP, but the basic concepts apply to ERP systems from virtually any vendor, such as those from Oracle. Old pros will already know the material presented here, but the video offers the rest of us a good refresher. Even though it barely scratches the surface, this presentation is pretty good.