Services — Technology & ERP
Your ERP went sideways.
Let’s straighten it out.
Missed go-lives. Blown budgets. A partner who stopped answering the phone. I rescue stalled ERP implementations — and I optimize the ones that went live but never got good.
Most failed ERP projects don’t fail because of the software. They fail because of the implementation — timelines nobody believed in, customizations that should have been configurations, data migrated with crossed fingers. I’ve written about the warning signs for years: how to tell your implementation partner is lying about the timeline, and why the cheapest ERP quote is always the most expensive one.
Here’s the good news: a stalled implementation is almost never a total loss. The licenses are paid for, your team has learned something (even if it’s just what not to do), and most of the wreckage is fixable with someone who’s seen the movie before. I come in as the independent adult in the room: no quota, no blame games, just a triage plan and the team to execute it.
Signs you need a rescue
- Go-live has slipped twice (or the date stopped being discussed at all)
- The partner’s senior people vanished and juniors are learning on your dime
- Change orders keep arriving for things that were “included”
- Your team has quietly gone back to spreadsheets for the important stuff
- You’re live, but month-end is worse than it was on the old system
How a rescue works
1. Triage. I read everything: the contract, the project plan, the half-built system, the data. Within two weeks you get an honest verdict — what’s salvageable, what isn’t, and what it takes to finish. Sometimes the answer is “this can be saved in 60 days.” Sometimes it’s “stop paying them today.” Either way, you get the truth with numbers attached.
2. Stabilize. We stop the bleeding: kill the worst customizations, lock scope, fix data integrity, and get a believable plan on paper. If the current partner stays, they work to my plan. If they go, I manage the transition — including the awkward conversations.
3. Finish. We execute the plan: configuration done right, data validated, your team trained on their actual workflows. Go-live happens on a date everyone believes in, because it was built from the work up instead of the sales deck down.
4. Optimize. Six weeks after go-live, the dust settles and the real opportunities show up — the workflows nobody automated, the reports nobody built, the add-ons that are actually worth the money. That’s when a rescued system starts earning its keep.
Rescue vs. rip-and-replace
The nuclear option — scrapping the system and starting over — is almost always more expensive than a rescue, and I’ll only recommend it when the foundation is genuinely rotten (wrong platform entirely, or data so corrupt it can’t be trusted). Most of the time the platform is fine and the implementation was the problem. My triage tells you which one you’re dealing with before you spend another dollar.
What’s included
- Independent triage: contract, project state, system, and data — with a written verdict
- Recovery plan with a believable timeline and fixed-scope pricing
- Customization audit: what to keep, what to kill, what should have been configuration all along
- Data integrity repair and migration validation
- Go-live execution and post-live hypercare
- Optimization pass: automation, reporting, and add-ons that earn their keep
Who it’s for
Companies mid-implementation on SAP Business One or Odoo who’ve lost confidence in the timeline — and companies already live whose ERP never delivered. If your partner relationship is broken, I can work alongside them or replace them; if the relationship is fine but the results aren’t, I’ll tell you that too.
FAQ
Should we fire our implementation partner first?
Not before the triage. Firing them in anger usually costs you leverage and institutional knowledge. I assess the situation independently first — sometimes the partner can finish the job under proper management, and sometimes the contract gives you exit rights you didn’t know you had. Either way, the decision comes with facts, not frustration.
How do you know if it's the software or the implementation?
That’s the first question triage answers, and in my experience it’s the implementation about 80% of the time. The test is simple: can the system do what the contract said it would do, configured correctly? If yes, it’s an implementation problem. If the platform genuinely can’t do what your business needs, that’s a different (and rarer) conversation — and I’ll have it with you honestly.
Can you work alongside our current partner?
Yes — when the partner is competent but the project management isn’t. I take the steering wheel: scope, plan, and accountability. When the partner is the problem, I manage the handoff to a team that isn’t. You don’t have to decide which situation you’re in; that’s what the triage is for.
What's a realistic rescue timeline?
Triage takes about two weeks. Most rescues finish in 60–120 days from triage to go-live, depending on how far the original project got and how messy the data is. I won’t give you a date until I’ve seen the system — which is exactly the discipline your first partner was missing.
How do we avoid ending up here again?
Fixed scope, honest timelines, and someone independent watching the store — which is the whole point of the recovery plan. For your next selection, the ERP selection process exists precisely to keep vendors honest before the contract is signed. And my go-live checklist is free reading for exactly this reason.
The project isn’t dead. It just needs an adult in the room.
Thirty minutes. Bring the ugly details — I’ve seen worse, and I’ll tell you straight what it takes.
Book a free consult