South Africa, Feb. 9 -- In reality, many ERP initiatives fall short for a simpler reason: people were not adequately prepared for the nature of the change they were stepping into.

Readiness is not about knowing where to click in a new system. It is about understanding how work will be different, why it needs to change, and what is required before, during, and after the transition. Without that foundation, even well-designed ERP solutions struggle to translate into sustained operational improvement.

One of the earliest and most underestimated readiness signals appears long before go-live: how an organisation approaches its existing data. The change team can assist in framing the roles and responsibilities of the various stakeholders invo...