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title: Changing ERP or CRM systems often recreates the old company's problems
author: Giacomo Balli
published: 2026-08-26
url: https://BigBalli.com/blog/changing-erp-or-crm-systems-often-recreates-the-old-companys-problems
tags: Engineering, Product, Operations, Data
---

# Changing ERP or CRM systems often recreates the old company's problems

*By Giacomo Balli* | *Published: August 26, 2026*

Changing ERP or CRM systems often recreates the old company's problems in a newer database, and the reason is in the implementation plan.

The plan starts with "map current processes." The consultants interview every department, document how work is done today, and configure the new system to match. It is careful work. It is also the moment the old company gets copied in.

Every workaround someone invented in 2016 becomes a requirement. Every approval that exists because of a person who left becomes a workflow step. Every report someone runs out of habit becomes a dashboard. The migration faithfully preserves the reasons the old system felt broken.

Then the data comes across. Duplicates, stale customers, product codes in three formats. The new system has better validation, so the bad records are now visible, and the first quarter is spent blaming the software for showing what was always there.

A migration that works starts one step earlier. Before mapping current processes, decide which of them the company would design today if it were starting from nothing. Kill those approvals first. Merge the duplicates first. Pick one product code format first. Then configure a system around the company you want, not the one you have documented.

That is more work up front and it is the only version of the project where the licence fees buy something. Otherwise you have paid to move house and brought every box, unopened.

[Discuss on LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7505327012350316544)

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**Tags:** Engineering, Product, Operations, Data

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