Info 563 Case Reflection: Bombardier ERP

As a C-level person of Bombardier, I agree with the senior project manager at Bombardier Aerospace on the comment of “organization has become a textbook silo organization of its acquisition strategy.” I believe Bombardier’s ERP implementation failing in year 2000 had nothing to do with ERP system itself. As a C-level who has done research on ERP system in past, I believe the main problem lies on the company itself. In my research, there was number of reason why an ERP project could fail.

-          Under-estimating the complexity of planning, development, training

-          Failure to involve affected employees in planning and development

-          Trying to do too much too fast

-          Insufficient training

-          Insufficient data conversion and testing

-          Over-reliance on ERP vendor or consultants

And as my research says, Bombardier Aerospace was discontinued mid-project in 2000 after $130 million because of focusing the implementation on inappropriate business processes, an outdated company vision, a weak sponsorship model and insufficient involvement of internal employees. I don’t want be the one to say it, but Bombardier has hit almost all the things that could have possibly gone wrong.

Using these data as proof and taking our consultants advice, I believe that ERP system could work for us if we do it the right way. ERP technology, especially working with a great reputation company like SAP, I believe it will build a foundation system for our company and could only improve us. And order to maximize the value, the users have to take ownership of the new technology and must be flawless. And similarly, the business side must put forward the required efforts in the project. Bombardier has failed their first try, but then again, Bombardier can use this opportunity as their advantage.

-          Quote from Thomas J. Watson

Would you like me to give you a formula for success? It’s quite simple, really. Double your rate of failure. You are thinking of failure as the enemy of success. But it isn’t at all. You can be discouraged by failure or you can learn from it. So go ahead and make mistakes. Make all you can. Because remember that’s where you will find success.