Practice · 1995–now · Object Wave
Heavy SAP customization
Customize the ERP until upgrades are impossible. The enterprise tax that keeps consultants in villas.
SAP customization failed the business when every S/4 migration became archaeology on undocumented ABAP. It stuck because switching off SAP is harder than paying the next integrator. The fad was believing bespoke ERP fit agile product teams.
Cost of the fad
ABAP extensions and bespoke modules that made every upgrade a multi-year program. Millions spent aligning ERP to process instead of process to ERP.
Case studies
Context
Everything became an object — until it didn't
Objects promised reuse; enterprises bought the promise in bulk. Java gave a portable runtime with real teeth. CORBA and UML-heavy processes gave vendors a decade of workshops. The survivors were the languages and platforms that outlived the methodology theater. The lesson — complexity sold as architecture burns cash — returns every decade with new branding.
Compare with
Related
Language · 1995–now
Java
Write once, run everywhere — then enterprise forever. Still the backbone of serious backend estates.
Architecture · 2003–2015
Enterprise SOA
Reuse via shared services — in theory. In practice: central buses and political ownership fights.
$ ESBs, governance boards, and "service portfolios" burned seven-figure programs. Many orgs got distributed monoliths with worse latency and a permanent integration team.
Practice · 1990–now
Big Design Up Front
Spec first, code later. Agile didn't kill planning — it killed pretending the Gantt chart was reality.