intelligentpm

Nearly two-thirds of ERP programs fail to meet expectations — either during implementation or after go-live. Not because the technology doesn’t work.

But because organizations fall into what I call the Luxury Car Syndrome.

A CEO buys a high-end ERP platform — powerful, expensive, full of capability.

And the expectation is simple:

“We’ve bought the system. Now it should transform the business.”

That is where the problem begins.

Because a luxury car does not:

• train the driver
• define the destination
• redesign the roads
• or change driving behavior
• govern (maintain) by itself

Yet in ERP programs, that is often the implicit assumption.

I’ve seen this pattern play out repeatedly.

In one of my programs, CXO expected a “turnkey solution” from the implementer requiring minimal involvement from his team”

But quickly:

• business users disengaged
• decisions slowed down
• and every discussion became a clash between legacy ways of working and system standards

In another case, a multi-million-dollar ERP program was stopped within months — not because the system failed, but because leadership realized something too late: ‘The organization had not agreed on how it would operate the car it had just bought.‘

Recently, a CEO frustrated with his ERP implementation, said “We bought a luxury car. But it’s not working, It’s all the car’s (software & its implementer’s) fault.”

That is the core issue.

ERP does not transform organizations. People do.

And across struggling programs, the pattern is consistent:
• leadership alignment exists on paper, not in action
• business ownership is delegated
• change management is treated as an afterthought
• customization replaces discipline
• speed is prioritized over readiness
• governance becomes reporting, not decision-making

The result is predictable:

High investment. Low adoption. Limited value.

ERP is not an IT project. It is an enterprise change.

The organizations that succeed understand this early:
you don’t just “implement ERP” — you learn to drive the transformation it demands.

Buying the luxury car is easy. Preparing the organization to drive is where the real journey begins.

Don’t buy that car until you are ready to own, drive and maintain. In this case, better late than early.