Yesterday’s report by Civil Society that charity IBS-STL UK is trying to sell off its operations and wind itself up after the failed implementation of a new supply chain IT system underlines the importance of managing IT system implementation and the resulting business change very carefully. IBS-STL UK includes Christian bookshop Wesley Owen and had a £38m turnover.
Their UK general manager is quoted as saying “the implementation of the ERP caused all kinds of problems with inventory and it was just as the recession hit. Those two things together gave us serious problems.”
IBS-STL UK’s failure isn’t the first such IT led change programme to go wrong (Sainsbury’s supply system problems in 2004 resulted in a £256m write off for example) and I’m sure won’t be the last.
However, as mentioned in a previous blog, using an agile approach with incremental change (complemented with sound project and change management, and thorough testing) can significantly reduce financial exposure and risk.