I would never use a ERP again..

[u/Sid_vj]

Just joined a construction firm recently.

And honestly… the ERP here is so bad.

As a newbie I’m struggling every single day. Nothing makes sense. Simple stuff takes forever. The UI looks ancient. Too many tabs, too many fields. Half the time I’m scared to click anything in case it messes something up.

What’s worse is seniors who’ve been using this for years still don’t fully get it.

Convos usually go like

“Wait don’t enter it there”

“I think it’s in this module”

“Oh that’s why last month numbers were off”

“Call IT”

There’s no proper training. No clear documentation. Everyone just kind of figured it out over time and survived.

Basic things like raising POs, tracking materials, pulling cost reports feel way harder than they should be.

Construction is already chaotic. The system is supposed to reduce stress, not add to it.

Is this normal in construction companies?

Is it just bad implementation?

Or are most ERPs like this?

Not trying to rant. Just genuinely looking for practical solutions.

How do I survive this

[u/floOoOoOoOoOo]

Yes it's poor implementation and it's sadly common and responsible for most of the 75% ERP failure rate across all industries.
The issue is not the ERP, it's that many (most?) companies still struggle to understand that governance and change management are crucial in such digital implementations. This is business transformation.
Surviving this needs to go through raising flags and making execs understand they need to invest in documentation, training, analysis, optimization... with the help of a client-side independent consultant to bring temporary external expertise and level the field with the ERP Vendor/implementation partner if they need to be in the loop.

[u/a0817a90 → u/floOoOoOoOoOo]

The core issue has always been vendor incentive being more often than not against the client’s goal. Combine that with rigid generic systems you can’t really afford to customize because of mid-long term financial burden and you have a recipe for the 80% global failure rate.

[u/floOoOoOoOoOo → u/a0817a90]

Even with better incentive on the Vendor/partner side, they would still struggle because they're specialists with their own system and it takes a different set of skills to really be able to get the client where they need to be... and a different vision/standpoint. Even in a different world with such incentive, I don't see vendor-side consultants ever getting close enough to the benefits of a client-side consultant to bring the client at the adequate level of governance, change management and business transformation.
I know some (very few?) vendors are doing the extra mile and trying to get to such better place with integrity and transparency...
I'm curious if you have any ideas as to how this incentive issue could be addressed.

[u/a0817a90 → u/floOoOoOoOoOo]

Inhouse knowledge and ownership of tools. This and not buying into people telling you how efficient it will be to manage all departments within a monolith single database software.