Published on the 13/02/2025 | Written by Heather Wright

Changing ERP change management…

Neha Ralhan believes many Australian and New Zealand organisations of all sizes are missing a huge opportunity to provide employees with a great ERP experience – something that has historically sometimes been missing – and improve their ERP in the process.

Ralhan, Gartner’s Sydney-based senior principal analyst for application strategy says ERP are too often considered completed on the project ‘go live’ date rather than when benefits are realised, leading to a premature assumption of success, even though the desired outcomes may not yet be achieved.

“Engagement of users is where the magic will happen.”

She’s calling for more focus from companies on the change management aspects of ERP and says common ERP pitfalls can, in large part, be attributed to change initiatives that focus on tactical aspects, such as the number of users trained and the number of open issues cleared, resulting in change being viewed as a point in time, rather than a process that spans the time frame beyond the change event.

“This narrow view and focus on implementation fails to support the impact the initial change will have on longer-term adoption.”

She told iStart that a focus on traditional project management methodology can see ERP leaders and project teams failing to fully consider the operational, people and process barriers that impede success and neglecting to support users throughout the duration of the ERP initiative.

“Go live is just one part of the ERP program of work – ERP is no longer set and forget.”

That’s due in part to the move to software-as-a-service ERP offerings, but also because people are expecting more than a simple ERP.

The ERP, for most employees, is part of their core work and what Gartner terms the ‘work to do work’ including putting in annual leave, accessing pay slips or calling a help desk.

“So if it is part of those two segments, it stands to reason that the employees relationship with it is not just on day dot, it is an ongoing relationship. And it also means applications leaders and CIOs need to address it as such.”

The rise of generative AI, and its integration into ERP means the drive for more personalised, or even hyper-personalised, adaptive experiences within the ERP is only going to get stronger.

“It stands to reason then that that is part of the ERP program of work.”

Gartner research also shows almost 75 percent of organisation’s ERP strategies are not strongly aligned to the business strategy. While that’s a global figure, Ralhan says analysis suggests it is accurate for Australia and New Zealand.

“A lot of that is because often times the ERP strategy becomes piecemeal and quite reactive, as opposed to a strategic strategy.”

Ralhan stresses that ERP is a team sport.

“It’s not just the application leaders and the CIOs deciding the fate of an organisation’s ERP. There are a lot more stakeholders, and they need to be managed in a more meaningful way through the life cycle – which doesn’t end on go live.”

Ralhan’s advice: To overcome poor ERP change management ERP leaders need to drive target outcomes, address barriers and engage users – a holistic approach which allows for longer term adoption by centering key metrics, delivering critical processes, removing obstacles and supporting users.

“System integrators need to place a higher premium on addressing barriers, while for ERP leaders, the ERP can often be quite ringfenced away from other organisational aspects and needs to link back to wider organisational outcomes,” she says.

“ERP is often a means to an end. It’s sometimes not given the importance it deserves for a critical system within the enterprise, and also a critical system for employees.”

That employee aspect is critical, with the ERP being more greatly utilised by employees and the ERP experience needing to match that increased use.

“People want a great experience with their organisation’s ERP.

“This is an awesome opportunity for organisations to provide a great experience for employees that maybe, historically, has been missing.”

She’s keen for organisations to acknowledge that ERP is a journey – an active, dynamic ecosystem, and that engaging users, and engaging them early, will only pay dividends.

“Users need to be engaged on an ongoing basis, whether that’s because new systems are being rolled out or new protocols are being rolled out…

“Engagement of users is where the magic will happen.”