Manish Goyal, Co-Founder of Dynamics Square, drives digital transformation via AI & Dynamics 365 with 17+ years of proven experience.
According to Gartner, by 2027, more than 70% of recently implemented enterprise resource planning (ERP) initiatives are expected to fall short of their original business goals. That statistic is not as surprising as it might seem.
One lesson has stayed with me throughout years of ERP implementations. The projects that generate the most excitement at go-live do not always deliver the greatest business value a year later.
ERP teams spend months preparing for deployment. Processes are redesigned, integrations are tested, users are trained and leadership teams invest significant time and resources to reach a successful launch. Yet the toughest part of the project usually starts after deployment.
I have worked with organizations where deployment went exactly as planned. Transactions processed correctly, reporting improved and users gained access to better information. On paper, the project was a success. Months later, however, some departments were still using spreadsheets, email chains and locally maintained trackers to manage work that was supposed to be handled through the ERP platform. Teams maintained spreadsheets alongside the new platform. Managers relied on locally created trackers. Important decisions were made using information gathered outside the system.
Nobody rejected the ERP. People simply found familiar ways to work around it. That distinction matters because a successful deployment and a successful transformation are not the same thing.
Research published by Deloitte on ERP change management and adoption highlights a similar challenge. The firm argues that ERP programs should be treated as business and people transformations rather than technology projects. In many cases, post-deployment outcomes are shaped more by behavior and organizational alignment than by software functionality.
The Warning Sign Most Leaders Miss
When executives evaluate ERP success, attention often focuses on project milestones, training completion and system usage. Those indicators are useful, but they rarely tell the full story. A better question is this: What work is still happening outside the ERP?
I have found that unofficial workarounds reveal more about adoption than any dashboard. In one organization, supervisors continued maintaining separate inventory records because they trusted their own trackers more than the information available in the system. In another, department managers exported data into spreadsheets every week because that was how performance reviews had always been conducted.
The ERP contained the same information, but the habits never changed.
Why Adoption Is Often Misdiagnosed
When adoption challenges emerge, additional training is usually the first response. No doubt training has value, but it is rarely the root issue.
In my experience, resistance is usually tied to accountability, visibility and process ownership. ERP platforms standardize activities that may have been handled differently across departments. Information becomes more transparent. Informal workarounds become harder to maintain. As a result, what appears to be a technology challenge often turns into a business challenge.
One observation continues to surprise me. The strongest advocates for a new ERP platform during planning are not always the fastest adopters after deployment. Once familiar reporting methods, approval structures or departmental processes disappear, enthusiasm can fade quickly. That is why long-term success depends on leadership engagement long after the implementation team has completed its work.
The Tension Many Organizations Underestimate
ERP programs require leaders to balance competing priorities from the outset. Business stakeholders want flexibility, delivery teams need standardization, operational managers want processes that reflect day-to-day realities and project teams need consistency to keep delivery on track.
I have seen this tension repeatedly while balancing client relationship management with the realities of software engineering and delivery commitments. Accommodating every request increases complexity. Enforcing standardization too aggressively can reduce user buy-in.
The strongest outcomes usually come from organizations that address these trade-offs openly rather than treating them as technical decisions. Research highlighted in a McKinsey review of a large-scale ERP transformation reached a similar conclusion. Strong governance, accountability and executive involvement tend to influence outcomes more than technology changes alone.
Three Actions Leaders Should Take After Go-Live
Many organizations establish detailed plans before deployment. Far fewer create a structured adoption plan afterwards.
Three actions can make a significant difference.
1. Assign clear ownership for adoption.
Once the project team steps away, someone must remain accountable for driving behavioral change, monitoring usage patterns and addressing process gaps.
2. Track workarounds as aggressively as system issues.
Manual trackers, unofficial spreadsheets and parallel reporting processes should be treated as warning signs. They usually point to trust or adoption challenges that require attention.
3. Measure business outcomes, not project outcomes.
Success should be evaluated through process consistency, decision-making quality and operational improvements rather than deployment milestones alone.
Measuring What Matters
The most reliable indicator of ERP success is not whether a deployment happened on time or within budget. It is whether the organization operates differently because of the investment.
Are managers relying on shared information instead of personal trackers? Are departments following consistent processes? Are decisions being made with greater confidence because the underlying data is trusted?
Technology can be implemented in months. Changing behavior takes longer. That is where ERP value is ultimately realized, and where the gap between go-live and genuine success is either closed or allowed to grow.
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