Cautionary Tale of Big Bloated Software Destroying A Business

Interesting press release in the world of Enterprise Software. The Shane Company is going bankrupt and who's to blame? SAP (at least in part) for messing up a $36 million inventory management system.

Not only did Shane say that the software took too long to install (3 years instead of 1) and had cost overruns (originally a $10 million budget) but they blamed SAP for lost sales due to worse inventory management than pre-SAP. And Shane now has to employ 8 contractors to modify the SAP system and “bring it to full functionality,” it said.

Ouch! The sad thing is it's credible and it happens every day. It's a cautionary tale about how big, bloated enterprise software installations not only take longer, cost more and require new job reqs to be opened but can literally help destroy a business.

I'm happy to say this is something no Tableau Software client will ever have to worry about. Typically our stuff spreads with free downloads as people see how their colleagues are solving problems, so the implementation grows organically. Most important, it only grows if it keeps providing value - in contrast to a multi-million-dollar top-down behemoth.

Truly a sad situation for Shane and its employees. Shane management, maybe Tableau can help?