ERP implementation projects fail 50-70% of the time. Cormier's book is for the project leaders trying to beat that base rate. Does the practical framework hold up?

ERP Implementation - The Right Way — Review

ERP projects are famous for catastrophic failures. Studies (Panorama, Gartner) consistently show 50-70% go over budget, over schedule, or underdeliver. Charles Cormier's book is for the business and project leaders who want to beat those base rates on their NetSuite, SAP Business One, Microsoft Dynamics, or Odoo rollout.

The Core Framework

Cormier structures ERP implementation as five phases:

Readiness assessment (are you ready to implement at all?)
Vendor and partner selection (often more important than the software itself)
Detailed design and configuration
Data migration and testing
Go-live and post-go-live stabilization

Each phase gets a chapter with checklists, decision frameworks, and specific failure modes to watch for.

Strongest Chapters

Readiness assessment. Most ERP projects that fail were never ready to start. Cormier's readiness framework — organizational capacity, clean data, defined processes, executive sponsorship — catches the projects that should be delayed before they start.

Vendor selection. The book is explicit about how to run a vendor RFP, what references actually mean, and how to avoid the partner-swap trap (where the implementer you selected gets swapped for junior staff after contracting).

Data migration. The technical chapter on data migration is unusually concrete: specific steps for cleaning source data, handling partial records, running parallel systems during transition, and how to roll back if things go wrong.

Change management. ERP success depends heavily on user adoption. Cormier's change management chapter doesn't hand-wave — it covers specific training cadences, super-user programs, and the org behaviors that predict adoption success.

Where It's Limited

Very small (under $5M revenue) implementations. Cormier's framework is scaled for $5M-$500M companies. Below that, you don't need the full methodology — you need the first 20% of it.

Vendor-specific details. The book is vendor-agnostic, which is a feature, but also means you'll still need vendor-specific documentation for your chosen ERP.

Who Should Read

ERP project leaders (internal or consultant-facing). CIOs/controllers sponsoring an ERP initiative. Business operations managers involved in ERP selection or implementation.

Verdict

The best single-volume ERP implementation reference for mid-market projects. Read cover-to-cover before kickoff, use chapters as references throughout project phases.