Self-assessment: Are you ready for an ERP transformation?

Here’s a tough truth: Between 50-75% of ERP projects fail to meet expectations, with 30-50% exceeding budgets and over 60% taking longer than planned.

Why does this happen? The common culprits are issues with business integration during implementation—such as unclear governance, skill gaps, and adoption challenges.

But with the right support model, this is preventable—and you can set yourself up for success before you even begin your ERP Implementation.

Want to know if you’re on track for success?

Take the self-assessment

For each statement, rate your current readiness on a scale of 1 to 5:

1 = Not started
2 = In progress
3 = Partially ready
4 = Mostly ready
5 = Fully ready

Strategic alignment and business case

Executive sponsors are engaged, aligned, and accountable.
The business case includes quantified benefits and a value realization plan, with ERP goals clearly linked to strategic business priorities and measurable KPIs.
A detailed plan has been created for benefits realization with baselines, tracking mechanisms, and assigned owners.
ERP vision is clearly communicated, visibly supported by leadership, and positioned as a business-led initiative—not just an IT project.

Process readiness and control mapping

End-to-end processes are mapped, standardized, and reviewed for optimization.
High-risk or complex processes are prioritized for redesign and simplification.
Business owners understand ERP’s impact on current workflows.
Regulatory, controls, compliance, and audit requirements are identified and translated into process design needs.

Governance and program management

A program governance structure is defined, with a RACI for all workstreams.
Business and IT integration roles (e.g., Business Integrators) are clearly assigned.
Project management structure is in place with risk, issue, decision, and escalation management protocols.
Independent assurance or advisory support is engaged, if needed.

Change management and organizational readiness

A formal change management is developed and resourced.
Stakeholder impacts and change resistance are assessed across all business functions with strategies in place to address them.
Metrics and governance are in place to monitor user adoption, engagement and change fatigue.
ERP champions, influencers, and stakeholders are identified and engaged and accountable across departments.

Training and communication planning

Training scope and delivery strategy are mapped to job roles and processes.
A communications roadmap is in place, aligned to key phases, all impacted stakeholder groups, and user impacts.
Pre-implementation communications are building awareness and buy-in.
Learning materials and tools are scoped and budgeted.

Data governance and migration planning

Data owners and stewards are identified across business units and assigned with governance roles and responsibilities.
Cleansing, standardization, and validation requirements are identified and scheduled.
Master data governance frameworks (like vendors, customers, and general ledgers) are established.
Data quality KPIs are defined for migration validation with ongoing quality checks embedded into the data lifecycle.

Technology and integration readiness

System architecture landscape (including integration points and dependencies) is thoroughly understood and documented.
Legacy systems have been assessed for impact and continuity risks, and the target system architecture is defined with required integrations and data flows.
Customizations are evaluated for business necessity vs. standard fit.
Interfaces are designed with security, reliability, controls, and compliance in mind.

Compliance, security, and Segregation of Duties (SOD) planning

SoDs are mapped based on risk, organization design, and future-state process flows.
Security design principles are agreed upon (least privilege, task-based access).
System compliance requirements (like audit trails, retention) are defined and communicated.
Initial control and security review checkpoints are scheduled.

Budget, resourcing, and planning

Budget includes all major cost categories (e.g., licenses, integrators, training, support) and is built with a clear understanding of requirements.
Business and control resources (SMEs, compliance, audit) are included in planning.
Implementation partner(s) are selected or under evaluation with clear scope.
Time and effort estimates are validated against business availability and capacity.

Risk management and readiness checks

Risks are documented, categorized, and prioritized early in a complete risk register with mitigation strategies.
A risk and controls assessment has been conducted pre-project launch.
Readiness checklists are used for key milestones (e.g., design kickoff).
Independent review (internal audit or external advisor) is included in early phases.

How did you score?

Total your responses from each category and see how you stack up:

34-40: 🟢 ERP-ready: Strong foundation for successful transformation.
26-33: 🟡 Low risk: On track with minor refinements.
16-25: 🟠 Moderate risk: Improvements required before proceeding.
0-15: 🔴 High risk: Foundational gaps need urgent attention.

What’s next?

If you have concerns about your implementation readiness, it’s great that you’ve identified them early—this gives you the opportunity to ensure you’re properly prepared before moving forward.

That’s where we come in.

We offer a structured framework to help you assess gaps in your current ERP implementation plan (or create a best-practice plan from scratch). See how we can help you focus on the core principles of ERP business integration to set you up for success.