Understanding Enterprise System Customization: An Exploration of Implementation Realities and the Key Influence Factors

From a strategic alignment standpoint, a clear link is desirable between strategic business goals and the specialization of business assets. The customization of an Enterprise System can be viewed as a specialization of an IT related business asset. Its customization should be driven by these strategic business goals. However, the implementation realities frequently tell a different story. Customizations are often not linked to strategic business goals and at times even run counter to these goals. Experiences have shown that these gaps can be costly and have severe business implications. Thus, it is important to understand how these discrepancies can occur, and subsequently, how to develop approaches to avoid unnecessary customizations. This qualitative study explores key influences on customizations in five major Enterprise System implementations. The analysis of the qualitative data collected in this study reveals key influence factors with their direct, as well as their indirect impacts on customization. The article further discusses how some of these influences can be leveraged by IT managers to guide customizations in a desirable direction.