The goal of an ERP implementation is a smooth process flow across the company — from procurement to delivery. That flow must first be fixed in a requirements specification, and then realised by the qualified software partner. Neither step happens by itself.
From our experience, mistakes made in project planning multiply over the course of the project: every unclear requirement, every unowned decision and every silently absorbed scope change compounds — visible first in the milestone plan, later in the duration and the cost. Whoever starts the implementation without fixing accountability builds the delay in from day one.
A quick read before you spend a meeting on it. If most of this matches your situation, an independent specification is worth scoping — if it doesn't, we will say so.
The system is selected and the software partner is contracted
A requirements specification exists — or needs finalising before kick-off
The internal team carries the project alongside the daily business
Management wants progress visibility independent of the vendor
The requirements specification and the contract documents
Access to the project team, key users and the software partner
A decision-maker with authority over change requests
Strategic guidelines, cost framework and known risks
We take no implementation revenue and no licence commission, so our only interest is that the system goes live as specified — on the timeline, within the budget, doing what your business agreed to buy. That independence is not a slogan; it is the working arrangement the software partner deals with every week of the project.
The decisive factor is clear, professional project management — the right key users, processes in the foreground across the whole value chain, and milestones the team can verify.
Team composition set: the right key users, defined tasks, trained roles — and the requirements specification fixed as the baseline every milestone is accepted against.
PRINCE2 · PMI · ScrumThe vendor builds to the specification. Change requests are controlled and priced — not absorbed — and every open decision has an owner and a date.
Change-request managementAcceptance scenarios prove each milestone against the specification. Short-interval goals keep progress verifiable across the whole value chain.
QA acceptance scenariosGo or no-go decided against agreed criteria, with independent reporting on project health running to the end — and beyond it into stabilisation.
Hypercare AssuranceRisk, targets, budget and resource planning under one method — set up before the first workshop, not improvised after it.
Developed with your staff, so the target state is theirs — and progress against it can actually be measured.
Handled as part of the project work, not bolted on when resistance appears.
Your performance claims represented to the software partner — by someone with no stake in the vendor’s delivery.
Deadlines, tasks and responsibilities organised — with progress documented as it happens.
Progress, status and project health reported independently of the party being measured.
Help anchoring the standards the project sets — in the system and in daily work.
When delivery deviates from the specification, the software supplier deals with us first.
Key figures reported continuously; acceptance scenarios that prove each milestone before it is signed off.
Martini Sportswear · Retail & Distribution
ProblemA growing collection business with seasonal peaks, variant-heavy products and both wholesale and retail channels — and an ERP implementation too critical to run on the vendor’s method and the vendor’s interests alone.
EngagementIndependent project management of the implementation: the requirements specification safeguarded, milestones accepted against it, change requests controlled, and progress reported independently of the software partner.
1
milestone plan — vendor and client under one governance model
0
commission from the software partner — independent throughout
1,200+
projects of pattern recognition behind the method · since 1992
We represent the client’s specification to the software partner — with no implementation revenue and no licence commission behind the advice.
Honest answers about project management, vendor governance and what happens when delivery deviates — the questions that come up in nearly every first implementation conversation.
Answers by
Dr. Harald Dreher
Founder · Dreher Consulting
Since 1992 he has guided Mittelstand companies through replacing in-house-built ERP systems. He advises vendor-neutrally, taking no commission from any software vendor.
LinkedIn · Last updated: 21 July 2026
ERP implementation is the structured process of configuring, integrating and deploying an ERP system in a company. It covers project planning, process and data preparation, configuration, migration, testing, training and go-live. From our experience, success is decided less by the software than by clear specifications, strong governance and active project management on the client’s side.
The vendor implements the software with its own method and its own interests. An independent consultant is your representative in the project: milestones are accepted against the agreed specification, scope creep runs through change-request management, and reporting is independent of the party being measured. The vendor delivers — someone has to safeguard what was agreed.
The honest answer: it depends on the number of processes, data objects and interfaces — and on the quality of the requirements specification. Mittelstand projects typically run from several months to well over a year. The duration is set by the milestone plan agreed at the start, not by calendar optimism; mistakes made in project planning multiply over the project.
PRINCE2, PMI or Scrum — adapted to your structure rather than applied as dogma. In our projects the method serves the milestone plan: short-interval goals, defined acceptance criteria and documented progress. Your team also learns the vendor’s implementation methodology, because both sides have to work within one governance model.
Yes. The requirements specification fixes what the software partner has to deliver and what acceptance means. Without it, milestones cannot be accepted against anything, scope creep cannot be controlled, and disputes about what was agreed have no reference document. The smooth process flow from procurement to delivery is fixed there first — then realised by the qualified software partner.
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