Two companies buy the same ERP (enterprise resource planning system: the software that runs finance, sales, stock and production in one place). Same licences, same version, same modules. Three years later, one closes its books in a few days and trusts its numbers. The other still runs half of its business in spreadsheets and talks about "the system" with a sigh.
The software didn't change between them. What changed was everything around it, starting with the ERP implementation partner.
After more than 26 years and over 1,000 implementations of Microsoft Dynamics solutions across the Adriatic region and Italy, we keep seeing the same pattern. The system sets the limits of what's possible. The partner decides how close a company gets to them.
The numbers show how common the problem is. Gartner predicts that by 2027, more than 70% of recently implemented ERP projects will not fully meet their original business goals. In our experience, the cause is rarely the software itself.
Every ERP promises the same things
Open any ERP brochure and you'll read about better processes, cleaner data, fewer errors, faster reporting and higher productivity. Global platforms, local systems, open-source tools and niche industry solutions all make broadly the same promises.
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is one of the most widely used business platforms for mid-sized companies. But even a strong platform can't reach its potential if it's introduced badly, set up around the wrong processes or left alone after go-live (the day the company starts using the new system for real work).
That's why the question "which ERP?" is only half of the decision. The other half is "who will implement it, and who will still be there afterwards?"
1. How the system is introduced
An ERP project usually runs for several months and involves many people on both sides. Without a clear method, it turns into a long list of change requests.
Good implementations start with process analysis, not configuration. Before anyone changes a single setting, the partner should understand how orders, deliveries, invoices and approvals really flow through your company, and where they get stuck.
The second test is balance. The goal isn't to force your company into the software, and it isn't to rebuild the software around every habit either. Every customisation (a change built specially for you on top of the standard software) has to be maintained and tested at every upgrade. A good partner will sometimes tell you that a request isn't worth it.
At Business Solutions we work with our own methodology, IPM (Implementation Power Methodology). It covers each phase from process analysis and solution design through training, testing and go-live to ongoing support, and adapts to each company rather than the other way round.
2. Who answers when something breaks
Sooner or later, something won't work as expected. At that moment you don't need a generic ticket answer. You need someone who understands the business process behind the problem.
A consultant who supports a manufacturer needs to know production orders, planning, material consumption and production costing. Someone who supports a retailer needs to know fiscalisation, e-invoices, price lists and loyalty programmes. The technical fix is often the easy part; understanding what the user was trying to do is the hard part.
That's why our support teams are organised by area and industry: manufacturing, retail, services, logistics, real estate and public utilities.
3. Whether the system knows your country's rules
A global platform doesn't solve local legislation by itself. Companies in Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania, North Macedonia and Italy all face different tax, accounting and reporting requirements, and those requirements change.
If local forms, VAT reporting, e-invoicing and fiscalisation are handled in side spreadsheets or one-off custom code, every legal change becomes a small project. If they're part of a maintained localisation (a ready-made local version of the system that the partner keeps up to date), they're updated with the system.
For this reason we built AllForAdriatics, which adapts Business Central to the legal requirements of each market in the region: local forms, VAT books and returns, e-invoices (electronic invoices), fiscalisation (reporting sales receipts to the tax authority) and statutory reports.
Learn more about AllForAdriatics
4. Who is still there in year three
Go-live is not the finish line. Businesses grow, people change, new regulations arrive and new technology becomes available, such as Copilot (Microsoft's AI assistant built into Business Central). The system has to move with all of it.
As we like to say: "ERP is not a project with an end date, but a long-term partnership. The difference between a good and an excellent ERP project often doesn't show in the first months, but in the years that follow."
That's when the quality of support, the partner's understanding of your business and the system's ability to grow with you start to matter most.
The research points the same way
This isn't only our view. In its March 2026 Total Economic Impact study of Business Central, commissioned by Microsoft, Forrester lists "partner choice and scope discipline" (keeping the project to what was agreed) and "data quality at the time of migration" among the main risks to implementation costs. In other words: the same software, with a different partner and different preparation, produces a different result.
8 questions to ask an ERP implementation partner before you sign
Price and features are only part of your ERP selection criteria. Before you sign, ask every candidate partner these questions:
- How many implementations have you completed in companies like ours, in size and industry?
- Who exactly will work on our project, and will the same people support us after go-live?
- How do you analyse our processes before you configure anything?
- When would you advise us not to customise something?
- How are local legal requirements covered, and who updates them when the law changes?
- How is support organised, and who do we call when something breaks?
- How will our own team learn to run the system without you for everyday changes?
- How will we measure success, and which metrics do we agree on before we start?
A partner who answers these clearly, and is honest about what they don't do, is worth more than a slightly lower quote.
Frequently asked questions
How do you choose the right ERP implementation partner?
Look beyond the quote. Check references in your industry, how the partner analyses your processes before configuring anything, how local legal requirements are maintained and who supports you after go-live. The eight questions above are a good starting point.
Is the ERP partner really more important than the software?
Both matter. But with a mature platform such as Business Central, the difference in results usually comes from how the system is introduced, supported and developed over time, which is the partner's job.
How long does an ERP implementation take?
It depends on scope, data, integrations and customisation. Most projects run for several months. A good partner gives you a realistic plan after analysing your processes, not before.
Why does local expertise matter for ERP in the Adriatic region?
Tax, accounting, e-invoicing and fiscalisation rules differ by country and change often. A partner with a maintained localisation keeps your system compliant without a new project every time the law changes.
Planning a new ERP or rethinking your current one? Business Solutions has 26+ years of experience, 1,000+ implementations, 260+ experts and 70+ own solutions for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central.
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