ERP programmes rarely overrun in the build. They overrun in the decisions nobody made before the build started.
First Decide What the Business Should Run Like
An ERP is a decision about how the company operates, dressed up as a technology project. If the operating model, process ownership and data standards are unresolved, the system integrator will resolve them for you, at their pace and price.
Pick the Migration Path with a Business Case
Greenfield, brownfield or selective data transfer is not a religious question. It is a costed one: what does each path cost, what does it risk, what does it unlock, for your landscape. Decide it on paper before anyone books developers.
Manage to Outcomes, Not Licences
The programme should answer to business outcomes: order-to-cash cycle time, closing speed, inventory accuracy. Not to licence counts and go-live theatre.
- A readiness assessment and roadmap before any commitment.
- One named owner per process area.
- Stage-gates with a real stop option.
- Data migration rehearsed early, not discovered late.
The cheapest week of an ERP programme is the one spent deciding before the build. Buy that week.