What happens after ERP renewals?

Almost all companies will be forced to renew their ERP systems within the next few years due to pressure from technology providers, as support for older versions is ending or has already ended. This wave of renewals is well underway—many companies have completed the transition, while others are still in the early stages or mid-process.

Ilkka von Schulman

22.4.2025

ERP renewals driven by lifecycle requirements typically offer limited direct benefits or business improvements. ERP projects are also so complex and demanding that many of the planned enhancements envisioned at the outset tend to be sidelined along the way, as the primary focus shifts to simply getting the system up and running.

One possible post-renewal approach is to stabilise operations and drive business development within the framework of existing solutions and configurations. Companies can take incremental steps to leverage the new capabilities provided by modern ERP platforms. It’s generally wise to invest time and effort into business transformation and value realisation after an ERP renewal, as the ERP project itself primarily focuses on building necessary capabilities rather than delivering immediate business benefits.

During ERP renewal projects, most resources are allocated to system implementation, with a strong focus on internal capabilities. As a result, there is growing pressure to develop customer-facing solutions and sales processes. Another logical next step, therefore, is to prioritise investments in areas such as customer relationship management (CRM), sales configurators, or digital services, just as many companies did after the last major wave of ERP implementations.

Financial structures, customer data, and supplier information are generally well managed in modern ERP systems. However, inventory, equipment, and product data management are often not as well-integrated. This is likely to drive another wave of ERP-related projects, focusing on these areas. Implementing solutions like Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) or Warehouse Management Systems (WMS) is often necessary to support these functions, and such enhancements also have a significant impact on the core ERP system itself.

A fourth emerging area is the adoption of artificial intelligence. Most ERP providers have introduced early AI-powered features, but it remains to be seen whether these innovations will go beyond chatbot interfaces to deliver truly intelligent automation and decision-making capabilities.

Cloud-based ERP systems, on the other hand, are updated multiple times a year by default. As a result, companies operating on cloud ERP have effectively entered a world of continuous ERP projects, where testing and deployments are a regular part of operations. Additionally, ERP serves as a company's digital backbone, playing a crucial role in any business or organisational transformation. In other words, working with ERP systems will remain an ongoing challenge for the foreseeable future.