Modernizing your enterprise resource planning (ERP) system isn’t just another tech upgrade. It’s a high stakes move because it impacts the core systems that run your business: finance, procurement, supply chain, and HR. It affects how data flows across departments, how employees work, and how partners and customers collaboration with you and with each other. The risks are high, but so are the opportunities. Done right, ERP modernization boosts agility, scalability, and enterprise-wide decision-making.
Handled well, ERP integration brings systems together, enables visibility, and speeds up time to value. Miss the mark, and you’re looking at outages, delays, cost overruns, and frustrated teams. This blog is for IT professionals navigating ERP upgrades who want to turn ERP integration into a strategic advantage.
5 ERP integration strategies to leverage for success
Here are five make-or-break ERP integration priorities that smart IT leaders tackle early and strategically.
1. Reduce risk and disruption before they start
ERP transformations, especially greenfield ERP deployment, are infamously expensive and disruptive. One of the main reasons why is that many companies fail to make integration part of the core game plan.
Without proactive planning, businesses risk broken data flows, misaligned processes between systems, and incompatibilities that only surface when operations go live. For example, if upstream order systems aren’t properly integrated with downstream logistics or finance applications, transactions can fail, inventory can be misallocated, or financial reporting may break, halting operations when continuity is critical.
OpenText insight: Proactive integration planning, from requirements gathering to continuity testing, can mean the difference between smooth operations and a business-halting outage.
2. Escape the trap of ERP over-customization
Legacy ERPs are customization graveyards. Nearly every SAP shop leans on custom code. But that quick fix often becomes layers of custom logic embedded deep in the system, making it hard to trace, test, or update. These customizations are often undocumented, tightly coupled with specific workflows, or rely on outdated technologies.
When it’s time to upgrade or migrate to a new ERP platform, these customizations can become blockers. They can’t simply be lifted and shifted. They require rework, revalidation, and often a complete rebuild.
Modern integration helps flip the script. By externalizing business rules, validations, and workflows to an integration layer—such as an API gateway or rules engine—you reduce internal complexity and decouple your logic from the ERP itself. This makes your ERP easier to upgrade, test, and maintain, while still supporting sophisticated processes.
OpenText insight: Custom code creates long-term risk. Simplify your ERP environment by managing key business logic externally, making upgrades easier and future changes faster.
3. Stop delays and budget bloat before they snowball
ERP projects have a reputation, and are not the good kind. It’s not unusual for ERP projects to take longer than expected and run up over budget. One of the biggest culprits? Integration is treated as an afterthought rather than a foundational element.
When integration planning is delayed or underestimated, teams often face unexpected challenges late in the project. These include discovering missing data mappings, gaps between systems, incompatible interfaces, or broken workflows during testing. Addressing these issues under pressure drives up costs, increases risk, and derails go-live timelines.
OpenText insight: Treat integration as a full project track, not a last-mile task. With the right partner, you can prevent the costly surprises that throw timelines and budgets off the rails.
4. Cut through the integration sprawl
Modern enterprises often run dozens or even hundreds of applications. Without a centralized integration strategy, connections between these systems become patchworks of one-off scripts, outdated middleware, and fragile point-to-point integrations. Over time, this complexity grows organically, creating an environment that’s difficult to manage, troubleshoot, or scale.
Few companies use a unified integration platform, and many struggle with low visibility across the ERP ecosystem. When a single connection fails, it can impact inventory sync, customer orders, or financial reconciliation—yet tracing the root cause in a tangle of legacy connections can be painfully slow.
Your ERP modernization effort is the perfect opportunity to clean house. That means auditing all existing integrations, retiring redundant or obsolete connectors, consolidating tools, and adopting a centralized integration layer or platform. By doing so, you create a more resilient foundation that supports current operations and future innovation.
OpenText insight: By consolidating tools, standardizing protocols, and applying consistent governance, you create a more manageable and scalable foundation for both current operations and future growth.
5. Mind the (skills) gap
ERP integration isn’t plug-and-play, and it’s rarely a core strength for in-house teams. Successful integration requires specialized knowledge in data mapping, API and EDI standards, legacy system connectivity, and ERP configuration. These are complex, niche skills that many organizations lack internally.
Without this expertise, projects often stall during testing, data migration, or partner onboarding—resulting in delays, budget overruns, and integration gaps that threaten go-live. To stay on track, it’s critical to identify these gaps early and bring in integration specialists who can accelerate delivery, reduce risk, and ensure your systems connect as planned.
OpenText insight: The right partner doesn’t just add capacity. They bring deep experience navigating complex, multi-system ERP environments, helping you avoid common pitfalls and stay focused on business outcomes.
Make integration a core part of your ERP strategy
Your ERP isn’t truly modernized unless your data, partners, and workflows are fully connected. Integration is what enables the ERP to function as a system of engagement, not just a system of record.
An ERP upgrade will only deliver transformation if the surrounding ecosystem is in sync. That means treating B2B integration as a strategic pillar—not a post-launch checklist item. Map all dependencies across systems early, test them under real-world conditions, and validate that workflows, data exchanges, and partner connections function seamlessly before going live.
This proactive approach reduces costly surprises, avoids fire drills at cutover, and accelerates time to value. It ensures your modern ERP delivers on its promise of agility, insight, and efficiency across the enterprise.
Ready to modernize with confidence?
Whether you’re migrating to SAP S/4HANA or any other ERP, consolidating ERP platforms, or preparing for whatever’s next, OpenText is the integration partner that helps you:
- Untangle complexity across your supply chain
- Scale faster with fewer internal resources
- Stay compliant across borders and industries
- Use AI to unlock real-time operational insight
Explore connections reimagined with OpenText. Our business and ERP integration solutions demonstrate how we can support your modernization journey.
