How to choose an ERP implementation partner: expert advice

Why ERP implementations fail

ERP projects fail surprisingly often. Industry research has repeatedly shown that only a fraction of implementations are delivered on time and on budget, and cost overruns can far exceed the original estimate. According to Kairtamo, the root cause often goes right back to the start of the procurement process:

“Buying an ERP is genuinely hard, and customers usually don’t have much experience of it, because it’s not something you do very often. That means people also lack the know-how to choose the right system and the right vendor.”

Common reasons for failure include:

• an inexperienced or under-resourced implementation partner
• weak change management, which slows down decision-making within the project
• poorly planned data migration that delays the project
• lack of commitment from leadership, which undermines the project team’s resourcing and motivation
• requirements defined on the wrong basis, or modelled too closely on the old system
• inadequate or poorly planned go-live support

That’s why it pays to bring in outside help before you even choose a system. Greenstep’s independent pre-study can cover, for example:

• mapping your current state and requirements
• support with the selection process itself
• an assessment of whether your organisation is actually ready for a change of this scale

Readiness is often evaluated through a project readiness assessment that looks at both people and organisational readiness for change. If gaps come to light, Kairtamo says they can be addressed through change management training, for instance, or by providing interim experts to fill key roles in the customer’s project team.

Partner size matters more than you might think

Kairtamo stresses that one of the most overlooked evaluation criteria is the real capacity of the vendor’s team as a whole.

“Unfortunately, software vendors often put their A-team in front of the customer. If the company is fairly small, the same experienced people are working on several implementations at once, so resources get spread thin. Is there really enough expertise to go round for this particular customer?”

Even more important, though, is what happens after go-live. Kairtamo recommends deliberately keeping the implementation itself tight and short so the system is up and running quickly. Further development is best left until the system has been used in day-to-day work for a while. That way, processes genuinely take shape around the new system instead of old ways of working simply being lifted and shifted into a new environment.

This is exactly where many projects stumble: the core team that led the implementation has already moved on to the next client, and responsibility passes to a support team that doesn’t know the customer.

“What customers often describe as the ball being dropped in the handover from go-live to support is one of the biggest reasons projects fail and customers start looking for help elsewhere.”

Questions to ask when choosing a partner

Kairtamo suggests asking potential partners questions such as:

• How many consultants do you have available, and how many projects are you running at the same time?
• How are resources allocated across projects, and is there enough expertise for this project in particular?
• Will the same team stay on after go-live for development and support, or will the people change?
• What references can you offer?
• Are your add-on solutions (such as e-invoicing, payments or purchase invoice approval) mature and proven across many customers, or were they custom-built once for a single client?
• Are the add-ons designed for Nordic or Finnish requirements, or are they more generic global solutions?
• Do you offer change management support?

On references, Kairtamo has a practical tip:

“If you know people who work at the companies a vendor lists as references, get in touch and ask them directly. You’ll get a much clearer picture than if you just talk to the contact person the vendor has hand-picked for you.”

What if your implementation has already gone wrong?

Some customers contact Kairtamo after an implementation carried out by another partner has failed to deliver what was promised. Typical situations include a lack of support after go-live, or a solution that’s incomplete, such as automations or functionality the old system had that turn out to be missing from the new one.

To get to the bottom of situations like these, Greenstep often uses a health check: a systematic review of what has been built in the customer’s environment and where the pain points lie.

“We’ve taken over so many of these environments that we have a good understanding of how different vendors tend to solve things, whether it’s purchase invoices or integrations.”

From there, the issues are addressed wherever possible. It’s worth knowing, however, that a new partner usually can’t support modules built by another vendor as they are. The customer then has to weigh up whether to replace the existing solutions altogether or find another way forward.

Summary: what to look out for

1. Carry out an independent pre-study and readiness assessment before choosing a partner.
2. Look into the partner’s full resource base, not just the skills of the team you’re introduced to, and make sure the same team will stay on for development and support after go-live.
3. Check references through your own network as well.
4. Assess whether the add-on solutions on offer are genuinely mature and proven.
5. Ask whether the partner offers change management support.
6. Favour a lean, fast implementation. A sprawling, all-encompassing implementation project is rarely the smartest way to go.
7. The right partner isn’t the one that promises the most. It’s the one whose resources, process and commitment still stand up to scrutiny long after go-live.