For many years, the two leading business application providers, SAP and Oracle, have been preaching the benefits of rolling out a single version of their software across an organisation, with no ­ or the absolute minimum of ­ bespoke changes or additions to the package.

For users, the sales pitch has always been a good one ­ lower costs, easier support, less complexity, enforcement of processes throughout the business ­ but the evidence of this taking place has been less apparent. Now, however, some of the early adopters have finally gone live, and are sharing their experiences.

Delegates at SAP’s annual European user conference in Berlin last month heard from the likes of Nokia, Colgate-Palmolive, Rolls-Royce and Kraft Foods.

These companies exist in a global environment, with many outsourced functions and a potential for complexity that would cripple any business that did not adequately support critical processes with technology. They rely on close co-operation with suppliers and fast response to customers. They have all adopted the principle of ruthless standardisation for their IT.

For example, Rolls-Royce chief information officer Jonathan Mitchell discussed a few key lessons learned.

Any requests for bespoke development had to be personally approved by him ­ thereby making only the most essential alterations to the standard product. One of the fundamental tenets of the project was that testing should never be reduced, only increased, regardless of the effect on delivery timescales. And to enforce adequate and ongoing user training, Rolls only allows system access to licensed users ­ and to maintain their licences, users have to attend regular training sessions.

The company is already seeing the benefits of the ruthless standardisation enforced by using a single software package worldwide. As more organisations sha re the lessons they have learned, the more we will see smaller companies adopting a similar approach.

The growing use of unmodified, packaged software is not necessarily great news if you are an in-house software developer ­ or perhaps it is if you are looking for an opportunity to develop new skills ­ but it is very good news for IT leaders looking to remove complexity from their operations and use IT to drive change and innovation across the business.

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