The second inhibitor for certain innovations is the inflexibility and complexity of the
ERP software itself. Typically, ‘‘vanilla’’ implementations have been recommended, with
minimal customization, and changes can be difficult once the system is configured and
implemented (Kallinikos, 2004; Robey et al., 2002). Another obstacle to customization
is the effort required to reinstitute any modifications with future upgrades of the software.
In the past, the most feasible option for many organizations has been to work within the
pre-specified range of configuration options provided by the software package. Although
customers can lobby their ERP vendor for changes to the package in future versions, there
is no guarantee that the vendor will decide to make the requested changes. Even in the best
scenario there will still be a time lag until the new version is released. The extent of these
constraints and the organization’s ability to mitigate them depend on factors such as the
ease of reconfiguration, responsiveness of the vendor and in-house capabilities for IT support.
These observations lead to our final proposition