It's common to hear, "Whatever the estimated cost and timeline, double it."

The traditional ERP integration industry thrives in this environment. Creating an air of mystery, complexity, and uncertainty around projects allows integrators to upsell and cross-sell without clients even realizing it.

But it's not just an integrator problem.

Organizations share the responsibility to ensure they are ready to embark on an ERP project. All too often, organizations see an ERP as a panacea to fix all their internal issues - trying to bolt on an ERP to an already chaotic business creates more issues, as old workarounds and manual processes are stifled. Suddenly it's the fault of the ERP. Too often do we hear that "the technology should fit around your business processes." This is an ideological position and one that frequently disappoints.

For an ERP project to be successful, you need to be open, willing, and, dare we say, eager to change your processes to fit the ERP. Adopting standard processes to flow with, rather than against, your ERP will pay dividends during implementation, adoption, and future iterations.

For ERP implementations to be successful, the integrator and the Client need to align their goals and have skin in the game. Expectations and deliverables need to be clear, commitments must be made and kept, and communication needs to be open and honest.