5 Ways to Get Your ERP Project Back on Track (& How to Choose the Right Path)

Key Takeaways

• Getting an ERP project back on track means identifying where performance broke down: system behavior, user adoption, governance, or underlying process design.

• Effective ERP project recovery restores clarity: who owns decisions, how data flows, and whether the system enables the business to scale and adapt.

• Regaining ERP ROI requires disciplined leadership, independent guidance, and a recovery path aligned to both operational realities and future-state goals.
  

• Each recovery path requires a different lever, whether reestablishing data integrity, redesigning workflows, or resetting the ERP strategy to match business growth.

When ERP projects underperform, leaders face a difficult question: how do we fix ERP project issues without creating more disruption? The answer depends on what kind of recovery your organization needs.

Below are five proven recovery paths, each tailored to a specific pattern of ERP underperformance. Whether your system is live but unstable, or technically functional but failing to support growth, these frameworks can help you regain lost momentum in your ERP project and make informed decisions about next steps.

5 Ways to Get Your ERP Project Back on Track​

1. Stabilization & Control Recovery

When to choose this path:

• The ERP system is live or approaching go-live, but workarounds dominate daily operations
• Testing cycles reveal critical defects, unresolved configuration gaps, or unreliable reporting
• Go-live has been delayed repeatedly due to readiness concerns
• Teams are reacting to issues rather than managing toward defined milestones

Why it matters:
This is often the first phase in any ERP recovery effort. When system instability causes rework, decision paralysis, or customer impact, the organization’s credibility is at stake. Leaders need a way to restore order without restarting the implementation from scratch.

Strategic focus:
Stabilization begins with identifying critical process failures, establishing escalation protocols, and reinforcing governance around transactional integrity.

In one public-sector ERP initiative, a large U.S. city paused its in-progress ERP implementation after concerns surfaced about system readiness and unresolved configuration and testing gaps. While some foundational work had been completed, the system was not yet stable enough to proceed safely.

Rather than forcing a premature go-live or abandoning the investment entirely, the city engaged Panorama Consulting for an independent assessment to determine whether targeted stabilization could bring the project back under control.

2. Governance & Ownership Recovery

When to choose this path:

• ERP ownership is unclear during implementation or after go-live
• Decision-making stalls, escalates unnecessarily, or bypasses cross-functional review
• Scope changes, enhancements, or design decisions occur without formal approval
• Project momentum slows due to unclear authority or conflicting priorities

Why it matters:
Even the most advanced ERP solution becomes ineffective without a clear operating model. In many cases, ERP project teams disband too soon, leaving behind a vacuum where decisions go unresolved and updates lack coordination.

Strategic focus:
This recovery path centers on creating a sustainable ERP governance structure. That includes defining a RACI (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed) model, assigning ownership for key processes, and standing up decision-making forums aligned to business cycles.

In the same city ERP project, leadership recognized that unclear ownership and execution accountability were contributing to stalled progress. As part of the recovery decision, the city chose to engage an experienced external project manager rather than restart the program, bringing clearer authority, structure, and decision discipline back into the initiative.

An effective governance reflects both business and technology ownership. Panorama’s AI readiness consulting often begins here—helping clients define governance roles, formalize system enhancement roadmaps, and establish steering committees. This structure enables Panorama to stabilize AI projects during recovery, get ERP projects back, and, in both cases, sustain value over time.

3. Adoption & Behavioral Recovery

When to choose this path:

• Users complete training but do not follow intended workflows
• Excel, legacy tools, or shadow systems persist
• User confidence in the system is low, even if the ERP is technically functional
• The success of the system depends on a small group of super users

Why it matters:
If users revert to old habits or bypass the system entirely, the implementation’s ROI erodes quickly. Worse, decision-makers lose confidence in data, and cross-functional alignment breaks down.

Strategic focus:
This path focuses on targeted organizational change management (OCM). The goal is to rebuild confidence in the system and clarify how the ERP platform supports each role’s success.

Panorama’s ERP implementation best practices emphasize behavior-based adoption metrics:

• Are users executing transactions in the system?
• Are exceptions decreasing?
• Are reports being used in real business decisions?

ERP recovery demands renewed sponsorship, tailored coaching, and changes to performance expectations.

4. Process & Design Recovery

When to choose this path:

• ERP design reflects outdated processes, political compromises, or rushed decisions
• Different sites or business units insist on divergent workflows
• Customizations are used to mask unresolved process conflicts
• Fit-gap sessions or testing expose fundamental misalignment between processes and systems

Why it matters:
Many ERP systems are designed to match current-state processes instead of driving transformation. Over time, these compromises become bottlenecks, limiting efficiency.

Strategic focus:
This path involves redesigning and standardizing core processes before realigning ERP configuration to support them. It requires executive willingness to revisit decisions made during implementation and push for harmonization across business units.

5. Strategic Reset (Partial or Full Re-Implementation)

When to choose this path:

• The ERP architecture cannot support growth, M&A, or future planning requirements
• Technical debt or design constraints limit scalability or flexibility
• Multiple recovery attempts have failed to restore confidence
• The system no longer aligns with enterprise strategy

Why it matters:
If your ERP platform no longer supports your strategic direction, or if implementation choices are creating irreversible limitations, a reset may be warranted.

Strategic focus:
A strategic reset involves a full reassessment of future-state requirements, business drivers, and architectural needs. This includes evaluating whether a partial re-implementation, cloud migration, or full system replacement is the most viable path forward.

In the city ERP case, leadership was explicitly presented with multiple recovery options, including continuing with the current system under revised execution, selecting a different vendor, or discontinuing the project altogether. The decision to pursue a controlled recovery rather than a full reset reflected an assessment of what was broken versus what could still be salvaged.

To prevent these recovery situations, Panorama’s software expert witness team often recommends beginning a selection with an ERP readiness assessment, measuring current capabilities across data, technology, workforce, and governance.

Learn More About Getting Your Project Back on Track

While every organization wants to fix ERP project issues quickly, successful recovery begins with clarity:

• What exactly is broken?
• Where is performance lagging?
• Which levers can we realistically pull?

Executives facing ERP underperformance should consider engaging a third-party ERP recovery team with no ties to software vendors. Panorama’s independent software consultants help organizations choose the right recovery path, whether that means recalibrating adoption, optimizing processes, or starting fresh with a new foundation.

With the right recovery strategy, it is possible to regain lost momentum in your ERP project. Contact us below to learn more.