So what's a customer to do? Take several steps to close the "expectation gap" during the sales process:

So how does this all relate back to the contract? As mentioned above, the contract defines the relationship between the parties. In 15 years of handling almost 300 failed implementations for several public and private software vendors, I've yet to have an opposing counsel call me and say, "Hey, Ken, my client is entitled to terminate the agreement and get its money back because the software doesn't function in the way your client describes it on Page 32 of the user manual." That never happens. When conflict and litigation ensue, customers invariably run as far from the contract as they can.

Customers that don't have the foresight to protect themselves invariably want to talk about everything but the contract. ("The salesman told me blah, blah, blah.") My response is always that the opposing lawyer's client received everything it was entitled to receive as defined by the contract it signed. The client never saw something in the demonstration that it didn't get, and my client isn't going to consider expanding the scope of the signed contract. These "misrepresentation claims" routinely get thrown out quickly.

Enterprise software can, if properly vetted before contract, do wonderful things for a business. But caveat emptor. Making sure that the enterprise software contracts you sign state exactly what you expect from the product will drastically reduce the cost, stress, time, and effort to streamline your business.

Kenneth J. Richard is an attorney and consultant who represents several software and other technology companies. For more information, go to www.ErpGoLive.com.