Skipping business process mapping before an ERP implementation increases risk, often in ways that only surface late, when decisions are expensive to reverse. Modern ERP platforms include standard workflows, but ‘standard’ is not the same as ‘best’ for your operating model.
In fact, they may not be best practices at all; they are simply the way each particular system works. Sometimes, it is efficient and an improvement on how you currently operate, but others may be inefficient.
Example: a simple purchasing task that takes five keystrokes today may become a three-screen workflow in the new system. If that workflow is adopted without redesign, you’ve paid for a step backwards.
This article outlines the key risks organisations face when Business Process Mapping is skipped, and why BPM is critical to achieving a successful ERP or enterprise software implementation.
For more detailed advice, contact our business process improvement consultant team at SMC.
Summary: Why You Shouldn’t Skip Process Mapping
Skipping Business Process Mapping (BPM) before an ERP or enterprise software implementation exposes organisations to avoidable risk, cost, and complexity. This article highlights why system ‘best practice’ alone is rarely enough, and how a lack of process clarity can lead to poor system selection, unnecessary customisation, scope creep, and weak user adoption
Key Takeaways:
- Many ERP challenges stem from process issues, not the system itself
- BPM clarifies whether a new system is needed or if process redesign is sufficient
- Defined future-state processes support better ERP selection decisions
- Skipping BPM increases customisation, scope, and implementation costs
- Early stakeholder involvement improves adoption and change outcomes
Why Business Process Mapping Comes Before ERP
Despite our best efforts and the efforts of other consultants, only 4% of companies constantly document processes. This statistic could be much lower, as in our experience, mid-sized companies almost never have their processes documented.
Many leaders and decision makers have fallen for the misguided belief, often espoused by software vendors to help sell their products quickly, that they should just adopt whatever ‘best practice’ processes the new system they are implementing comes with as standard.
Whilst this is a good guiding principle, enterprise solutions are flexible and have many different ways they can be set up, requiring decisions to be made about the optimum way for your business.
Obviously, it is preferable to have done some thinking on how you’d like to operate in the future and gained consensus from your subject matter experts so you can bring this to the table and discuss with your implementation partner.
The other objective or guiding principle we hear from every client is that they want to ‘go vanilla’, which means no customisation at all.
According to empirical research done by independent consultants in the US – Panorama Consulting – over 90% of organisations modify their ERP solutions to some degree.
Most clients want to ‘go vanilla’, with minimal customisation. That’s a sound principle, but only when future-state processes are defined early. If teams discover late that standard workflows don’t match operational reality, they will either customise, add bolt-ons, or accept inefficiency. Process mapping makes ‘go vanilla’ a controlled decision, not a slogan.
This is where an experienced, independent perspective can make a measurable difference.
Working with specialists who understand both operational reality and ERP delivery helps organisations step back, challenge assumptions, and design processes that genuinely support how the business needs to run.
Ready to get started? Speak with our team to understand how Business Process Improvement can set your ERP project up for success.
The Risks of Skipping Business Process Mapping
1. Choosing the Wrong ERP
Many organisations assume, or hope, that implementing a new ERP or enterprise software solution will solve their operational problems. Vendors are well known for reinforcing this belief during the sales process.
In reality, not all business issues stem from outdated systems. In many cases, the root cause is inefficient or inconsistent processes that exist regardless of the technology in place.
ERP and enterprise software implementations require significant financial investment. When a system is implemented without first understanding the true source of operational pain points, the risk of making an expensive and unnecessary decision increases substantially.
- Invest in a system that does not address the real causes of inefficiency
- Replace a system that could have been improved through process redesign
- Select a solution based on high-level demonstrations rather than detailed requirements
- Undermine existing competitive advantages built into current processes
Avoiding these risks requires consulting a wide array of users and stakeholders across the organisation. Understanding detailed pain points and improvement opportunities is critical before making any system selection decisions. Business Process Mapping provides the structure needed to analyse how work is actually performed and to define future ways of working based on real operational needs.
We have been asked to assist organisations after a system has already been selected. In many of these cases, BPM had been missed. The chosen solution often lacked critical functionality and fundamentally changed processes that were once a competitive advantage. As a result, any benefits gained from the system were significantly reduced or completely voided.
2. Missing Improvement Opportunities
When organisations jump straight into system selection or implementation, they often fail to understand why they do what they do or what could be changed to improve it.
As a result, new systems are frequently implemented as nothing more than a new skin over old processes. This is one of the most common and costly issues with ERP projects – significant investment for little real change.
Conducting Business Process Mapping before selection and implementation allows organisations to critically analyse how they operate and challenge existing assumptions. It enables teams to ask important questions about efficiency, consistency, and value.
- Existing inefficiencies are carried into the new system
- Pain points are identified but not resolved
- Future-state processes are left undefined
- The system is expected to ‘fix’ process problems on its own
- This approach almost always leads to missed improvement opportunities and downstream issues during implementation.
3. Unnecessary Customisations
When organisations have no clear understanding of which processes are most critical, vendors may identify so-called low-hanging fruit. They may also pressure organisations into additional add-on software or customisations.
In many cases, this functionality adds little real value. Without a baseline process to compare against, organisations are left open to vendor hype. When BPM is used alongside an Implementation Planning and Readiness phase, the risk of poor partners and unnecessary customisations is significantly reduced.
4. Delayed Internal Decisions
When there are no clear expectations for the future state, organisations often revert to old ways of working. This typically occurs when teams are overwhelmed by the number of ways consultants demonstrate that a system can handle a process. We have seen this happen many times.
During design sessions, implementers may present multiple options for completing a task. Under pressure, subject matter experts frequently default to how things are currently done and ask the system to be configured the same way. This occurs without recognising that the purpose of the implementation is to improve the process, not replicate it.
- Reversion to existing processes rather than improved ways of working
- Lengthy decision-making during planning, readiness, and design phases
- Extended timelines and increased consulting costs
- Rushed decisions made to control the budget rather than optimise outcomes
- Increased resistance from users who are not properly engaged in the change
5. Increased Scope and Cost
If requirements are missed or decisions about how a process should be performed occur after system selection, scope changes become likely.
The proposed solution may require additional customisations or enhancements. More time may also be spent designing processes than originally planned. Both outcomes increase cost and complexity.
6. Harder Change Management
An enterprise software or ERP solution delivers little value if it is not used correctly by end users. This is why effective change management is critical. Business Process Mapping plays an important role in reducing the risk of stakeholder resistance.
- Limited engagement with users during the early stages of the project
- Reduced understanding of why change is occurring
- Lower levels of ownership and accountability for new ways of working
- Increased resistance, workarounds, and reduced system adoption
Business Process Mapping supports change management by creating a collaborative environment. Understanding why an organisation operates as it does and defining how it should operate in the future requires involvement across the business.
This engagement helps surface pain points, identify improvement opportunities, and build ownership from the outset.
- Difficulty identifying impacted roles and stakeholder groups
- Generic change messages that fail to resonate with end users
- Inefficient change initiatives and misaligned communication
BPM addresses these challenges by clearly mapping roles, activities, and system interactions. This enables targeted communication and more effective change management throughout the implementation.
7. Missed System Integrations
It is increasingly rare for organisations to operate a single enterprise software or ERP solution. Most operate multiple systems. Even where a single-core system exists, integrations with suppliers or customer portals are still required.
For this reason, identifying integration points is critical to implementation success. Without BPM, there is a high risk of missing these integrations.
We have seen cases where critical integrations were overlooked. In these situations, the solution worked perfectly in isolation. However, weeks before go-live, it became clear the system could not operate properly because the integration had been missed.
8. Harder Testing and Training
Without mapping ‘to-be’ processes, monitoring and explaining processes during testing becomes difficult. Most systems allow tasks to be performed in multiple ways. Organisations need to ensure the most common process paths work correctly before go-live.
Training is also impacted. Without defined and documented processes, it becomes impossible to explain the organisation’s standard way of working to end users (see change management point above).
9. No Continuous Improvement
As stated in earlier BPM articles, the primary benefit of BPM is consistent and efficient processes. These processes can be monitored, baselined, and continuously improved.
Skipping BPM removes this capability. It also limits an organisation’s ability to establish a meaningful continuous improvement program after implementation. Look out for our next BPM article, which expands on the importance of continuous improvement in organisations.
Common Business Process Mapping Questions
SMC uses Business Process Mapping to give leaders clarity before major commitments are made. Clearly defined current- and future-state processes allow Boards and Executive Leadership Teams to test assumptions.
They make trade-offs visible. Decisions around ERP and enterprise software are evaluated against measurable outcomes, risk, and ROI-rather than vendor narratives
Yes. SMC uses BPM to lock down process intent early, so design decisions are anchored to agreed business outcomes. This reduces late-stage changes, unnecessary customisation, and reactive decisions made under delivery pressure, one of the most common causes of ERP overruns.
SMC treats transformation as a business initiative, not a technology exercise. BPM engages users early, clarifies roles and responsibilities, and establishes clear ways of working.
This creates ownership, reduces resistance, and gives change leaders the insight needed to drive adoption in practice, not just compliance at go-live.
More than ever. SMC uses BPM to ensure AI and automation are applied to the right problems, supported by clean data and stable processes.
Without this foundation, organisations risk accelerating inefficiency, increasing risk, and undermining trust in outcomes.
SMC applies BPM as part of an integrated, multi-disciplinary transformation model across People, Process, Technology, Data, AI, and Transformation Leadership.
The focus is not documentation for its own sake, but control, control of decisions, governance, cost, risk, and outcomes, so leaders remain firmly in charge of their transformation.
About the Author
Rob Stummer
Rob Stummer is Director of Growth at SMC, leading strategic growth, market expansion, and commercial partnerships across Australia and New Zealand. With more than 25 years of experience in enterprise software, ERP, and fintech across APAC, he has a strong track record of scaling high-growth businesses and driving sustainable performance. Rob has held senior leadership roles at organisations including Pagero, SYSPRO, and IFS, where he led go-to-market execution, operational transformation, and regional expansion. He also supports SMC clients as a strategic advisor on complex ERP and transformation programs.
Let’s Map Your Business Processes and Achieve Successful Digital Transformation
This is why Solution Minds Consulting applies a proven BPMI methodology to help organisations clearly understand how they operate today and define how they need to operate in the future.
We work with your teams to identify issues, uncover improvement opportunities, and agree on practical future-state processes. This provides a strong foundation for confident system selection and implementation decisions.
If you’re planning an ERP or enterprise software project, process mapping is the fastest way to reduce risk, control scope, and improve adoption. SMC provides independent, client-side advisory to define current and future-state processes and convert them into governed requirements before vendor commitment.
Get more insights from Solution Minds Consulting in Google Search.