Public sector organizations are continually looking for ways to increase efficiency and effectiveness. Public agencies operate under constant oversight and must adhere to strict policy requirements, process controls, and outcome-based performance assessment. With publicly funded budgets and increasingly lean staff levels, outdated systems are challenged to support the needs of staff and drive constituent strategic goals.
Consider a school district where payroll, HR, and budgeting systems operate independently. Over time, one staff member may step in to bridge the gaps, manually entering data and compiling reports to keep operations running smoothly. But what happens when that individual moves on from the organization? It exposes an obvious problem — but the root cause is the district’s enterprise resource planning (ERP) system.
ERPs are central to how public sector organizations manage operations and deliver services. These systems touch every part of the administrative backbone, from budgeting and procurement to compliance and HR. When ERP platforms are outdated or fragmented, gaps in efficiency and reliability become immediately apparent. In practice, this often leads to a blend of formal processes supplemented by informal workarounds, resulting in a patchwork approach that exists both within and outside the ERP.
So, when work is happening partly inside the ERP and partly around it, how do you decide when to fix the system — or when to replace it?
You start with an assessment.
Why every ERP — old or new — can benefit from an assessment
Think of an ERP assessment as a clear, honest snapshot of how your business operates. By looking at your systems, processes, data, how you govern systems, and how people use it, you get a practical sense of how well the system supports your needs as well as where work has shifted outside the platform.
The focus of an assessment is on evaluating current-state functionality and optimizing your ERP for performance and efficiency. An ERP implemented five years ago may no longer be aligned with today’s needs, leaving key processes underperforming.
An assessment will call these inefficiencies to attention — mapping how tasks flow throughout the organization and highlighting areas where inconsistencies have developed. That visibility matters because ERP issues can spread across various teams, impair reporting, result in manual workarounds, or create downstream delays. Without a connected view in place, it’s difficult to know which problems can be addressed on a case-by-case basis or which require an overhaul. It’s usually at this point where conversations about the next steps begin.
An ERP assessment doesn’t offer a single recommendation. It won’t definitively tell you what your next steps are. It will, however, establish a clear baseline of current performance, so your decisions about updating or replacing the system are based on data on the current state of your environment.
That baseline changes how opportunity shows up in practice.
The opportunities that emerge
With an informed view of how your ERP supports the work, you’ll start to recognize more than one way forward. In some areas, that may mean simplifying or standardizing processes that have stagnated over time. In others, it may mean introducing automation where manual efforts have quietly become part of the operation.
It’s important to remember that these opportunities don’t come packaged as a single “right” solution. Instead, you’ll see a variety of possible paths — each with its own considerations for cost, timing, how much disruption you can handle, and whether it’s the right fit for your organization in the long run. You might find that some changes are manageable within your existing system, while others suggest an update on how your ERP supports the work.
For public sector, those choices sit alongside real constraints. Budget cycles, procurement rules, reporting obligations, and staffing levels are always part of the picture. It’s important to weigh what you can do against what your organization can handle. At this stage, it might be useful to get advice from someone outside your organization — not to make the decision for you, but to help you look at your choices objectively and move forward confidently.
Assessment as a path forward
When you’re making ERP decisions in the public sector, the work unfolds in a very public way. You’re aware that decisions will be examined, discussed, and revisited as they move forward, and that awareness shapes how you approach them from the start.
There’s no single model for how ERP implementation or integration should take shape. However, most experts will agree that an assessment establishes the starting point. It grounds the conversation in how work is happening and offers the data to help you move forward. If you’ve completed your ERP assessment and are unclear about what to do with the results, consider reaching out to an experienced advisor. If you’re unsure about how to pursue an ERP assessment, an advisor can bring experience and proven methodologies to the effort. In either case, a trusted partner can help you see the paths ahead more clearly and consider which approach fits how your organization operates.
ERP implementation will look different for every organization. The best process for yours will depend on your systems, your constraints, and the pace of change you can realistically manage.
