Maintaining momentum post-go-live

May 21, 2025

A blog post by Brad Schulte, Carrie Lieberman and Katie Glynn

Implementing a new technology system—especially one as complex and business-critical as an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system implementation—represents a major milestone for any organization. While a successful go-live is certainly worth celebrating, it often marks the beginning—not the end—of the tech transformation journey. In many ways, the real work begins once the system is live. To fully unlock the value of their investment, organizations need to be prepared to navigate a range of post-implementation challenges. Sustaining momentum, driving user adoption, and continuously improving the solution all require strategic focus and proactive leadership.

Business leaders play a critical role in shaping what comes next. Transformation success isn’t measured solely by a system’s deployment; it’s measured by how effectively the organization maintains, enhances, and evolves that system over time. By prioritizing key post-go-live initiatives and embracing leading practices for continuous optimization, companies can extend the impact of their investments and accelerate their broader finance transformation journey.

Continuing the finance transformation journey post-go-live

We have previously explored finance’s role in tech implementation, including critical steps in driving successful ERP system implementations at each stage of the journey to go-live. However, the finance transformation journey doesn’t end at go-live. It continues as organizations work to fully realize the value of their new systems. Post-implementation, it’s essential to enhance the ERP or technology system by activating functionalities that were deferred to the backlog, while also integrating complementary and emerging technologies that expand capabilities. Simultaneously, refining policies, procedures, and internal controls promotes operational consistency, alignment, and compliance. Organizations should also develop a well-executed reporting strategy to support informed decision-making across the business. Finally, establishing an effective operating model is key to aligning people, processes, and technology that support a sustained finance transformation.

Addressing post technology implementation challenges

Your organization has just completed the successful implementation of a new technology system. The deployment went smoothly, and the system is now up and running. So, now what?

While the go-live is a major milestone, it’s only the beginning of the journey. Post-implementation phases bring their own set of challenges that need to be addressed swiftly to maintain system stability and sustain the momentum of your tech-enabled progress. Common issues that can arise include funding constraints, unmet system requirements, vague processes, and misaligned organizational expectations.

Key post-go-live challenges

• Funding constraints – After significant investments in ERP or similar systems, securing ongoing funding may require a shift in approach or justification.
• Team member burnout – Business teams often take on extra responsibilities during implementation, and prolonged efforts can lead to fatigue and affect morale.
• Unmet requirements – Tight timelines and budgets may mean not all needs are fully met at go-live; post-launch refinements are often necessary.
• Undefined processes – If the project focused more on technical execution than process clarity, further process definition and development will be required.
• Misaligned expectations – Leadership may assume the digital transformation is complete and overlook the need for continued investment in system evolution.

Defining success after technology implementation

What does success look like after a major ERP or finance technology rollout? While future project milestones remain important, lasting transformation requires patience, adaptability, and a long-term mindset. True success lies not only in the system’s initial performance but in how effectively the organization continues to evolve and optimize the system in the near and long term. In short: Success is in the journey, not just the destination.

Common post-implementation success factors

• Tangible value early on – Early milestones should deliver measurable return on investment, efficiency gains, and cost reductions, even before full system maturity.
• Adoption before expansion – Focus first on getting comfortable with the new system and its processes before layering on enhancements or new modules.
• Practical wins drive progress – Favor small, high-impact initiatives with clear benefits and realistic expectations to maintain momentum.
• Owning your finance transformation – Use lessons from past efforts to shape future ones, always aligning with organizational culture, budget realities, and shifting priorities.

A successful tech-enabled implementation is just the beginning of an organization’s digital transformation. True success comes from the ability to adapt, improve, and extract ongoing and evolving value from the new system over time. By recognizing the common post-implementation challenges and embracing a practical, agile, and business-focused mindset, finance and accounting leaders can equip their teams for continuous improvement. In this journey, progress is incremental, and success is measured by not only the system that was launched but how effectively the organization evolves in the months and years that follow go-live.

To explore additional insights into how finance leaders can fuel enduring benefits from their technology-enabled implementations, listen to our Dbriefs webcast: Maintaining momentum: Finance’s role in technology implementation after ‘go-live’.