Don't Let Fear Stall Your Growth: 6 Roadblocks You Need to Overcome to make an ERP Decision

Is Decision Paralysis Holding Your Business Back?

If you speak with any ERP salesperson, they’ll tell you the exact same story- “I've witnessed promising deals fall through time and again”, leaving both vendors and their prospects scratching their heads and thinking “what just happened?”.?

Why Businesses Stall on ERP Decisions

Despite the best efforts by, not just us, but our competitors too, to promote the benefits and features of our ERP solutions, many organisations hesitate to pull the trigger and make a firm decision. Apparently, there’s a term for it in human psychology- Analysis Paralysis, also known as "Decision Paralysis". With analysis paralysis, you might spend a lot of time researching options to make sure you're making the best choice, only to not make no decision at all.

After some reflection, I realised that the roadblocks to ERP adoption are more common than one might think. So, let's delve into the reasons why businesses delay or shelve their ERP decisions, and how we can navigate through them together. ?

Overlooking the Human Response: Change brings both excitement and uncertainty, triggering the fight-or-flight response and leading to inaction.

Switching systems can often be overwhelming for businesses, especially if it's their first migration in a long time. The prospect of change management brings a mix of excitement and uncertainty, which is a natural human response. The prospect of any kind of change often triggers the flight or fight response in the brain’s Limbic system, where our emotional reactions to stimuli take place.

Because it’s an unexplored area for a business, individuals who have been serving the business for a long time may resist change, fearing disruptions to their established routines. Contrary to them, newbies to the business want something more quick and sophisticated. Between the two of them, business executives are stuck between a rock and the hard place, scrolling through spreadsheets, trying to marry P&L with Cash Flow, while losing the hairline, at least what’s left of it...

Common Roadblocks: Businesses face unclear goals, fear of failure, lack of expertise, internal misalignment, budget concerns, and legacy system dependency.

Let's have a look:

• Unclear Goals and Requirements: Without clearly defined objectives and requirements, businesses may find themselves stuck in endless debates about what features are essential, or they get bogged down within the features, losing the sight of the big picture

• Fear of Failure: The fear of making the wrong choice often paralyses decision-makers, causing them to hesitate and prolong the decision-making process.

• Lack of Expertise: Limited understanding of ERP systems leads decision-makers to gather excessive information about multiple products and multiple vendors.

• Lack of Internal Alignment: Discrepancies in priorities and objectives among different departments within an organisation can lead to confusion and indecision regarding the selection of an ERP system. Without clear alignment and consensus, progress can grind to a halt. Often business executives try to avoid conflict, so much, they spend ages struggling to do a simple 3-way match in the 21st century.

• Budgetary Concerns: The financial aspect of implementing a new ERP system can be daunting for many organisations. Uncertainty about costs, return on investment, and budget allocation can cause decision-makers to hesitate or seek additional approvals before moving forward. What they miss-out on though is the opportunity cost. Businesses often fail to understand the real value of time. Wouldn’t you rather have your sales person make 5 more sales calls rather than keeping them occupied formulating 10 dunning emails that could be automated?

• Legacy System Dependency: Businesses are often heavily reliant on outdated or legacy systems and struggle with the transition to a new ERP platform. Fear of disruption, data migration challenges, and the perceived comfort of familiarity can deter organisations from making the switch. Eventually when either the system support ends or the system starts to show signs of wear, only then the alarm starts to go off and the search for a new system begins.?

These are just a few of the many factors that can contribute to ERP decision delays.

NetSuite ERP: Elastic, Scalable, and Cloud-Based Easy to use.

NetSuite offers a solution to this conundrum with its exceptional elasticity and scalability. Whether you're a small manufacturing or engineering company or a large multinational wholesale distribution conglomerate, NetSuite functions seamlessly across the board. This means that you can future-proof your business with NetSuite, ensuring that it grows and scales without the need for constant IT infrastructure upgrades.?

Cloud Power: Easy installation, configuration, and minimal custom development.

Moreover, NetSuite is purpose-built for the cloud, right from its inception. As long as you have a computer or laptop and a stable internet connection, you're good to go. Most features and modules adhere to industry leading practices and come straight out of the box, requiring minimal custom development. This translates to easy installation, configuration, and a swift roll-out process for your organisation.

Partnering with AVT for a Smooth Implementation:

AVT has been a successful NetSuite partner, based locally in Australia, for over 18 years and has a wealth of experience and solutions and over 200+ local and international deployments. We ensure every system migration is done in a structured way, at a fixed price and to satisfaction. Our Services includes orientation and power user training at the onset of the project which provides exceptional deployment alignment along with seamless and easy onboarding.

AVT, a trusted NetSuite partner, brings over 15 years of experience and local expertise to ensure a smooth and successful transition.

To understand what Technology/ERP/Business Systems to use, get your personalised transformation Oracle NetSuite ERP strategy and deployment plan at?AVT NetSuite Implementation and Deployment Page.

Take the first step today and get your free ERP needs assessment to explore how NetSuite can empower your business.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns about ERP adoption, feel free to reach out. We're here to guide you every step of the way.

Written By: Amey Ekbote - Business Development Manger, AVT