Two attempts. Two failures. The third could not afford to be another one
Before
SAP migrations before our engagement
After
operational continuity at go-live
operational continuity at go-live
failed SAP migrations put behind us
A fast-growing French luxury house (€200M in revenue) finds itself without an ERP that fits its operational reality. Two successive SAP migrations have been abandoned midway, leaving the company dependent on a system on life support that could not keep up with its growth. The CEO brings in new IT leadership with a clear mandate: break the deadlock, make the right technology choices and see the project through to the end under an urgent deadline. There is no room for error.
SITUATION BEFORE
- Operational baseline
- An existing ERP on life support, unable to keep up with the growth of the house. Two successive SAP migrations abandoned midway. Internal trust damaged after months of work thrown away.
- Teams affected
- €200M in revenue: all of the operations of the house depending on an unsuitable system.
- Hidden costs
- The cost of the two failed SAP migrations (not quantified). A major operational risk from an ERP held together with patches while revenue keeps growing.
- Why it was not solved earlier.
- Two attempts had already been made: it was not a lack of will but a problem of method, and of alignment between the house's specific business needs and the ERP solutions on the market.
THE STORY
OUR APPROACH
3 steps to get there
Joint assessment: naming reality and opening up the options
Before choosing a solution, the team had to understand why the two previous ones had failed. A complete technology assessment of the existing ERP is carried out hand in hand with the IT leadership: technical debt, functional coverage, business constraints specific to the house. Three target scenarios are built and costed (migration to an off-the-shelf ERP, custom development, hybrid approach), each with its risks, its real costs and its organizational prerequisites. Help with recruiting the future CTO runs in parallel. The presentation to the executive committee lays the groundwork for an informed decision.
MVP phase: testing before committing
Two software vendors are shortlisted at the end of the assessment. IT workshops are run with each of them; the MVPs are structured and their technical analysis carried out: coverage of business use cases, robustness of the proposed architecture, ability to evolve with growth. The implementation roadmap and the target operating model are updated as the lessons from the MVPs sharpen the vision. It is at this stage that custom development emerges as the most solid path.
Production rollout: quality without compromise
Work with the technical teams covers every structural area of the go-live: setting up the CI/CD chain, scoping the IAM strategy, FinOps to keep the cloud budget under control, testing strategy. The Product Owners get help scoping features precisely, to prioritize what matters and avoid drift. The go-live takes place with no impact whatsoever on the house's operations.
THE HARDEST STEP
Seeing it through after two failures: an urgent deadline and zero room for error
The two previous SAP migrations had failed. The third project had to succeed with an urgent deadline, the CEO as sponsor, and operations that could not stop at go-live. The challenge: break the deadlock and make the right technology choices.
What we did
An honest joint assessment building 3 costed scenarios (off-the-shelf ERP migration, custom development, hybrid), each with its risks and organizational prerequisites. An MVP phase with two shortlisted software vendors before any final commitment. Hands-on guidance on CI/CD, IAM, FinOps and testing strategy for rigorous execution.
What could have failed
Starting too early, without an in-depth assessment of the two previous failures, would have repeated the same mistakes. The temptation to pick an off-the-shelf ERP without validating that it covered the house's specific use cases was real.
WHAT WE RULED OUT
Migration to a standard off-the-shelf ERP (the initially favored scenario)
- Why it was not chosen
- The MVP workshops with the two shortlisted software vendors showed that the house's specific business needs found no satisfactory answer in the ERPs on the market. Custom development emerged as the most solid path.
- Trade-off accepted in the chosen path.
- Custom development is more demanding to maintain and evolve than a packaged ERP. This risk was accepted in exchange for functional coverage that fits the business and no vendor lock-in.
RESULTS
The measurable impact
IT team strengthened with a CTO recruited with help from Nobori Partners. A custom-built solution (a bold choice, validated by the assessment) put into production with no operational impact. The project was delivered on schedule after two failures that had eroded internal trust. The right technology choices were made.
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