70% of ERP implementations fail
So why we do guarantee yours?
– From Ben Langley, Founder of SuiteGeneration
It was 2018, and I was in way over my head.
I’d just started working for a small but up-and-coming Netsuite consultancy called XYZ.
One of the first projects I was given was a rescue for a growing coffee company called Starbucks 2.0.
They’d had a Netsuite consultancy, The Titans, come in to help them implement.
Now what’s important to note here is that The Titans were (and still are) big.
Award-winning, half-a-century-old, industry-leading big.
The kind of company that’s at the top of the NetSuite food chain.
Which made the chaos I walked into a bit of a surprise.
4 consultants, 10 months of work, and nothing to show for it
I was brought up to speed and told that despite The Titans putting in 10 months of work and despite them having 4 individual consultants working on the project…
All they had to show for it was a chart of accounts.
Now, for reference, a chart of accounts is something you’d expect to get done at the beginning of a project.
It’s one of the first things you do, and it shouldn’t take more than a few weeks.
I thought I must have misunderstood something.
Surely, that couldn’t be all they’d done?
It was.
In 10 months, one of the largest ERP consultancies in the world had made almost no progress.
For reference, an entire project usually takes 6-12 months.
By month 10 you’d expect at least 50% of the work to be done, even for the largest, most complex implementations.
After some digging, I found the problem.
In fact, I found four of them.
And because I saw these problems again and again throughout my career, I put a name to them.
I call themThe Four Lacks.
These lacks eventually formed the basis for my radically different approach to consultancy.
Which was later enshrined in the world’s first and only NetSuite rescue guarantee here at Suite Generation.
The Four Lacks
1. A lack of leadership
If you’re reading this, you know ERP implementations are hard.
70% of them fail, according to McKinsey.
Which is why a consultancy must lead their client through the process.
That’s an unavoidable part of the job description.
The client is in brand-new territory, they need help, and they may not always know it.
A good consultancy will drive the project, hold the client’s hand when necessary, and push them if things slow down.
They keep the implementation moving forward.
But if The Titans asked for something and Starbucks 2.0 dragged their heels, or misunderstood the request…
The Titans didn’t chase them.
The Titans didn’t take the time to contextualise the ask
And The Titans didn’t educate the project lead on the importance of the process.
So…
If Starbucks 2.0, who already had a business to run, didn’t fiercely advocate for themselves – nothing would happen
(For about 10 months.)
Shocking? It was to me, at the time.
But as I repaired the project, the cause turned out to be deceptively simple.
2. A lack of commitment
The Titans had a huge roster of other clients.
If one client didn’t move forward, there was no incentive for The Titans to do anything about it.
In fact, they’re heavily incentivised to do nothing.
And continue to issue invoices for 4 consultants working 8 hours a day.
Even if the project’s floor breaks under the weight of their inertia, it doesn’t matter.
They have massive sway within the ERP industry.
They’ll get more clients.
And if they’re asked about that failed project?
They’ll blame it on the client.
Which might look plausible, even to Starbucks 2.0. Because they don’t know what they don’t know.
And given the reputation of The Titans, most people wouldn’t even think to question it.
As for the wake of misattributed blame, firings, and livelihoods destroyed in the process…
We’ll get to that in a moment.
3. A lack of expertise
The problems didn’t stop there.
And unfortunately, back then I was the problem.
I was still relatively new to NetSuite and was given the role by XYZ.
But I didn’t have the experience I needed to do the job.
As one example, I had to learn standard costing on the job; a huge task normally measured in months, even with the assistance of professional training.
Fortunately, after a few weeks of all-nighters, I got up to speed and was able to implement it for Starbucks 2.0.
But it wasn’t ethical to put me in that position, for me or for Starbucks 2.0.
And during that project, I learned more than standard costing.
I learned that most consultants are not experts in the field they’re consulting for.
What they’re often good at, is soft skills and sales.
I.e. They’re good with people.
Not necessarily solutions.
And junior consultants, like I was at the time, often get put onto projects to maximise profit for the consultancy.
But the difference between a junior consultant and a senior one is not just knowledge of NetSuite.
It’s knowing how to solve problems.
Senior consultants have the experience to predict the downstream effects of their proposed solutions and modify as necessary.
Junior consultants offer cookie-cutter solutions, often without any real understanding of the potential ramifications.
And that’s not real consulting.
Leaders need a clear framework that’s aligned with their vision. And an experienced consultant who can drive everything forward.
4. A lack of management
Because The Titans had put inexperienced people onto this implementation, they lacked both the tools to build the right framework…
And the leadership to help Starbucks 2.0 through the implementation.
XYZ was brought in to advise on the efficiency of the project and improve it.
We started by asking the questions that should have been asked in week one:
When we asked these questions, it became clear Starbucks 2.0 didn’t know what they wanted.
They needed help in figuring out the answers.
In other words, The Titans weren’t implementing a system for the needs of Starbucks 2.0.
It was just… boilerplate.
And the problem with that is simple.
If you don’t have clear answers to these types of questions it doesn’t matter how good the leadership or consultancy is.
You’ll fail.
When XYZ stepped in, we helped the company visualise their goals and drew upon our collective experience to highlight what it should be aiming for.
Then we formed the team for the client side and set dates for key decisions to be made.
Everyone in Starbucks 2.0 was moving forward in lockstep.
No one lagged and no one rushed ahead.
We moved forward as a single unit.
The Aftermath: A C-suite C-section
In the end, after a long back-and-forth with The Titans, we managed to get the implementation done.
I remember being thrilled that the ordeal was over.
We’d instituted proper management, documentation, and leadership to guide Starbucks 2.0 to the outcomes they wanted and needed.
But for the shareholders, it was too little too late.
Shortly after we left, the entire C-suite was sacked and replaced.
The CEO, CFO, CTO – everyone.
This was the final, brutal lesson for me.
The work me and my team do as NetSuite consultants has real-world implications.
These are real people whose lives and professions we’re disrupting.
If we as consultants don’t do our jobs properly, our clients can and do lose theirs.
It was a sobering realisation.
And when I tried to implement systems and oversight in XYZ that would offer protection for our clients, I was told it wasn’t possible.
Which is when I knew I’d eventually have need to have my own consultancy.
One that truly helps people like you.
“Isn’t good enough, ok?”
Alicia, my wife
I’m a perfectionist.
That’s not a humblebrag.
I know it’s often not a good thing.
(As my wife can attest.)
But it’s also a fact. I’ve always been this way.
So when my wife asks me that question above, even though I know what she’s getting at, I can’t help but say what I feel in my bones:
“Good enough isn’t ok.”
And that’s especially true when it comes to your NetSuite implementation.
If we come in and do anything less than an outstanding job…
You and your team’s positions could be on the line.
So I’m never going to be satisfied with just okay.
And please don’t think I’m just saying this to win your business.
It’s entirely selfish.
Because I want to sleep well at night.
Knowing me and my team have done an outstanding job for our clients.
I founded Suite Generation because I know that a large part of those ERP implementation failures happen because of The Four Lacks.
Which is why Suite Generation does things differently.
It’s why we’re the only ERP consultancy in the world (so far) to guarantee our work.
Because I believe that we, as consultants, have an ethical duty to our clients.
A duty that’s summarised neatly in SuiteGeneration’s simple mission statement…
Promise what we’ll deliver and deliver what we promised
If you’re here, you’re probably in the thick of a NetSuite failure.
And you might now be questioning whether your consultancy did right by you.
Unfortunately, whatever the answer, your problem remains.
And I know what that’s like.
Netsuite implementation failures can be extremely rough.
Especially for the leadership.
If we can help, I want to.
But you might already know that because we don’t ever outsource our work, we can only take on a limited number of clients each year.
So if you’d like to be one of those clients, fill out our 5-question application form by clicking the link below.
I’ve made sure that it takes less than 30 seconds to complete.
Once you fill out the form, we’ll be in touch in 48 business hours to let you know if there’s a fit. If so, we’ll schedule a call to dig into your specific situation.
After that, your NetSuite implementation rescue will begin.
Hope to hear from you soon.
B.D. Langley
Benjamin Langley
Founder, SuiteGeneration
[Somewhere], Spain