ERP Masterclass

Why ERP projects fail so often

The common thread of the day: most ERP initiatives do not fail during the project itself, but in the phase leading up to it. The focus shifts too quickly to software and demos, whereas the true success factors lie in the boardroom.

Guus posed a few questions to the audience that reveal the underlying dynamic:

• Which member of the executive team gets the credit if it succeeds, and who takes the blame if it fails?
• What is the project’s objective—expressed in a single sentence that anyone could explain to their family at home?
• What proportion of the budget is allocated to technology, and how much to processes and people?
• Which processes are we carrying over, and which should we have abandoned long ago?

There was silence in response to the first question. The answer to the second was “migrating to the cloud.” To the third: 98 percent to technology. These are not IT questions; they are executive-level questions. And until they are answered, a failed or disappointing project is the logical outcome.

The key insights of the day

A compact, intensive session for the executive board and senior management. These are the remarks by Guus that came up most frequently in conversations during lunch and drinks:

• Time and budget are not the goal; they are constraints.
• If you speed up a bad process, you end up with more dissatisfied customers—faster.
• Custom solutions are like wet cement: you can shape them into anything until they set.
• A board member who loses sleep over the project increases the chances of success by thirty to forty percent.

What deliberately did not happen:

• No software demos;
• No vendor comparisons;
• No discussions about specific ERP systems.

The focus was entirely on the foundation of a successful ERP project. Or, as Guus summarized it at the end of the day, using the metaphor of the caterpillar and the butterfly: the difference lies not in the software, the partner, or the budget. The difference is a decision made in the boardroom—not to do the same things faster, but to become something different.

Who was in the audience

The group was deliberately limited to a maximum of 20 participants, and that worked well. The room was filled with people who were all at some stage of such a process: on the verge of a selection, in the middle of an implementation, or considering how to do things better next time.

In the audience:

• Executives and business owners;
• Finance directors and controllers;
• IT managers;
• Project and program managers with ultimate responsibility.

What stood out was that hardly anyone talked about software. The conversation was about sponsors, silos, the “we’ve always done it this way” mindset, and who is actually in charge of the change—exactly the kind of discussions the day was intended for.

Do you want to check your organization’s standing yourself? The self-assessment that participants completed beforehand is still available online.

About the speaker: Guus Krabbenborg

Guus Krabbenborg is an internationally experienced consultant, trainer, and speaker with over 40 years of experience in the business software sector. Since 2005, he has been conducting ERP Masterclasses for executive boards and management teams worldwide.

His session on September 17th was, as always, inspiring, thought-provoking, and practically applicable. Through a blend of humor, interaction, and keen insights, he held up a mirror to the audience, something we, as an implementation partner, cannot easily do ourselves. Participants rated his knowledge and experience an average of nearly 9 out of 10.

Guus is deliberately independent: he sells no software and has no commercial ties to any specific vendor. This ensured the audience received an honest and balanced perspective, exactly what is needed to make the right choices.

The day in figures and quotes

Date: Thursday, 17 September 2026
Time: 09:30 – 17:00 (including lunch and networking drinks)
Location: Van Nelle Fabriek, Van Nelleweg 1, 3044 BC Rotterdam
Participants: a maximum of 20, from executive management, finance, IT, and project management

Instructor rating (knowledge and experience): average of nearly 9 out of 10
‘I recommend this masterclass’ rating: average of nearly 8 out of 10

Next edition: spring 2027, date to be announced.

What participants wrote on the evaluation form:

• “Don’t just carry over old processes; optimize them first.”
• “The right sponsor—not from IT. Take a step back and assemble the right team.”
• “Prompted to think about a wider range of issues regarding how our project is organized.”
• “The open nature of the session—no hard sell—was also appreciated.”
• “Confirmation of what we’re already doing: we’re on the right track.”
• “Thanks for this opportunity to learn more and become an even better discussion partner for senior management.”

“Attending this one-day masterclass is the best investment one can make to achieve project success and minimize project risks from the very beginning,” said a past participant.

Interested in the ERP Masterclass 2027?

We are organizing the ERP Masterclass again in the spring of 2027. The date will be announced soon. Leave your details below to be the first to know when registration opens. As with this year’s edition, the number of places is limited to 20 participants, with a maximum of 3 people per organization.