Top 10 Pitfalls to Avoid When Migrating an ERP System

That’s it! Management has finally approved the purchase of brand-new business management software. An ERP system.

The great tool that caught your eye (we hope it’s Furious😉) should help automate processes across different departments, save you time every day, and ultimately save you money.

So you’re getting ready to move, and your excitement is mixed with a touch of anxiety:

How can we ensure that this strategic migration for the company goes as smoothly as possible?

Because we know how stressful this can be and the potential risks involved, at Furious we guide our clients every step of the way, for as long as it takes.

And here’s a list of the 10 most common mistakes to avoid during a migration:

Forgetting to ask why we’re switching tools

It may seem obvious when put that way, but it’s important to take a hard look at the current situation before making any changes. Some of our clients are starting from virtually scratch: a few Excel spreadsheets and no real tools. Others are already familiar with single-purpose tools (CRM, project management) that don’t necessarily communicate with one another. Still others already have experience using a competing ERP system and are not satisfied with it.

In any case, since an ERP system is, by definition, a cross-functional tool, it is essential to identify the needs and constraints of the teams that will be using it—but above all, to define the objectives of this migration. Have you identified the “pain points” you want to address and defined an evaluation framework?

Do not appoint a project manager for this migration project

Changing the tool at the heart of the company’s operations involves all employees.

The success of this internal—and highly strategic—project requires a coordinator who can serve as a liaison between the various divisions and departments.

Just as a project manager helps coordinate all the people working to ensure the project’s success, having an intermediary between the software teams and your own is essential to the success of your migration.

Not everyone can be in charge. This person will be responsible, in particular,for drawing up a schedule and ensuring that it is followed.

Assign the project to an intern

… And that person can’t be an intern. Just as you wouldn’t entrust your company’s biggest budget and project to Corentin the intern, it seems obvious that entrusting him with the migration of the tool that will manage your entire business isn’t the best thing to do. Even if you think you’ll be the last one to use it (which isn’t true, but that’s another topic!).

No matter how much good will Corentin may have, he lacks both the experience and the big-picture understanding of the ins and outs of this project and the company. And he probably doesn’t have the authority needed to bring about change either.

Do not involve management

An ERP system like Furious has a broad scope. It supports and streamlines the work of frontline staff, managers, back-office personnel, and others. But that’s not all. Beyond operational management of projects and the company, it’s also a powerful tool for effectively steering your business and anticipating strategic decisions. And when you talk about steering, you’re talking about a pilot—QED.

Management must therefore be both the driving force behind change (the one at the helm, for heaven’s sake!) and an active participant in it.

Don’t use this as an opportunity to overhaul the processes

Here’s a concrete example that everyone can relate to: When you move, do you take the opportunity to sort through your belongings, throw things away, and clean up? Switching ERP systems is exactly the same.

This is the perfect opportunity to rethink the organization, take stock of what’s working and what’s making day-to-day operations more difficult. In short, to review ERP processes, simplify them, and/or optimize them.

As a result, you’ll quickly see the added value of this migration.

A good ERP system will generally provide you with a structure that maximizes best practices.

Trying to replicate exactly what we had in our previous tool(s)

Normally, if you haven’t fallen into pitfall #1, you’ll be able to avoid this one.

But it can happen that, despite a genuine desire for change and despite having clearly identified areas for improvement and adjustment, our natural tendency to gravitate toward what we know and what we’re comfortable with (even if it’s sometimes anything but logical) gets in the way of a smooth transition.

If you’ve been using Excel since you were a teenager, there’s a good chance your new ERP system won’t display your KPIs quite the same way.

Furious is a new ERP system, and as such, it’s at the cutting edge of both functionality and technology. By its very nature, its philosophy differs from that of ERP tools developed in the 2000s. Our onboarding support will help you discover features and optimizations you never even knew existed !

Entrust the project solely to your financial backers

An ERP system naturally has a significant impact on the finance department. Therefore, the finance department has a say in the matter.

On the other hand, just as you don’t rely solely on them to carry out the agency’s projects or manage the business operations of your consulting firm, Michel—the CFO—and his team cannot be the sole decision-makers and key players in the selection and migration of your ERP system.

Effective project management is central to Furious, and its comprehensive scope covers all areas of your business. The modules work together to help you manage, plan for, and effectively steer your projects and your company.

Our experience has shown that initiatives led solely by finance professionals do not always garner the best buy-in from teams (unless, of course, that finance professional is on the Executive Committee).

Wanting to achieve unanimous agreement

If you’ve ever organized a corporate seminar, an end-of-year party, or even just a meal with coworkers, you know it’s impossible to fully satisfy everyone.

It’s the same with an ERP system. For starters, we’re talking about change. But people don’t like change (neither do cats, for that matter—a useless but true fact).

Depending on employees’ profiles, personalities, and experiences with current tools, you’ll encounter varying degrees of resistance. Some will be extremely enthusiastic (and make great advocates), while others, on the contrary, will put up a fierce fight.

This brings us back to points 2 and 3: a migration leader must be a driving force for change and have the necessary authority ( hello, point 4) to convince even the most resistant people 🙂

Failure to map out one’s data, access rights, and recovery process.

Let’s move beyond the psychological aspects of migration and get down to the practical details.

Switchingfrom one tool (or several tools) to another involves a significant amount of data transfer: this includes project, client, employee, and financial information, as well as details about who has access to what.

The migration manager must be able to retrieve all the data, both from the current service provider and from the managers.

For your information, all the data in your Furious belongs to you. It can be exported at any time by authorized company employees at no additional cost.

As part of your migration to our tool, our teams will assist you in importing your data and help you configure and customize Furious to best suit your needs. This service is always free and available for as long as you need it.

Do you have a clear idea of where your data is? Who should or shouldn’t have access to specific pieces of information? We very often spend long hours here discussing this with clients to verify this information.

Do not impose a migration schedule or methodology on yourself.

We’ve said it time and time again: this is a strategic project for your company.

And every project requires a schedule, because“No wind is favorable to those who don’t know where they’re going.”

Putting the migration on a schedule helps ensure that the right timing goals are set.

Methodology, however, is essential to successfully carrying out this process: at Furious, we offer our clients a clear and proven deployment plan. We, of course, adapt it at each stage, but this helps optimize implementation time. In fact, our deployment time is among the shortest on the market!

We hope these 10 tips will help you navigate the migration process smoothly and stress-free (yes, it really is possible—trust us!).

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