Advice & Resources, Industry Insight
This article is part of a six-phase series on ERP implementation
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By Lee Clarke, Senior Business Director
– Last Updated: June 2026
ERP data management is one of the most underestimated challenges in any implementation programme. Most organisations are not starting with clean, structured data – they are working with years of legacy records shaped by different systems, teams, and ways of operating. How that data is handled during the development phase determines whether the ERP delivers on its promise.
By the time an ERP programme reaches the development phase, most businesses discover their data is in a worse state than expected. Duplicate customer records, inconsistent naming conventions, key fields left unpopulated – these aren’t prompts to make you double-check your data, they are where most businesses find themselves.
The risk is not just operational. If poor-quality data is carried into the new system, it corrupts the outputs the ERP is supposed to deliver: accurate reporting, reliable forecasting, consistent operational visibility. The system will always works as designed; the problem is what it is working with.
Experienced interim ERP data specialists are often brought in at this point precisely because they have seen this pattern across multiple programmes and know how to respond quickly and correctly.
The instinct in most organisations is to migrate everything. It feels like the most rational decision – safer to migrate the entire data set so nothing can be missed. Yet, in practice, it creates the opposite problem.
Historic records that are rarely accessed, duplicate entries, obsolete product lines, and data tied to processes that no longer exist – all of this adds volume, increases risk to the new system, and slows the programme. It clutters the new system from day one.
Interim data specialists help organisations make a clear-eyed decision early: what data genuinely supports future operations, and what is legacy baggage that should be left behind or archived separately. This isn’t a technical question but a business one, which needs to be answered before real development work begins.
Data cleansing can easily become an exercise in activity without direction – with teams working through records without a clear view of why it matters or what the end should look like.
The most effective interim professionals anchor cleansing to business outcomes:
When cleansing activity is tied to what the business actually needs from the new system, it becomes focused and far more valuable. Without this framing, organisations risk spending weeks on data that will not meaningfully improve how the ERP performs in practice.
Once the scope is defined and data is cleansed, the migration itself – mapping, transformation, and testing – still requires careful, experienced management.
This is a phase where pace matters, but where shortcuts can carry significant cost. Structured validation cycles and clear data integrity checks are not optional extras – they are what prevent last-minute issues from surfacing at go-live, when they are far more expensive to resolve.
Experienced interims maintain momentum through this stage without sacrificing the rigour the work requires.
A migration done well is not just a one-time fix. Without the right governance in place, data quality erodes fast – new entries made inconsistently, ownership unclear, standards undocumented.
Interim specialists help establish the controls that prevent this: clear data ownership, input standards embedded in the ERP, and governance frameworks that give the business confidence in what the system is telling them.
This is often what separates an ERP that continues to deliver value from one that soon becomes unreliable.
As much as timelines and budgets matter, the true measure of a successful ERP implementation is whether the business can trust its data after go-live.
If the answer is no, the programme has not delivered – regardless of what went live and on schedule. Understanding the six key phases of ERP implementation helps clarify where data management sits in the broader programme, and why getting it right during the development phase has consequences that run all the way through to support and maintenance.
At Broster Buchanan, we work with organisations navigating this challenge, connecting them with interim ERP data specialists who have managed complex programmes across multiple sectors.
If your organisation is approaching the development phase, or already in the middle of it, it is worth having the conversation early.
Get in touch today to discuss how we can support
Lee Clarke – Senior Business Director
Technology & Business Transformation
