ERP Assessment and Strategy: Choosing (and Actually Succeeding With) Your Next ERP

Picture this: your operations team is juggling spreadsheets, finance is closing the books later each month, sales can’t confidently promise delivery dates, and every “quick report” turns into a week-long data scavenger hunt.

At some point, most growing businesses reach the same crossroads: Is our current system failing us—or are we failing our current system?

That’s where ERP assessment and strategy comes in. Not as another buzzword, but as the difference between:

• an ERP project that becomes a multi-year, morale-draining monster, and
• an ERP project that actually delivers what leadership promised: visibility, speed, control, and scalability.

This guide walks you through a real-world framework to assess readiness, build a smart ERP strategy, and evaluate vendors with confidence—without wasting months on shiny demos that don’t fit your business.

Why ERP Projects Fail (Even When the Software Is “Good”)

Most ERP projects don’t collapse because the software is inherently bad. They stumble because the organization wasn’t ready for what ERP implementation actually is:

• A process redesign project
• A change management project
• A data governance project
• A cross-functional alignment project
• And yes… a technology project

When businesses skip readiness and jump straight into vendor shopping, the evaluation becomes superficial:

• • “We like Vendor A’s interface.”
  • “Vendor B looks modern.”
  • “Vendor C has the modules we need.”

But “looks good” is not the same as “fits our operating model.”

The goal of ERP assessment and strategy is to make sure your business is aligned—before the software tries to enforce alignment for you.

Step 1: Confirm You Actually Need a New ERP

A solid ERP assessment starts with the uncomfortable question: Do we need a new platform, or do we need to fix our workflows?

Here are common “need indicators” that show up repeatedly in strong readiness frameworks:

1) You lack operational visibility

If you can’t get real-time insight into inventory, orders, production, margins, or cash flow without pulling data from three systems and one spreadsheet, your business is operating with a blindfold.

2) Growth is exposing cracks

This is the classic one. What worked at 20 employees doesn’t work at 100. Your processes might still “function,” but only because a few key people carry tribal knowledge in their heads.

When scaling requires more manual work—not less—you’re approaching the ceiling.

3) You’re expanding products, locations, or business models

New geographies, new compliance requirements, multi-entity accounting, new manufacturing modes, more customization, more channels—complexity multiplies quickly.

4) Your system is aging out

If your platform is at end-of-life or loses vendor support, the risks aren’t theoretical. You’re exposing your business to security gaps, integration limitations, and expensive “temporary fixes” that become permanent.

5) M&A activity is forcing consolidation

Acquisitions expose how fragile your system ecosystem is. Multiple ERPs, inconsistent data definitions, and mismatched processes can stall integration and delay the value of the deal.

If you’re seeing two or more of these indicators, you don’t just need new software. You need a strategy for how your business will run in the next 5–10 years.

Step 2: Assess Readiness Using a Simple (But Powerful) Framework

The best readiness assessments don’t start with software features. They start with organizational alignment.

A widely used approach is the 7S model, which evaluates readiness across both “hard” and “soft” factors.

The 7S ERP Readiness Checklist

1) Strategy

• What business outcomes must ERP deliver?
• Are those outcomes measurable?
• What problems are we solving (and what are we not solving)?

Tip: If your goals are vague (“improve efficiency”), your project scope will drift. Turn goals into measurable statements like:

• Reduce month-end close from 12 days to 5
• Improve inventory accuracy from 84% to 97%
• Cut manual order entry by 60%

2) Structure

• Who owns decisions?
• Do departments operate with shared definitions and governance?
• Are there clear owners for data and process changes?

ERP punishes unclear ownership. If nobody “owns” a process, nobody can improve it.

3) Systems

This one isn’t just about infrastructure. It’s also about data quality and integration reality.

Ask:

• What systems feed critical data today?
• Where are the spreadsheets hiding?
• How messy is master data (customers, items, pricing, BOMs)?
• If we migrated today, what would break?

Bad data doesn’t just stay in one corner. In ERP, bad input cascades across modules.

4) Skills

• Do we have internal ERP capability?
• Are we budgeting for training?
• Can we sustain the system post go-live?

ERP isn’t “install and forget.” It becomes a living system your team must operate, maintain, and optimize.

5) Style & Culture

This is the silent killer.

If your culture resists standardization (“We’ve always done it this way”), ERP becomes a battleground. If your culture embraces improvement, ERP becomes an accelerator.

6) Staff

• Do you have capacity for the project team?
• Are your best people too busy to participate?
• Do you have executive sponsorship strong enough to unblock decisions?

ERP projects struggle when they’re staffed with whoever is “available” instead of whoever is essential.

7) Shared Values

• Are departments aligned on outcomes?
• Do teams agree on what “success” means?
• Is there a champion who can unify the organization?

When ERP becomes “IT’s project,” adoption suffers. ERP succeeds when it’s owned by the business.

Step 3: Define Your ERP Strategy Before You Touch a Vendor List

Here’s a truth that saves time: If you don’t know what you’re building, every vendor demo will look great.

An ERP strategy is the bridge between readiness and evaluation. It answers:

• What does our future-state operating model look like?
• What processes should be standardized vs flexible?
• Where should we automate first?
• What’s our implementation approach (phased vs big bang)?
• What’s the business case (cost, ROI, risk reduction)?

The 4-Part ERP Strategy Document (Quick Version)

1) Business Outcomes

A short list of measurable goals, ranked by impact.

2) Process Priorities

The core workflows that must be redesigned (order-to-cash, procure-to-pay, plan-to-produce, record-to-report).

3) Technology Principles

Cloud vs on-prem, integration strategy, reporting architecture, data governance.

4) Implementation Guardrails

Timeline assumptions, phased approach, change management plan, training plan, and budget boundaries.

If you want to out-execute competitors, do this one step better: define what “good enough” looks like for each area so you don’t chase perfection.

Step 4: Use a Structured ERP Evaluation Process (Not a Demo Beauty Contest)

Once readiness and strategy are clear, evaluation becomes much easier—and much more objective.

A robust ERP evaluation usually follows a disciplined sequence:

1) Get real commitment

Not “approval,” but active leadership involvement.

ERP decisions require tradeoffs. Without executive backing, decision-making stalls and departments revert to politics.

2) Build a cross-functional selection team

ERP touches everything. Your selection team should represent:

• finance
• operations
• IT
• sales/customer service
• supply chain
• leadership

And yes, you need someone to run the process like a project—not a committee.

3) Define requirements (but don’t let requirements become a novel)

Capture needs through interviews and process workshops. Then prioritize.

A practical approach:

• Must-have (project fails without it)
• Should-have (high value)
• Nice-to-have (avoid scope creep)

4) Create a clear RFP (if you’re using one)

The RFP should be structured, scorable, and aligned to your strategy—not generic.

5) Narrow the list early

Too many vendors creates analysis paralysis. Too few creates blind spots.

6) Run scripted demos

This is the secret sauce.

Instead of letting vendors show their “best features,” you give them a script:

• Here’s our scenario
• Here’s our workflow
• Here are the decisions we need to make
• Show us how your system handles it—end to end

Then score demos quickly while memories are fresh.

7) Evaluate the vendor’s roadmap

ERP lives with you for years. You’re not just buying software as it exists today—you’re buying where the product is going.

Key questions:

• What’s on the roadmap for analytics, automation, and integrations?
• Is AI embedded into workflows or sold as add-ons?
• What has the vendor shipped in the last 12–24 months?

8) Speak to real customers

Ask reference customers the questions vendors don’t want you to ask:

• What surprised you the most?
• What would you do differently?
• How was implementation support?
• How much did customization cost you long-term?

9) Evaluate the implementation team (not just the product)

Your success is heavily influenced by the people implementing.

Confirm:

• who will actually be assigned
• industry experience
• staffing model (employees vs subcontractors)
• support model after go-live

10) Make the final selection based on fit + future

Choose the ERP that aligns with your strategy, supports your future state, and matches your organization’s readiness level.

Step 5: Don’t Ignore the “Pre-ERP Fixes” That Make or Break Projects

Here’s a hard lesson: ERP can’t save broken fundamentals. It will expose them faster.

Before implementation, address readiness blockers like:

Inventory and master data problems

If item masters are inconsistent and inventory accuracy is already low, ERP won’t magically fix it. Clean data and tighten processes first.

Communication breakdowns

ERP requires clarity:

• Who owns what?
• What decisions are standardized?
• What changes are coming?

A change management plan isn’t “corporate fluff.” It’s how adoption happens.

Manual entry and spreadsheet dependency

If your business relies on manual data transfer, you’re paying for errors. ERP automation helps—but only when workflows are designed intentionally.

Step 6: Your ERP Strategy Should Include “Continuous Optimization” From Day One

Most businesses treat go-live like the finish line.

It’s not.

ERP go-live is the moment you stop implementing and start operating. A strong ERP strategy includes an optimization plan:

• post go-live backlog prioritization
• quarterly process improvements
• reporting enhancements
• automation expansion
• governance and training refreshers

This prevents the “we implemented it but never fully used it” trap.

A Simple Deliverables List You Can Steal

If you want your ERP assessment and strategy to feel structured (and executive-ready), aim to produce these deliverables:

1. ERP Readiness Scorecard (people, process, tech, finance)
2. Business Outcomes & KPI Targets (measurable)
3. Current-State Process Map (high-level)
4. Future-State Process Principles (standardize vs customize)
5. Data Readiness Report (gaps, cleanup plan)
6. Evaluation Criteria & Scoring Model
7. Vendor Demo Script (scenario-based)
8. Implementation Approach Recommendation (phased/big bang)
9. Change Management & Training Plan
10. Executive Business Case (TCO + ROI + risk reduction)

This is how you turn ERP from a software purchase into a business transformation that leadership can actually govern.

Final Thoughts: Strategy First, Software Second

ERP is one of the biggest operational decisions a business will make. The companies that win aren’t the ones who pick the “best ERP.” They’re the ones who:

• assess readiness honestly
• define outcomes clearly
• align stakeholders early
• evaluate vendors objectively
• implement with discipline
• and optimize continuously

That’s what ERP assessment and strategy is really about: reducing risk, increasing clarity, and building a system that supports your business—not the other way around.