ERP integrations fail in predictable ways. After working through dozens of these projects, the same five issues appear at the start of every failing engagement and are absent from the successful ones.
1. The source data is not ready
Before you design an integration, audit the data you are planning to move. How consistent are your item numbers? Are your customer records deduplicated? Do your units of measure match between systems?
Data quality problems discovered mid-integration cost three to five times more to fix than problems discovered during the audit phase. Do the audit first.
2. The business process is not defined
Integrations encode business rules in code. If you do not have clear, agreed-upon rules for how data should flow, the integration will make choices for you. Usually the wrong ones.
Get your business process documented and approved by the people who own it before the first line of code is written.
3. Error handling is an afterthought
Every integration will encounter bad data, connection failures, and edge cases. If the integration does not handle these gracefully, you will not know something went wrong until the damage is already done.
Error handling should be designed into the integration from the beginning, not bolted on at the end.
4. There is no test environment
Running integration testing against your production ERP is not testing - it is gambling. A proper test environment that mirrors production is not optional.
5. Nobody owns it after go-live
Integrations break when either system they connect to changes. Someone needs to own the integration, know what it does, and be responsible for monitoring it. Define that ownership before go-live.
If you are planning an ERP integration and want a review of your approach before you start, get in touch.
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