Report: ERP Vendors Not Measuring Up

No enterprise resource planning (ERP) vendor overwhelmingly satisfies clients more than the others, but with so few options-and none performing well-migrating to a new vendor may not be worth the cost, according to a new report published by Orem, Utah-based consultant, KLAS.

For the new study, “The Conundrum of ERP: Is It Possible to Get Functionality and Service?,” KLAS interviewed 225 provider organizations, focusing primarily on the three most prominent players, Lawson (St. Paul, Minn.)., McKesson (San Francisco), and Oracle (Redwood Shores, Calif.). All three rated below the KLAS average for health care information technology. The top-rated vendor in the report was McKesson, with a score of 74.5 out of 100. It was followed by Oracle (71.8) and Lawson (68.6).

According to the report, most hospitals already have an ERP solution of some sort and are somewhat of a captive audience, so vendors have little reason to develop and support their core ERP products. Instead, they focus on developing peripheral modules to address related markets, such as human capital and workforce management, or acquiring new technologies to augment their existing offerings.