Measuring enterprise systems success : A preliminary model

The business value of Enterprise Systems (ES), and in general large software implementations, has been extensively debated in both the popular press and in the academic literature for over three decades. Organizations have invested heavily in Enterprise Systems (and related infrastructure), presumably expecting positive outcomes to the organization. Some studies have reported large productivity improvements and substantial benefits from Enterprise Systems, while others have reported that Enterprise Systems have not had any bottom-line improvements. This paper discusses preliminary findings from a study of evaluating ES success in 27 organizations in Queensland, Australia. Two surveys, an exploratory survey followed by a confirmatory survey, were conducted and data from four hundred and fifty four respondents was analyzed. An a priori model of ES success with five constructs and forty-two sub-constructs was tested. Validation of the model constructs through exploratory factor analysis identified four dimensions of ES success.