11. Business change

In addition to deploying the technology, a successful ERP implementation depends on effective change management to adopt standardised business processes and user readiness. The following will need to be handled by business change:

Adopt not adapt

The value of a cloud ERP is highest when an organisation adopts the standard cross-functional business processes associated with the technology. This enables best practices and to stay in lock-step with rapid developments, plus cut-down support effort.

However, it is important for an organisation to be clear on any requirements that are essential to a unique competitive advantage in the market to ensure these are maintained by the chosen ERP technology or, if absolutely necessary, with customisation (which is usually at great development and support cost).

Achieving business process adoption requires aligning workflows, redefining roles, and phasing out legacy habits. Business users should be involved in process design and testing to encourage ownership and maximise collaboration.

Communications

Clear, consistent, and targeted communication underpins successful change. Communications should articulate the vision, benefits, timelines, and impacts of the ERP go-live. Messages must be tailored to different stakeholder groups, emphasising “what’s changing and why.” Two-way feedback channels should be built in to surface questions and concerns early. These can be through:

• Town halls
• Newsletters
• Intranet updates
• Leadership briefings
• Workshops
• Training sessions

Training

Training ensures users gain confidence and competence before go-live. It should be role-based, scenario-driven, and aligned to real business tasks.

Training environment: A dedicated training environment, i.e. a stable, sandbox version of the ERP system—should replicate production configurations as closely as possible. This allows hands-on practice without business risk and supports reinforcement sessions post go-live. The training environment and training materials will need to be aligned to configuration and master data changes in the run up to go live.

Training data: Meaningful training depends on realistic data. Training data should mirror actual business transactions and master data to help users relate training to their daily work. However, sensitive information must be anonymised or scrubbed to comply with data protection standards.

Change Champions

Designated change champions, with good knowledge of the organisation, within each department, play an important role in preparing users for the new ERP solution. They also provide feedback on issues to the project team to ensure they are addressed.

Hypercare and embedding

After go-live, embedding involves integrating the new system into daily operations and culture. A hypercare period—typically the first 4–8 weeks post-implementation—provides heightened support, with rapid issue resolution, user coaching, and system monitoring to stabilise performance and confidence. Monitoring logins and usage patterns after go-live helps identify adoption trends and users who may need support. This can also identify where useful functionality is not being used, so users can be made aware of the new features.

Key information to be produced:

• User list
• Role mapping (which job types get which system role/permissions)
• Training material
• Business process changes
• Ways of working changes
• Business readiness criteria
• Communications plan