Evolving ERP Strategy From Post-Mortem to Proactive Planning

Most ERP failures are predictable. But most teams don’t catch them until it’s too late. ERP projects don’t crash at go-live. They crash months earlier, when: ❌ Risks go unchecked ❌ Resistance builds ❌ Misalignment takes root And by the time leaders realize it? They’re already in damage control mode. But NASA astronauts don’t wait for failure. They plan for it. Before every mission, they run countless pre-mortems. They assume the worst has already happened. Then, they work backward to find every possible reason, and fix it before launch. ERP projects? They need the same level of preparation. Here's how I run a pre-mortem that actually prevents failure: 1️⃣ Fast forward one year. → Your ERP project flopped. Hard. → What went wrong? Write down every possible reason. 2️⃣ Get brutally honest. → People didn’t adopt it? → Leadership wasn’t aligned? → Processes didn’t fit the tech? → Training came too late? No sugarcoating allowed. 3️⃣ Identify critical risks → Which failures would have the biggest impact? → Where is misalignment already creeping in? → What warning signs are already showing? 4️⃣ Reverse-engineer the fix. → What should have been done earlier? → Which risks need action now? → Who needs to be aligned before this even starts? Pre-mortems don’t just spot issues. They force action, while there’s still time to fix them. Because by the time failure is obvious? It’s already too late. PS. What’s an obvious ERP risk you’ve seen ignored? ♻️ Repost to help others run a pre-mortem before it’s too late. 👋 Follow Mariya Koteva for more ERP & change insights.

Last month, our CFO asked me a question that changed everything: "Why are we still manually approving purchase orders when AI can predict what we need before we know it ourselves?" That's when I realized: ERP isn't dead. It's evolving into something entirely different. Traditional ERP implementations take 18-24 months. By 2025, AI agents will reshape demand for software platforms, filling gaps in existing ERPs. We're not just upgrading systems anymore. Old ERP: Manual data entry, batch processing, reactive reports Intelligent ERP: Predictive analytics, real-time insights, proactive decisions This is what happened when we implemented AI-powered ERP modules: Supply Chain: Predicts shortages 3 weeks ahead leading to reduction in stock-outs Finance: Auto-categorizes 95% of transactions HR: Identifies flight risk employees 6 months early SMBs can't afford 18-24 month implementations. They need quick wins from cloud-first ERP systems. 2025 is a landmark year for SaaS as AI takes the driver's seat. Companies still running on legacy ERP are like horses racing against Formula 1 cars. QUICK ROADMAP THAT WORKS 1. Audit Current State - What processes scream for intelligence? 2. Start Small - Pick one module, prove ROI 3. Scale Fast - Expand to connected processes 4. Measure Everything - AI without metrics is just expensive software Your ERP strategy today determines your market position tomorrow. #ERPTransformation #AIinBusiness #DigitalTransformation #IntelligentERP #BusinessAutomation Epicor

A decade of tech leading in Big Tech taught me this: you can catch problems before they catch you using premortems. Failure often feels like it sneaks up on us—but in reality, many of the warning signs are there from the beginning, we just don't recognize them early enough. Many of us have heard about postmortems, as part of incident management. They happen 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 something goes wrong, to identify issues and learn from them. But what if you could do a similar exercise—𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 things go wrong? This is where premortems come in. This flips the usual approach on its head. Instead of just planning for success, you brainstorm all the ways things could go wrong. It's like preparing for a rainy day. The big shift here is from learning from mistakes (reactive learning) to learning from hypothetical mistakes (proactive planning). This can make all the difference. Learn more about it from my latest article. https://lnkd.in/gMSjR4xQ ♻️ Please repost if you found this useful