What is ERP implementation, and what should it achieve for your business?
ERP implementation is the work of introducing enterprise resource planning software into a business and establishing how people will use it in their daily work. The software runs on computers, often hosted by a service provider, and users access it through their own computers or other suitable devices. It connects functions such as sales, purchasing, inventory, production and accounting through shared records and linked processes.
A sales order can tell the warehouse what to dispatch, purchasing what needs to be bought, and finance what needs to be invoiced. Implementation establishes how that sequence will work within the company’s existing arrangements: who promises delivery, who authorises purchases, how shortages are handled and how changes are communicated.
The starting point is the work people already understand. The consultant examines how it happens, identifies the responsibilities and decisions involved, and reproduces those arrangements in the software as closely as practical. Formalisation makes established practices explicit: an approval becomes a recorded decision, a handover carries the information the next person needs, and a manager can see the status of work.
The changes required depend on the business. A company with clear procedures and responsibilities may carry much of its existing structure into the implementation. A business that relies heavily on informal conversations and individual knowledge may need to agree and document more of its working arrangements. Some tasks and roles will change as information becomes shared and activities become connected.
Consider an advertising agency coordinating client approval, creative work, supplier bookings and invoicing. A factory coordinates order approval, materials, production, dispatch and invoicing. Both already have ways of getting the work done. Implementation gives those arrangements a consistent place in the software, with agreed changes where needed.
The transition must preserve people’s ability to perform their jobs. Someone who leaves on Friday confident in their responsibilities should arrive after go-live understanding how to carry them out. Changes need to be discussed, agreed with the appropriate people, practised and supported. Familiar work and manageable learning help employees build confidence and adopt the software.
Specific business objectives guide the effort: dependable stock figures for sales, visible production costs for managers, or timely project expenditure for a services firm. A successful implementation gives people a workable way to achieve those objectives while providing a foundation for further improvement.
The first phase of ERP implementation: understand the business and its direction
The first phase of ERP implementation is discovery: establishing what the business does, how its work is organised, what it wants to achieve and what the implementation must deliver. Management and the ERP consultancy work together to examine existing arrangements, assess requirements and agree the scope. That collaboration continues throughout implementation as they resolve questions, evaluate changes and prepare teams.
Start with an actual piece of work. In an engineering practice, follow a commission from the client’s brief through design, revisions, approval and invoicing. In a manufacturer, follow an order through materials, production, quality checks and dispatch. Employees demonstrate the work, managers examine responsibilities and dependencies, and the consultant helps turn that shared understanding into practical decisions.
Written procedures provide part of the picture. A supervisor may check unusual orders, a buyer may arrange urgent deliveries, or accounts may wait for confirmation before invoicing. Together, the people involved establish which practices work well, what needs formalising and where changes are necessary. Management contributes knowledge of relationships, capabilities and sensitivities; the consultant brings process analysis, software knowledge and experience of organising similar work.
Discovery also establishes how the implementation will enable management to execute its strategy and adapt it later. A manufacturer adding a distributor channel needs arrangements for distributor pricing, ordering and fulfilment. An agency introducing retainers needs to organise recurring work, responsibilities and billing. Management and the consultant work through those requirements together, choosing processes and software arrangements that can support further developments: another sales channel, a revised distribution model or a reallocation of work between departments. Strategic flexibility becomes part of the implementation requirements.
Existing specialist applications belong in those decisions. Engineers may continue designing in their established tools while ERP software records project commitments, purchases, time and costs. The relevant managers and consultant agree where activities belong, what information should pass between applications and who will maintain it.
Discovery produces concrete agreements: business objectives, initial scope, responsibilities, applications retained and changes requiring preparation. These give management and the consultancy a shared basis for planning the rollout and making decisions as the business develops.
Different industries, familiar challenges: how ERP connects the work
ERP software connects business activities through shared records and processes. An order, project or contract can carry information between departments, trigger the next task and bring together the revenue and costs associated with the work.
In an advertising agency, a campaign moves through briefing, copywriting, design, approval and production. Someone coordinates the schedule so that approved material reaches the publisher on time. In a factory, production planning coordinates materials, people, equipment and quality checks so that an order reaches the customer on time. Both depend on knowing what is ready, what is waiting and how a change affects the remaining work.
The specialist activities use their own tools. Designers prepare artwork in design applications; factory equipment performs production tasks. ERP software helps organise assignments, purchases, deadlines and approvals, while recording progress and costs against the campaign or production order.
A telecommunications company offers another example. When its network platform activates a customer’s service, that event can update a service record in the ERP software and start billing. The record identifies the customer, service, activation date, price and associated supplier costs. An insurer has a similar commercial requirement: the commencement of cover establishes obligations, entitlements and amounts payable. Each business needs its operational events reflected accurately in its commercial records.
The connections matter when circumstances change. A revised campaign may require additional photography and a new publication date. A changed manufacturing order may require different materials and more production time. The people handling the change need to establish its effect on commitments, costs and the customer’s agreement.
During implementation, management, employees and the consultant agree how those connections will work: which application records each event, who acts on it, what information travels with it and how its financial effects are captured. Those decisions allow each function to perform its work while giving the wider business a dependable view of commitments, progress and results.
ERP implementation steps: the plan, the method and the working processes
ERP implementation typically progresses through discovery, process definition, software configuration, data preparation, testing, training, go-live and continued improvement. The implementation plan establishes who is responsible, how activities depend on one another and what must be ready before each team begins using the software.
The ERP implementation methodology is the approach management and the consultancy use to organise that work, make decisions and verify that the arrangements work in practice. A useful sequence is:
- Agree objectives and scope. Establish the business requirements, the functions included and the results expected.
- Define the working processes. Formalise established practices, agree necessary changes and assign responsibilities.
- Configure the software and prepare information. Set up the agreed processes, connect relevant applications and migrate records such as customers, products, stock and opening balances.
- Test complete activities and prepare people. Practise ordinary work and exceptions, check the results and train everyone affected in their responsibilities.
- Go live and support the operation. Help teams complete real work, resolve difficulties and assess results before extending or improving the arrangements.
Testing should follow work through to its conclusion. An agency can take a commission through approval, supplier purchasing and invoicing. A manufacturer can take an order through materials, production, dispatch and accounting. A late delivery or changed specification reveals whether people understand how to handle exceptions as well.
Three common rollout approaches are phased implementation, introducing functions or teams in stages; a single cutover, moving the agreed scope across on one date; and parallel running, operating the old and new arrangements together temporarily to compare results.
The choice depends on the organisation’s capacity, dependencies and readiness. Accounting might move first, followed by sales and marketing. Each stage adds connected capabilities and gives colleagues visible results to assess. A smaller business may be able to prepare several functions together.
Management and the consultant agree the sequence and readiness criteria. Progress depends on people being able to perform their work, information being dependable and connected processes producing the expected results.
Changing a process changes someone’s working life
ERP implementation is challenging because changes to processes also affect people’s responsibilities, authority and relationships. Shared information can alter who is consulted, who approves work and how someone’s contribution becomes visible.
Consider a purchasing manager who personally approves every order. Colleagues rely on that person to keep spending under control and resolve urgent requests. Introducing agreed purchasing limits could give supervisors authority over routine orders, with the manager overseeing exceptions, supplier performance and expenditure.
That arrangement may offer more useful responsibility and fewer interruptions. It may also unsettle someone whose standing has grown around being involved in every purchase. Their questions about oversight and accountability deserve attention. Management and the consultant need to understand both the practical concerns and what the change means to the person.
Similar changes occur across industries. An advertising account manager may gain direct visibility of production costs. A factory supervisor may become responsible for recording material losses. Both gain information or duties that affect how their performance is assessed. The implementation must establish what they can decide, what they are accountable for and what support accompanies that responsibility.
Management’s knowledge matters here. A proposed change might fit a promotion already being considered, allowing the new role, authority and working arrangements to be introduced together. Leadership owns those decisions and the expectations communicated to employees. The consultant helps work through the operational implications.
The transition should leave people able to perform their jobs with confidence. Someone who leaves on Friday knowing how to organise their work needs a clear, practised way to do it after go-live. Familiar processes, agreed changes and accessible support make that possible.
These are practical ERP implementation risks: unclear authority, unfamiliar duties and a sudden loss of confidence can delay work and weaken adoption. Addressing them means preparing the role as carefully as the software, so people understand their responsibilities and have the means to fulfil them.
Change management: involve everyone affected by the work
Change management in ERP implementation is the work of helping people understand, prepare for and adopt changes to their tasks, responsibilities and working relationships. It includes agreeing how changes will be introduced, practising the work and supporting people as they gain experience.
The people affected extend across the operation. A driver may receive revised delivery instructions. A production worker may need to report completed quantities at a different point. An agency’s freelance photographer may receive a purchase order and submit invoices against its reference. Each participates in a process connected to the ERP software, whether they access it themselves or work through a colleague.
Their involvement helps reveal practical requirements. A warehouse employee can explain why a picking instruction causes confusion. A site supervisor can identify when information can realistically be recorded. Management and the consultant use that knowledge to prepare processes people can carry out under normal working conditions.
Preparation should match the person’s role. A sales administrator may need software training and practice handling changed orders. A driver may need a clear explanation of delivery confirmation and whom to contact when a customer disputes a quantity. Managers need to understand their decision rights and how to help their teams resolve difficulties.
A staged rollout can build support through visible benefits. Accounting gains dependable records; sales gains access to customer and order information; marketing can connect campaign activity to sales outcomes. Colleagues experience easier handovers and begin asking when similar capabilities will reach their own teams.
Management helps interpret those benefits and set realistic expectations. The consultant provides demonstrations, practice and support around the agreed work. Together, they assess readiness through people’s ability to complete tasks and handle exceptions. That gives adoption a practical foundation and helps confidence grow as the implementation progresses.
Work with leadership to turn decisions into action
Management and the ERP consultancy share the work of evaluating processes, resolving competing requirements and preparing the organisation for change. Senior leaders set priorities and authorise decisions; middle managers work through the consequences with their teams. The consultant brings analysis, practical options and the software knowledge needed to carry those decisions into operation.
Suppose a sales director wants faster quotation turnaround while operations needs dependable delivery commitments. Together, they examine what sales can promise from available stock, when production must confirm capacity and who handles an urgent exception. The consultant helps establish a process that both functions can use and tests how the information will support it.
Managers also know the organisation’s history and sensitivities. A previous restructuring may have left a team wary of new responsibilities. An experienced employee may influence colleagues far beyond their formal position. Management can help the consultant understand that context and agree how to approach the discussion.
Judgement matters in those conversations. The consultant must be able to question an impractical request, explain its consequences and help the people involved reach a workable decision. Eagerness to please can turn an unresolved disagreement into a promise that causes trouble later. Constructive challenge brings the decision into the open while there is time to address it.
The same collaboration defines the ongoing service relationship. Where application and technical work are outsourced, the CIO or equivalent agrees responsibilities, service expectations and authority with the provider. Managers need a clear route for requesting changes, setting priorities and assessing the results.
When customers ask about the critical issue in ERP implementation, this relationship deserves close attention. Requirements, processes and preparation all depend on decisions being made and acted upon. An effective working relationship between management and the consultancy gives those decisions the organisational knowledge, scrutiny and ownership they require.
Use software knowledge to make business decisions practical
An ERP implementation consultant needs enough software expertise to translate business requirements into working arrangements, solve problems and explain the consequences of different choices. That includes knowing what the application can do, how it can be configured and when an integration or extension is appropriate.
A distributor may sell the same products individually, in cartons and through reseller agreements. The consultant needs to understand how product records, units of measure and pricing will support those transactions. A sound setup lets sales quote correctly, warehouse staff pick the right quantities and accounts invoice what was supplied. The software decisions follow the commercial arrangements agreed with management.
Specialist applications also require judgement. An engineering practice may retain its drawing software; an IT services company may retain its monitoring and endpoint security tools. The consultant establishes how purchasing, project work, service records and costs connect to those activities. Each integration needs a clear purpose, dependable information and someone responsible for maintaining it.
Data migration requires similar care. Customer records, stock quantities and opening balances must mean the same thing to the people using them after the move. Business owners of that information help validate it, while the consultant checks that it produces the expected operational and accounting results.
For an Odoo implementation, product knowledge helps management choose which applications to introduce, how to preserve familiar processes and where additional work is justified. Technical services then carry out the agreed configuration, integrations and support, with access rights and service responsibilities established for ongoing operation.
Why do ERP implementations fail? Examine the method and the judgement
ERP implementations fail when the arrangements introduced into the business leave people unable or unwilling to perform the required work, or when the resulting processes and information fail to meet business needs. Poor discovery, unresolved decisions, excessive change and inadequate preparation can each contribute.
An implementation can lose momentum through everyday decisions. A manager agrees to a process in a meeting, then delays approving the details because its implications remain uncomfortable. Employees attend training, then encounter unfamiliar responsibilities during their first real transactions. A consultant promises a deadline while the people needed for testing are occupied with month-end work.
Experience helps an implementer recognise these situations early. In a Service Alliance implementation I observed, inexperience, dictatorial behaviour, sensitivity to challenge and eagerness to please combined to make delivery difficult. Decisions were imposed in some conversations while necessary disagreements were avoided in others. Those behaviours shaped the project as directly as the software choices.
A capable consultant brings concerns into discussions with the appropriate managers, explains the consequences and helps reach workable agreements. Management contributes the organisational context and authority to act. Together, they adjust the scope, sequence or preparation where the circumstances require it.
Readiness needs practical evidence. Can staff complete an order, handle a shortage and correct a mistake? Do managers understand their responsibilities? Can finance reconcile the migrated balances? These checks reveal whether the business can operate through the new arrangements.
ERP implementation best practices follow from that discipline: preserve effective working methods, formalise responsibilities, introduce manageable changes, test complete activities and support people through adoption. The method must work with the management team, employees and operating conditions present in the business.
How to choose an ERP implementation consultant
Choose an ERP implementation consultant by examining how they understand a business, work with management, organise processes and prepare people to use the software. Ask for examples that show their judgement in practice and evidence of the results achieved.
Give a prospective consultant a situation from your own operation: a customer changes an order after purchasing has begun, or a department needs to introduce a new approval responsibility. Listen to the questions they ask. A useful discussion explores the commercial consequences, existing practices, people involved and information needed before proposing an arrangement.
Ask how they will work with senior and middle management throughout delivery. Who participates in decisions? How are disagreements resolved? How do they establish that employees can perform their work after go-live? References can help you assess how the consultant handled difficult decisions, supported adoption and responded when circumstances changed.
The proposal should identify the responsibilities on both sides, the initial scope, expected deliverables and readiness criteria. It should also explain how the implementation will support your strategy and accommodate later changes to channels, services or organisational structure.
ERP implementation costs depend on that scope: the consulting work required, process formalisation, data preparation, configuration, integrations, training and rollout support. Software subscriptions, hosting and ongoing services should be identified separately so you can understand both the initial investment and continuing commitments.
Hatton Locks provides ERP implementation services with clearly defined management consulting and technical responsibilities. Management consulting addresses business requirements, processes, organisational implications and rollout decisions. Technical services configure and support the agreed software arrangements, including Odoo implementation.
The starting conversation is about your business: how it works today, what management wants to achieve and what people will need to carry that direction into everyday operations.