Out of 60 organisations surveyed, the report states that:

* None used more than 50 percent of the licensed enterprise application functionality. (source: West Trax Applications) * A significant proportion of unused code is customised, unnecessarily prolonging upgrade cycles. * This also indicates that standardised functionality is a myth, with many organisations paying too much for enterprise applications. * To exploit the value from enterprise applications, the IT department must ensure that it is fully integrated with objectives, business processes, management and infrastructure. * Investment in enterprise applications must be directed by organisation objectives, not by a me-too policy or solely cost-saving considerations. * Enterprises must deploy an architectural approach that includes linking business processes with enterprise applications. * Effective management of enterprise applications and the quality of service provided can be important differentiators, leading to improved performance. * Real competitive advantage can be achieved by making use of intelligence capability now found in enterprise applications and easily integrated third-party solutions. * To meet regulatory pressures, there is a need to provide greater visibility into enterprise applications, with improved analysis and readily available audit trails. * Access to enterprise applications needs to be independent of software type, communication channel, client device and physical location, enabling improved utilisation.

Source: Research: Butler Group's Exploiting Enterprise Applications: Maximising the Return on Existing ERP and CRM Investments – courtesy of Marketworks.