Many ERP systems are underused

Thanks to ERP investments—particularly in accounting, inventory, and human resources records management—the Fortune 500 collectively is saving $60 billion annually, yet is missing something considerable, says San Mateo, Calif.-based Ventana Research. "Finance executives often are unaware of the impact ERP has on efficiency, so they overlook opportunities to use the full capabilities of the systems to generate more savings," says Robert Kugel, a financial performance management practice director.

There may be another reason. "Once companies do Phase 1 of an implementation, they [often] don't get to the rest of it because of cost or organizational impact," says Joseph Gulino, ERP practice director for systems integrator Green Beacon, Watertown, Mass. "They haven't moved ahead because of the pain they went through to get where they are."

Underused ERP systems are not hard to find, adds Gulino. They are found in companies still doing a lot of manual processing, and phone and fax transactions.