Why businesses avoid SAP implementation

I didn't know that everyone's second-favourite German supermarket - Lidl (Aldi's the first) - binned a £500m SAP programme until I read about it at the weekend. Over seven years they poured half a billion euros into a SAP ERP rollout, and then scrapped it. Why? Because they refused to change their own processes. SAP was built to run on retail prices. Lidl insisted on using purchase prices. That single legacy quirk unravelled the whole thing. The same could be said of many a project - especially those promising transformational returns. You can't have those returns by grafting a technology solution over the top of legacy processes, and with people who are resistant to change. “They don’t have the right level of business engagement, they do not have the right people to measure business outcomes and the business case is put on a shelf and never looked at again” said an analyst in the piece I was reading. If you’re not willing to optimise your processes, you’ll end up spending millions trying to bend the software instead. And when the vendor says “best practice,” it’s not a suggestion. I know I'm bringing this topic up a lot lately, but that's because I'm seeing similar behaviour to the Lidl story in several facets of many projects; from RFP stage through to delivery, the key is the process. Asking a vendor to fit their technology to a legacy process just isn't going to give you the outcome you want without compromise. EDIT: Tobias has highlighted the following update: "The Appeal of In-House Development, By: Berthold Wesseler" Discount retailer Lidl is investing a nine-figure sum in its new merchandise management system, called Wawi Nexus. This will once again be a bespoke development, after an interim modernisation project based on standard software failed. According to “Lebensmittel Zeitung”, the cloud-based system is intended to link the online business more closely with the physical stores. Over seven years, the retail chain belonging to the Schwarz Group had already invested an estimated €500 million in replacing its in-house system from the 1990s (“Wawi”) with the “Electronic Lidl Merchandise Management Information System” when the ambitious SAP project “Elwis” was halted in 2018. Elwis was based on SAP’s Retail powered by HANA package and Software AG’s webMethods integration middleware. The largest IT transformation project in the company’s history was quietly laid to rest, even though the Neckarsulm-based retailer had already introduced the new system in four countries."

🔴 𝗟𝗶𝗱𝗹’𝘀 $𝟲𝟬𝟬𝗠 𝗦𝗔𝗣 𝗙𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘂𝗿𝗲: 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗪𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗪𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 & 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗟𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗘𝗥𝗣 𝗦𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 🔴 Lidl, one of Germany’s largest grocery retailers, scrapped its SAP implementation after investing nearly €500 million ($600M USD)—only to revert back to its legacy systems. This massive ERP failure highlights critical lessons for any organization undergoing digital transformation or implementing an ERP system like SAP, Oracle, or Microsoft Dynamics. 🛑 𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗪𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗪𝗥𝗢𝗡𝗚? Despite choosing one of the world’s most powerful ERP systems, Lidl faced challenges that derailed their project, including: ✅ 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 – Lidl forced SAP to match its legacy processes instead of adapting to industry best practices. ✅ 𝗘𝘅𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗖𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 – The project became overly complex due to extensive software modifications. ✅ 𝗢𝘃𝗲𝗿-𝗥𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝗦𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 – The company deferred too much control to external consultants. ✅ 𝗘𝘅𝗲𝗰𝘂𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗧𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 & 𝗠𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 – Shifting leadership priorities created instability. ✅ 𝗦𝗔𝗣 𝗶𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺, 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆 𝗶𝘀 – SAP powers 80% of top global retailers, but Lidl’s execution strategy failed. 🚀 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗕𝗜𝗚 𝗧𝗔𝗞𝗘𝗔𝗪𝗔𝗬? ERP failures aren’t about the software—they’re about strategy, execution, and change management. No matter what system you choose, success depends on aligning technology with your people, processes, and long-term vision. 🔎 𝗪𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝘃𝗼𝗶𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗳𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘀? 📖 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹 𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗹𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 💬 What are your thoughts on this ERP failure? Have you seen similar challenges in your industry? Let’s discuss in the comments! ⬇️ #ERP #DigitalTransformation #SAP #BusinessStrategy #ChangeManagement #Leadership #CIO #Technology

🚨 BILLIONS IN REVENUE. GLOBAL BRAND RECOGNITION. 🧠 TOP-TIER TALENT. Still can't get ERP right. Why? You’d think the bigger the business 💰 …the smoother the ERP implementation 🤖 But reality? The bigger the business, the BIGGER the ERP struggle. And we see it time and time again. 🙄 📉 Global enterprise spends £100M+ on a new ERP, 📉 2 years in, it's delayed, bloated, or scrapped, 📉 Internal chaos. Stakeholder fatigue. Consultant carousel. Some examples: 💥 Lidl in Germany spent €500M on a failed SAP rollout 💥 Nike blamed a $100M supply chain fiasco on ERP missteps 💥 The Hershey Company couldn’t deliver $100M worth of candy due to a bad ERP switch 💥 Revlon faced lawsuits after a disastrous SAP implementation These are not startups fumbling in the dark. These are household names with elite resources. So what gives? 🤯 🔎 Where it breaks down: ❌ Too many cooks: Over-complex governance models ❌ Outdated processes + shiny new tech = disaster ❌ Change management is an afterthought ❌ Vendor promises vs operational reality ❌ Teams implement tools, not transformation ERP isn’t just a tech project. It’s a business surgery. Without anesthesia. And yet, some companies DO get it right. Why? They treat ERP as a cultural shift, not just a systems upgrade. 🫶 They: ✅ Put business outcomes before tech specs ✅ Align top-down AND bottom-up ✅ Design for flexibility, not control ✅ Embed change management early and deep 🗣 Let’s open it up: If you’ve worked on a major ERP rollout or survived one! What’s the one thing you’d fix if you could do it again? 👇 Drop your war stories, tips, or horror tales below. 👇 Let’s learn from each other—because the market is watching… and spending 👀💸 #ERP #DigitalTransformation #SAP #Oracle #MicrosoftDynamics #EnterpriseIT #CIO #ChangeManagement #Leadership #BusinessTransformation #ProjectFailure #TechImplementation

𝗚𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗟𝗶𝗱𝗹 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘄𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲 𝗼𝗳𝗳 €𝟱𝟬𝟬 𝗠𝗜𝗟𝗟𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗼𝗻 𝗮 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗦𝗔𝗣 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. Seven years. 1,000 employees. Hundreds of consultants. Zero ROI. The German retail giant had to scrap their entire eLWIS project and revert to legacy systems. What went catastrophically wrong? ➤ Refused to adapt processes to SAP standards (insisted on purchase price vs retail price inventory valuation) ➤ Massive over-customization that broke system integrity ➤ Executive turnover killed project continuity (CEO + Head of IT both left mid-project) ➤ Inadequate change management despite massive investment The kicker? SAP awarded Lidl a "best customer" prize in April 2017... then Lidl killed the project 15 months later. 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲'𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗿𝘂𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆: 𝟱𝟱-𝟳𝟱% 𝗼𝗳 𝗘𝗥𝗣 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗹. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 𝘂𝘀𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗲. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘁? 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝘀𝗼 𝗺𝘂𝗰𝗵. 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀: ✅ Set hard budget escalation limits (50%, 100%, 150% triggers) ✅ Limit customization to TRUE competitive differentiators ✅ Ensure leadership stability during multi-year projects ✅ Change management isn't optional - it's survival ERP success isn't about buying the best software. It's about executing the best transformation strategy. #ERP #DigitalTransformation #CFO #ProjectManagement #SAP Key lessons for finance leaders:  Set hard budget escalation limits (50%, 100%, 150% triggers)  Limit customization to TRUE competitive differentiators  Ensure leadership stability during multi-year projects  Change management isn't optional - it's survival ERP success isn't about buying the best software. It's about executing the best transformation strategy. What's the most expensive implementation mistake you've witnessed? #ERP #DigitalTransformation #CFO #ProjectManagement #SAP