What Your ERP Delivery Partner Does Between Purchase and Go-Live

Laura Pointer, Founder of Pivotal Project Management, joins the Comparesoft ERP Podcast to explain how she has built a 100% go-live success rate across ERP implementations in oil and gas, engineering, manufacturing and facilities management. In this episode, Laura unpacks what ERP go-live actually means, why most buyers mistake it for the end of the project, and the methodology that has kept her record intact. She walks through the checklist non-negotiables, the most common causes of delay, and what it takes to sustain a go-live once the consultants have demobilised. Laura talks about: What ERP go-live really means, and how to define a successful one beyond "the system is on" The honesty-first methodology behind her 100% success rate, including why RAG greenwashing kills programmes faster than any technical issue The go-live checklist non-negotiables, from people-first sequencing to multi-date sign-off on customisations What go-live day actually looks like, including the field-rename incident that almost broke a fully integrated solution Why change management is the single biggest cause of go-live failure, and how to spot the quiet resistors How big bang and phased rollouts compare, and where peer cascade pays off What it takes to sustain a go-live in the first six months, including hypercare, top-down messaging, and letting it settle 🔗 Listen and read more: https://comparesoft.com/erp-software/implementation/go-live/

Andy Mellor, Founder of Pragmatic Maintenance & Reliability, joins the Comparesoft Maintenance Podcast to break down what a successful condition monitoring strategy actually looks like, and why so many programmes fail to deliver, even when the right tools and data are in place. Drawing on over 20 years of hands-on experience across heavy industry, including eight years at British Steel and contract work at sites such as Anglesey Aluminium, Andy explains why culture, communication, and trust matter more than technology when it comes to turning predictive data into maintenance action. In this episode, Andy talks about: The real reasons condition monitoring programmes fail to deliver ROI What a successful condition monitoring strategy looks like and how to measure it How to present vibration, thermography, and oil analysis findings to plant managers Why proving business consequences matters more than proving faults Simple, low-cost wins most maintenance teams overlook What to look for in condition monitoring hardware and software How to balance AI and remote sensors with the judgement of trained technicians The four principles that prevent machinery from needing emergency troubleshooting 🔗 Listen and read more: https://comparesoft.com/cmms-software/condition-based-maintenance/monitoring-strategy/

Yuriy Zaletskyy, CTO and Co-Founder of Acupower, joins the Comparesoft ERP Podcast to pull back the curtain on ERP delivery: What actually happens once a business has signed the contract and the ERP delivery partner gets involved? Drawing on over thirteen years of implementation experience, including hands-on development and architecture work across cloud ERP platforms, Yuriy explains: What happens in the first two weeks after a buyer signs with an ERP delivery partner The gap between polished ERP sales demos and day-one implementation reality Why the 70% ERP failure statistic deserves more scrutiny than it gets Why customisation is treated as the "root of all evil" in ERP, and when it is actually the right choice How his team built a custom integration from scratch to solve an international payroll gap The questions buyers should be asking their ERP delivery partner before they sign 🔗 Listen and read more: https://comparesoft.com/erp-software/implementation/delivery-partner/

Christopher Lloyd, Facilities Manager at EssilorLuxottica UK, joins the Comparesoft Facilities Management Podcast to discuss the reality of maintaining over 700 high-street retail stores across fashion and optical healthcare brands. Drawing on over 12 years in retail and wholesale facilities management, Chris explains how FM teams protect the customer experience at scale, why communication and transparency matter more than perfection, and what he has learned from rolling out a new self-managed CAFM system across his entire estate. In this episode, Chris talks about: How FM teams prioritise thousands of incoming work requests across 700+ stores Why health and safety, operational disruption, and customer experience form the priority structure for triaging reactive maintenance How fashion brands like Ray-Ban and Oakley raise the bar for store presentation and preventive maintenance The differences between managing optical healthcare environments and traditional fashion retail What a self-managed CAFM system delivers compared to a vendor-led platform, including price intelligence and contractor assignment The importance of first-time fix rates and why reducing revisits matters more than headline SLAs Practical advice for anyone stepping into a multi-site retail FM role for the first time 🔗 Listen and read more: https://comparesoft.com/facilities-management-software/facilities-manager/retail/

Adileh Mountain, Founder at Strat Scale Advisory, joins the Comparesoft ERP Podcast to explore what causes ERP programmes to go off the rails, what a real recovery plan looks like in practice, and why field adoption is the make-or-break factor in construction ERP. Drawing on 15 years in construction and EPC operations and her experience leading ERP transformation and recovery work at Deloitte, Adileh explains how she diagnoses failing programmes, what construction firms actually need from ERP, and what leaders must get right to make transformation stick beyond go-live. In this episode, Adileh talks about: What triggers the call for help, and who makes it (CFOs, COOs, and project directors) The 10 dimensions of implementation health she uses to diagnose a failing programme Why leadership absence and incomplete requirements are the most common root causes of failure A real recovery case: $4M in avoided costs and 85% field adoption on a programme six months behind schedule What construction firms actually need from ERP, and why field data capture is consistently underweighted Why field adoption is the single most important success factor in construction ERP What CFOs and COOs should do in the next 30 days if their programme is drifting

Daniel Hughes, Facilities Manager at a 61-unit industrial estate, joins the Comparesoft Facilities Management Podcast to share how he broke into the FM profession without a degree or traditional career path. Drawing on a career that started with forklift driving and street wardening before a mentor and an IOSH qualification opened the door, Daniel explains what the transition into facilities management really involves, where communication skills matter more than formal qualifications, and how treating contractors and tenants as partners shapes better outcomes across the board. In this episode, Daniel talks about: The non-traditional route into facilities management and why practical experience builds the strongest foundation Why 70% of an FM's job is communication and relationship management, not technical work How face-to-face conversations and a tenant newsletter prevent issues from escalating What 'good' looks like when evaluating contractors — and why attitude matters more than price Why landscaping is arguably a higher priority than security on an industrial estate The FM tools and workflows he relies on, and where they break down

John Cusick, President of Echo Park Consulting, joins the Comparesoft ERP Podcast to give software buyers a practical rundown of AI-native ERP: what it is, how it compares to traditional systems, and what to watch out for. With a career spanning NetSuite implementations and subscription billing, John now helps companies adopt modern AI-native platforms.  He explains how implementations work differently, where the real-time savings are, and directly addresses the fears around data quality, hallucinations, and handing over critical finance processes to AI. In this episode, John talks about: The practical difference between AI-native and AI-enabled ERP, and how buyers can tell them apart Where AI-native ERPs sit in the market and who they best serve today Why companies are migrating from QuickBooks, spreadsheets, and legacy ERPs to AI-native systems What an AI-native ERP implementation looks like, and where the biggest time savings come from How AI-native systems handle hallucination risk, data governance, and post-go-live drift What requirements buyers should prioritise when shortlisting AI-native ERP software 🔗 Listen and read more at Comparesoft: https://comparesoft.com/erp-software/ai-artificial-intelligence/ai-native-systems/

Lee Wachter, ERP & AI Supply Chain Advisor at Interactive Ingenuity, joins the Comparesoft ERP Podcast to unpack what it really takes for manufacturers and CPG companies to fix broken supply chain operations, make ERP decisions that hold up under pressure, and layer AI in a way that actually delivers value. With senior leadership experience at Olympus and Diageo, work with companies like Pepsi and Citibank, and time spent inside an ERP vendor, Lee brings a rare dual perspective on ERP selection and supply chain performance. He explains where supply chains start to break down, how to pressure-test ERP systems in regulated environments, and why AI only works when the foundation is already stable. In this episode, Lee talks about: The early warning signs that a manufacturer's supply chain is losing control How to pressure-test traceability, shelf life, and compliance in food, beverage, and regulated industries What the 20% of ERP capability that actually differentiates supply chain outcomes looks like What buyers misunderstand about the ERP vendor's role in implementation success How to layer AI on top of a stable ERP to improve forecasting, inventory, and decision-making The non-negotiable guardrails leadership must have before going live with AI

Kerry Boyce, Director of Maintenance at the University of Warwick, joins the Comparesoft Maintenance Podcast to explore what it truly takes to maintain a 710-acre university estate with over 500 buildings, thousands of student residents, and more than a million assets. In this episode, Kerry discusses: The real scale and diversity of assets across a major university estate from research laboratories to student residences and theatre spaces How she built asset visibility from day one, combining desktop data review with boots-on-the-ground faculty visits The unique operational challenges of higher education compared to transport and performance venues How to prioritise maintenance under constrained budgets using safety, compliance, and operational resilience as guiding lenses Her practical framework for deciding whether to repair, refurbish, or replace an asset What the reactive-to-PPM ratio tells you about the sustainability of your maintenance operation The three actions any maintenance leader should take first when moving from reactive to lifecycle-led strategy

Tanya Last joins the Comparesoft ERP Podcast to explain how an ERP project manager keeps large-scale ERP programs on track from early delivery through to post-go-live stabilisation. Drawing on around 15 years of leading ERP and wider transformation programmes, particularly in complex public sector environments, Tanya breaks down what the ERP project manager role actually involves in practice and why successful ERP delivery depends on much more than technology. She explores the realities of governance, decision-making, change management, delivery discipline, and how to spot when a programme is starting to drift before it becomes a bigger problem. In this episode, Tanya talks about: What an ERP project manager actually does in practice Where the role begins across the ERP lifecycle The most common reason large-scale ERP programs derail What to tighten first when ERP delivery starts to feel loose How to judge whether an organisation is truly ready to go live What to measure after go-live to know ERP has really landed Tanya's key advice for first-time ERP project managers