Why Salesforce and ERP implementations fail: it's rarely the software
Most Salesforce, Oracle or SAP implementations don't fail because of the software. They fail because the company had no structure, no plan and no governance, and because nobody decided who would administer the system. Technology doesn't solve problems. It exposes them.
I'm Juan Manuel Garrido, founder of EGA Futura, a native ERP built on Salesforce, and co-founder of Vantegrate. I've worked on software implementations at large companies, mid-sized companies and everything in between. This is what I learned about what works and what doesn't.
The joke that isn't a joke
Today I shared a two-panel comic on LinkedIn. On a Salesforce stage, someone says: "On Monday we can start selling." The answer: "Great. Which of the three Acmes is the one buying from us?"
If you've ever migrated a customer database, you know the feeling. The same customer, loaded three times, spelled three different ways. Nobody noticed in the old system. In the new one, it shows up on the first screen.
People and processes are the real operating system
I've seen companies grow with basic software. And I've seen huge teams sink with Salesforce or SAP. It wasn't the software's fault. They were missing structure, a plan and governance.
Who is going to administer the system?
This is the question almost nobody asks at the start. Too often the job lands on the marketing or sales manager because they use the tool the most. But a sales or marketing manager is not an admin. They're not a project manager either. They have another job, and they'll prioritize it.
Two rules from experience
Add 70% more time to your schedule. Experience taught me that margin is almost never wasted.
Training can't be generic. It has to be designed for your team: their processes, their language and the way they actually work.
Three non-negotiables
| Non-negotiable | Why |
|---|---|
| A project manager with real accountability | Someone has to own the outcome, not just coordinate when they have time |
| A tool to manage the project | We use EGA Futura Project, our project management app |
| Clean data before migrating | "We'll clean it later" never happens |
If you ignore this, you'll lose time, money and reputation. The problem is rarely the software. It's how you approach the implementation.
Why this matters for an ERP on Salesforce
In a native ERP for Salesforce, sales and operations share the same data in the same Salesforce org. That's what makes it powerful for mid-sized companies, and it's also why a duplicated customer shows up everywhere at once. We also run free live Salesforce classes every week (in Spanish).
So here's my question: what was the hardest part of the last implementation you went through?
The full version, with an FAQ, is on EGA Futura Discover (in Spanish).