ERP rescue

When this engagement applies

ERP programmes go off the rails in recognisable ways. The scope grows. The supplier relationship deteriorates. The internal sponsor disengages. The go-live date slips twice and then stops being a fixed point. By the time it reaches the board, the question is no longer "how do we deliver this". It is "do we keep going, change suppliers, or stop".

The trigger is usually a second material slip, a change of CFO, or a Chair losing patience with status updates that have stopped meaning anything.

What I assess

A short, structured assessment that produces an answer to the question. Independent of the supplier, the implementation partner, and the internal programme team. Four areas:

• Scope: what has been promised, what has been delivered, what remains
• Supplier: capability, behaviour, contract position
• Internal: sponsor, programme team, business readiness
• Timeline: current plan, realistic plan, and the gap between them

The engagement does not take over the programme. It assesses it, names the position clearly, and writes the board paper that allows a decision to be made.

What you get

• A written assessment of programme health across scope, supplier, internal capability and timeline
• A view on the three or four scenarios open to the board, with the trade-offs for each
• A recommended position with the evidence supporting it
• A draft board paper
• A call to walk the executive sponsor through the assessment before it reaches the board

Delivery

Week one: document review and stakeholder interviews. Approximately eight to ten hours of internal time across the programme leadership and a representative sample of users.

Week two: drafting and validation.

Week three: walk-through with the executive sponsor and final board paper.

Fees and duration

Fixed fee, scoped at the start. Two to three weeks elapsed. Whatever happens next, continuation, replan, supplier change, termination, is a separate piece of work.