Do you feel that getting a new ERP system is difficult to handle because people don’t understand the new system? Or connecting old software is hard, or unexpected costs can derail everything. Getting a new ERP system in place is hard. 

Many companies start excited but hit big problems along the way. The good news is these problems are normal and fixable if you know what to expect.

This guide shows you the real obstacles companies face with Enterprise Resource Planning systems and how to handle them. Whether you’re picking an ERP  software solution or already deep in implementation, you’ll find practical solutions that actually work. We’ll also share stories of companies that overcame these challenges with smart planning and an integrated ERP system.

Key Takeaways

1. Customisation beats forcing people into standard solutions.
2. Personalised tools make employees embrace the new system.
3. Growing companies need ERP to handle bigger workloads.
4. Specialised partners get you up and running faster.
5. Real-time data beats waiting for spreadsheet answers.

Top ERP Software Frustrations: Integration Issues, User Adoption & Hidden Costs

Three main problems keep ERP implementations from succeeding.

Integration Issues: The System Connection Problem

Your business uses multiple systems. They all need to talk to each other. When they don’t, data gets lost, duplicated, or stuck in the wrong place.

Integration sounds simple, but gets complicated fast:

• Old systems use different languages and formats
• Connecting them requires technical work and time
• Data doesn’t always move smoothly between systems
• You discover problems during implementation, not before

When integration goes wrong, projects take longer and cost more.

User Adoption

The best ERP system fails if people won’t use it. Employees resist change. They don’t understand why it’s happening. They miss the old way of doing things.

Without proper training and support:

• Staff use workarounds instead of the real system
• Data gets entered incorrectly
• You never get the benefits you paid for
• Implementation looks like a failure even though it wasn’t

Hidden Costs and Budget Surprises

You plan a budget. Then unexpected expenses appear. Customization costs more. Training takes longer. Integration is harder than expected. Suddenly, your budget is blown.

Companies are surprised by these costs because initial quotes don’t cover everything. Projects often expand beyond the original scope. Staff time frequently gets underestimated. Post-launch support wasn’t budgeted for.

Adressing ERP Implementation Challenges Step By Step

Stop problems before they start. Here’s your step-by-step plan.

Step 1: Know What You Actually Need

Don’t just look at features. Talk to people in each department. Write down what they really need from the system. Use that list to choose your ERP software. This prevents buying something that doesn’t fit.

Step 2: Map Your Current Systems

Before implementing, understand what you have now:

• List all your current systems
• See how data flows between them
• Identify old systems that need to connect to the new one
• Check if your computer infrastructure is ready

Step 3: Plan Integration First

Integration should not be an afterthought; plan it early. Decide which systems must connect. Figure out what data needs to move. Set clear technical requirements. Give integration enough time and money.

Step 4: Get People Ready for Change

The human side matters as much as the technology. Pick someone to lead the change effort. Build a team that explains why this is happening. Train people by their role, not with generic training. Create internal champions who help their coworkers.

Step 5: Be Realistic About Time and Money

ERP systems software always take longer than you think. Add extra time for testing and surprises. Same with budget, add a safety cushion.

Step 6: Test Everything

Broken things get found in testing, not after launch. Test the system itself. Test data moving between systems. Test real user workflows. Let actual users test it, not just IT people.

Step 7: Support Doesn’t End at Launch

Keep training available after going live. Have support staff ready for questions. Budget for fixing issues that pop up. Let teams adjust gradually to new processes

Expert Budgeting Tips to Avoid ERP Budget Overruns

Smart budgeting prevents painful surprises.

Count Everything

Most budgets only include software costs. You also need:

• Implementation services
• Customization work
• Staff time
• Training
• Infrastructure upgrades
• Testing resources
• Post-launch support

Add all of these together. That’s your real budget.

Control Scope Creep

Every new request costs money and time. Create a formal process. Write down what’s included in the project. Know what’s NOT included. Make people formally request new features. Analyze the cost and time impact of each request. Without scope control, costs explode.

Negotiate Smart Contracts

Whether you hire your ERP vendor or consultants. Get fixed prices for specific deliverables. Avoid hourly billing (consultants have no incentive to work fast). Define exactly what’s included. Set clear timelines and expectations. 

Reserve Money for Surprises

Every project has unexpected problems. Set aside extra budget for contingencies. Don’t hope nothing goes wrong. When surprises happen, you’re prepared

Roll Out in Phases

Instead of changing everything at once. Implement one department first. Learn what works and what doesn’t. Fix problems before rolling out to the next group. Spread costs across multiple budget cycles.

Check Your Spending Monthly

Don’t wait until the project ends to check costs. Review spending every month, compare actual costs to your plan, fix overspending immediately, and adjust plans before you’re way over budget.

Important Matrices to Boost the Efficiency and ROI of ERP Softwares

Track these improvements to show the value of your investment.

Faster Processes

Measure how much time your teams save. Orders get processed faster, purchases are completed quicker, payroll runs in less time, and there’s less manual spreadsheet work. When employees spend less time on repetitive tasks, they focus on real work.

Better Data

One system means cleaner information. You see fewer data entry errors, everyone views the same numbers, and there’s less time hunting for information. This leads to faster, smarter decisions.

Lower Costs

Better visibility shows where money is wasted. See which suppliers cost the most, identify inventory that sits unused, spot inefficient processes, and cut unnecessary spending.

Happier Customers

When systems connect properly, orders get filled faster, customers receive accurate information, delivery happens on time, and there are fewer complaints.

Better Planning

Live information assists executives in making wiser decisions. Goodbye, guesses. Sales trends can be viewed in real time, issues can be identified before they develop, responses to changes in the market can be quicker, and decisions can be based on facts rather than conjecture.

Find out what success entails before you take off. Measure hitting those targets after going live.

Features, Pricing & Scalability Checklist to Compare ERP Software

Picking the right system matters enormously.

Check the Features You Need

Make two lists, must-have features (your business can’t work without these) and nice-to-have features (helpful but not essential). Test the software yourself, don’t just watch a vendor demo. Try it with your actual processes.

Ask About Integration

This makes or breaks implementations. How does the system connect to your other software? What integration tools does the vendor provide? Who handles the integration work, you or the vendor? What does integration really cost?

Understand Their Implementation Approach

Different vendors do things differently. Do they follow a set methodology, or do you customise everything? How long does implementation typically take? Do they help with change management? What training do they provide?

Consider if It Grows With You

Your business will change. Can the system handle more transactions and users? Are future upgrades available? How flexible is it for new requirements?

Look Beyond Just Software Cost

Cheap software often costs more overall. Factor in implementation services, add training costs, include customization expenses, and count ongoing support fees. Compare total cost, not just the software price.

Research the Vendor

You’re partnering with them for years. Is the company financially stable? Do customers like working with them? Is support available when you need it? Do they have a good track record?

AI-Native vs. AI-Added: Evaluating Intelligence in 2026 ERPs

Artificial intelligence is becoming standard in ERP systems. Know the difference.

AI-Native: Built-In Intelligence

Some systems have AI baked into the core:

• Machine learning helps with decisions across all departments
• Recommendations get smarter over time
• The whole system works together intelligently
• You get one cohesive AI approach

AI-Added: Extra Features

Other systems added AI tools after the fact:

• Specific AI features for specific problems
• You choose which AI capabilities you want
• Tools might not connect perfectly with each other
• More flexible but less seamless

What Matters for Businesses

Think about what you really need:

• Do you need AI help across all functions or just certain areas?
• How important is seamless integration between AI tools?
• Do your teams have the capacity to learn new AI features?
• What problems is AI actually solving for you?

Test both approaches if you can. See which one fits your business better.

Best Practices & Training Techniques to Drive User Adoption

Get Leadership Support

When company leaders visibly support the change, employees take it more seriously. Executives explain why the change matters, leaders acknowledge the hard work ahead, and people feel the change is important.

Find Department Champions

In every team, some people influence others. Give them extra training, let them help design how the system will work, and empower them to support coworkers. They become your early adopters.

Train by Role, Not Generic Training

Different jobs need different skills. Sales staff require different training from accounting staff. Show people exactly how they’ll use the system in their daily work, making training relevant to their actual job, so they remember it better.

Use Different Learning Styles

People learn differently, so offer a mix: live classes with instructors, video tutorials they can watch anytime, written guides for reference, and time to practice with a coach.

Build Strong Support

After launch, people need help. Make a help desk that is ready to answer any questions. Train super-users in each department to help peers. Keep training materials easy to access, and respond quickly to solve the problems.

Communicate Constantly

Keep people informed. Explain in detail what’s changing and why, share success stories from other departments, address fears and concerns openly, and celebrate progress and wins.

Monitor and Fix Problems

Watch how people are adopting the system. See which features they struggle with, find which departments need more help, address gaps quickly, and give extra support where it’s needed.

Case Study: 3 Successful ERP Implementation Case Studies to Learn From

Case Study 1: Ronin Gallery Does More With Fewer People

Ronin Gallery sells Japanese art prints online and in a New York store. The owner used to manage everything on paper. He needed one system to handle orders, inventory, and money.

He picked an ERP system. The implementation team listened to how his business worked and built the system around his needs. They didn’t force him to change how he did things. After launch, the gallery did twice as much work with the same four employees. They could now track every piece of art across multiple storage locations. One person could do the work that used to need two people.

The lesson: Pick an implementation team that listens to your business and customises the system to fit you.

Case Study 2: N&N Moving Supplies Processes Payroll Five Times Faster

N&N Moving Supplies grew from one location to three locations and hired way more people. Tracking time and processing payroll was a mess. It took forever and had lots of mistakes.

They got an ERP system with a special time-clock tool built in. Employees could see their information on iPads at work. Payroll processing became five times faster. Getting accounts balanced became easy. Managers could see what they spent on labour at each location.

The lesson: Use specialised partners to build tools your employees actually want to use.

Case Study 3: Green Rabbit Ships Thousands of Orders Every Day

Green Rabbit ships perishable food items across the country. Their old systems were spreadsheets and emails that didn’t talk to each other. Nothing was automated. Everything was slow.

They got an ERP system and were fully up and running in three months. Now they ship tens of thousands of orders daily without mistakes. They can deliver across the country in one day from any of three warehouses. Their data is clean and automatic instead of hand-typed. If they needed to ship three times as many orders tomorrow, their system could handle it.

The lesson: ERP helps fast-growing companies scale up without systems breaking. You get real information instantly instead of guessing from spreadsheets. ( source )

FAQs

1. Can we save a failing ERP implementation halfway through? 

Most failing implementations can be rescued by stopping and reassessing what went wrong. Cutting your losses usually costs more than fixing the problems if you act quickly.

2. How do we handle a vendor not delivering on promises? 

Document everything promised versus what’s actually delivered, then show it to their leadership. Most vendors will fix things when they realise they’re about to lose a customer.

3. Should we run old and new systems in parallel or switch completely?

Running both systems for a short time gives you a safety net if something breaks, but it costs more and confuses people. Most companies benefit from a quick parallel period, then switching completely.

4. When will we see financial benefits from our ERP investment?

Some benefits show up within weeks, but real financial improvements usually take several months as people get comfortable. Expect positive trends within a quarter or two.

5. What’s the biggest mistake we should avoid with our ERP project? 

Pushing people too hard to learn the system too fast causes adoption to fail and the investment to flop. Give people patience and time to adjust, that matters more than launching quickly.