CRM Failure Rates - Don't Believe the Hype

I’m giving a presentation tomorrow at LawNet’s Annual Conference about the challenges of getting professional buy-in to a CRM system. I’m using this article from last fall’s InfoWorld as a counterpoint to the oft-repeated failure rates of CRM implementations. Since my audience is mostly IT Directors/CIOs, it seemed particularly appropriate:

META GROUP REPORTS that a staggering 55 percent to 75 percent of all CRM projects fail to meet their objectives. Clearly it is just the latest in a long line of overhyped technologies.

Or is it? On average, about 70 percent of all IT- related projects fail to meet their objectives, so CRM’s failure rate — along with the appalling 70-percent failure rate for ERP implementation projects and the shockingly high 70-percent failure rate experienced by those implementing SCM ( supply-chain management) — is about as distressing as a 70-percent failure rate for a hitter in baseball.

Which is to say this is actually good news. Any manager in baseball would be thrilled to have a team batting average of.300, and if CRM and SCM projects are succeeding as well or better than traditional IT projects, it is remarkable. Why? CRM and SCM aren’t like traditional IT projects. They’re the next stage in an ongoing shift in the role of IT — from solution to enabler. [emphasis mine]

I’ll post the slides after the presentation.