ERP *shudders*
Its always so alluring, 'we have x number of ERP systems, if we just consolidated.....'.
I don't know what the answer is but I'd agree that however companies usually go about this sucks.
I guess for investing, its an aspect of acquisitions in certain industries to watch out for and scrutinise management over? E.g. Bapcor made numerous acquisitions. Is in an industry where good ERP matters, but you end up with so many (48?!). Amongst many issues, one of them still is inefficient inventory management.