By Thaddée Leblond · Published · Updated: June 2026
A technically perfect ERP that is poorly adopted produces no value. A deployment's success rests as much on people as on technology: involve teams, train, communicate, support. Change management is not an end-of-project step — it is a workstream to run from start to finish.
Why projects fail at adoption
Most ERP failures are not technical: the tool works, but it is not adopted. Worked around with parallel spreadsheets, poorly filled in, used at 20% of its capacity. The cause? A transformation project was treated as a software purchase, forgetting the people who have to change how they work.
Involve from the framing stage
Change management starts on day one. Involving key users in the solution choice and process design improves decisions and prepares the ground: people adopt more willingly what they helped build. Keeping teams at arm's length until go-live guarantees rejection.
Before go-live. The readiness assessment reviews the conditions for adoption: user involvement, team availability, training, project governance. Assess your readiness
Train and support concretely
Theoretical training at the end of the project is not enough. You need gradual skill-building, rooted in real work situations, with support available the moment questions arise — that is, at go-live, when everything is new and fragile.
Handle resistance
Resistance is not a whim: it often expresses a legitimate fear (loss of bearings, overload, fear of doing wrong). Listening, explaining the purpose, reassuring and celebrating early wins defuses far more effectively than imposing. A heard resistance often becomes an ally.
Anchor over time
Success consolidates after go-live. Key users trained first become relays and local support; a monitoring mechanism measures real usage and corrects gaps; and processes keep being adjusted as the tool beds in. Adoption is not an event, it is a process.
Frequently asked questions
Because they are treated as technical projects when they transform everyone's work. Without involving teams, training and support, the tool is worked around, misused or rejected — whatever its quality.
At framing, not at the end. Involving key users in the choice and design prepares adoption and improves decisions. Change management runs across the whole project.
By listening to fears (loss of bearings, overload, fear of error), explaining the project's purpose, training concretely and celebrating early wins. Resistance is often a signal of an unmet need, not a refusal in principle.
Yes. Key users trained first become relays, local trainers and support points. It is one of the most effective levers to anchor adoption.
Sources
- Change management methodology applied to IS / ERP projects