Every ERP vendor will tell you the same thing: our software is going to solve your problems, streamline your operations, and give you the reports you need to make smarter decisions. It’s a compelling pitch. And sometimes, it’s even true… but only when the client does the work to make it true.
After years of helping businesses gain financial clarity and visibility, I’ve watched more ERP implementations go sideways than I’d like to count. The technology rarely fails on its own. The process around it does.
It starts before you ever talk to a vendor
The single most important thing a business can do before selecting an ERP system is this: define the journey first. That means getting every relevant department — finance, operations, HR, IT, sales into the room before vendor conversations begin. Not after. Not during. Before.
When teams aren’t part of the planning process from the start, you end up with a system built around assumptions rather than actual workflows. Then come the workarounds, the frustration, and the expensive change orders.
A different era — and a lesson worth keeping
The ERP landscape has changed dramatically since my first real exposure to an ERP migration. Many of the software companies that existed back then have since disappeared, merged with others, or been replaced by a new wave of vendors — including a growing number of niche, industry-specific solutions. The market has matured considerably, and businesses today have more options than ever.
One early experience still shapes how I think about this process today. Early in my career, at a manufacturing company, I went through an ERP migration that, though it happened in a very different era, still offers lessons worth sharing.
We didn’t start by calling vendors. We sourced help from our CPA firm, which had a busy advisory arm that assisted us in putting our RFP together. And we mean formal. We’re talking a three-inch, three-ring binder outlining our needs in detail, which vendors had to respond to completely.
Many vendors dropped out early. That was the point.
The ones who stayed had to clear one more hurdle: I insisted on a policy that they had to be able to test our actual data through their system. Not a demo. Not a curated showcase. Our data. That requirement eliminated other contenders. Our process eliminated all but IBM and NCR.
We elected NCR — and not for the reason you might expect. The sales manager at IBM told us it would be around four to five months before they could get started, due to vacations and other employee scheduling difficulties. That was the moment IBM lost the deal. Responsiveness matters, which brings me to something I see today when clients elect to go with a vendor.
Six weeks of training — and why it mattered
Here’s something NCR did that may surprise you: they would not sell us the system until one of us — which was me — attended six weeks of off-site training. Yes, six weeks. Dayton, Boston, Denver, then Dayton again.
At the time, it felt like a significant commitment. In hindsight, it was one of the smartest requirements they could have made. I came back with a deep understanding of how the system worked — how data flowed through it, how to train others — and we hit the ground running.
Compare that to today’s standard: clients now mostly get two weeks of training, and are then instructed to go to YouTube to view training videos. Today versus yesteryear means mapping doesn’t happen correctly, client staff hasn’t learned how the system works and how data flows, and — unfortunately — the client doesn’t have the information, reports, or other deliverables they were expected to have on the sales side of things.
My advice if you’re considering a new ERP
Whether this is your company’s first ERP or you’re migrating from a legacy system, here’s my advice: do your due diligence.
Give yourself the satisfaction of testing it yourself. Ask to run your own data through their software. Make them prove it does what they say it does — not with a demo environment, not with a reference client’s scenario. Yours. If a vendor won’t agree to that, pay attention to what that tells you.
Involve every department early. The people who will live in this system every day need a voice in selecting it. Their input before the RFP is worth far more than their complaints after go-live.
Take training seriously. Ask vendors directly: what will your team walk away knowing, and by when? Push back if the answer is two weeks and a playlist.
Think beyond the sale. A new ERP system, no matter your business industry or size, is costly. You owe it to yourself and your company to take the time to get the information you need — to know that whichever ERP vendor you choose will be there for you not just at the sale, but months down the pike when you need assistance.
The software alone won’t solve your problems. The right process, the right preparation, and the right partnership will.
Kevin P. Clouser writes on financial leadership, technology transitions, and what it really takes to set businesses up for long-term success. To learn more about NOW CFO’s advisory services, visit NOW CFO or call us at 877-735-6655.
