“Never assume the obvious is true.”  – William Safire

ERP systems have come a long, long way since their early days. Everyone knows this, but some ‘obvious’ assumptions that go along with this progress you might make will not necessarily be true.

Document and validate assumptions that might seem obvious. Assumptions like:

• The new system will be easier to use, take people less time, and reduce overhead.
• It will be easier to retrieve information from the new system.
• It will be easier to manage security in the new system.

These (and others) are dangerous assumptions that might not be true in the new system.  For the examples above:

• It might, but tighter controls and more formal processes might make the system more difficult to use, requiring more time.
• It can, but highly flexible, highly normalized data structures in the new system can make reporting more difficult,
• Like data, highly flexible security structures in the new system create complexity and can only be managed by highly skilled people.