ERP, WMS, MES, IoT: Where Should Businesses Begin?

One of the first actions that many businesses take when starting their digital transformation journey is… to buy software. ERP, WMS, MES, IoT - all these names sound perfectly on-trend and are introduced as comprehensive solutions. But very soon after, organizations realize that the software they bought is not delivering the expected results or ends up being “shelved” because it’s not usable.

The real question isn’t “should we buy the software or not,” but rather:

If these two questions aren’t clarified, any technology choice becomes risky - not just in terms of cost, but also in terms of long-term strategy. 

Choosing the wrong timing or deploying without foundational readiness can lead to serious consequences for a business: ballooning investment and operational costs, process disruptions, internal resistance, production interruptions, and, most importantly, loss of trust in the digital transformation effort. 

According to a McKinsey survey, over 70% of digital transformation projects fail to achieve their initial goals, with a common cause being a misplaced focus and lack of alignment with the organization’s overall strategy.

The mistake isn’t in the technology itself - but in decision-making that isn’t grounded in the value chain

When an organization deploys technology without analyzing its value chain and without evaluating the current state of its operations (including processes, systems, roles, and existing data), the typical consequences are:

A distribution organization might think that CRM should be implemented first to boost sales. But if inventory isn’t well controlled, orders will be delayed, and customers won’t be satisfied - at that point, CRM won’t be able to deliver its intended value. 

In another example, a factory might invest in IoT sensors to monitor machinery but hasn’t yet set up an MES platform for production scheduling, the data collected cannot be turned into actionable steps.

The technology itself isn’t at fault.

But if implemented at the wrong time, with the wrong focus, it will become a burden.

There’s no “right order” for technology that applies to every business - only a strategy that fits each organization

The decision of “which one first, which one next” cannot be separated from two factors:

• What are the strategic goals of the business?
• What is the current operational state of the organization?

In our approach to digital transformation strategy at Viindoo, we always start with three steps:

1. Identify the core value chain of the business

Pinpointing the links from input to output - and where the real value is created - meaning the points in the chain that have the clearest impact on profitability, customer satisfaction, or sustainable competitive advantage. 

Identifying this value-creating point can be measured in multiple ways: on-time completion rates, profit margins at each stage, customer satisfaction scores (CSAT), or, if enough quantitative data is available - through the return on investment (ROI) for each improvement initiative or technology applied at each operational stage.

>>>> Read more: Why do businesses need to have ROI analysis before Digital Transformation?

2. Assess the Gap between the current state and strategic goals

Assess the Gap between the current state and strategic goals not just in terms of technology, but also in processes, data, and people. At Viindoo, these factors are typically evaluated through a system of specialized indices and reports, including:

• The Digital Capability Maturity checklist
• BPM (Business Process Metrics) process analysis indicators
• Assessments of data cleanliness and data flow across departments, such as the number of data errors and update frequency 
• Quantitative and qualitative reports from organizational surveys

These tools help quantify the current level of digital maturity, serving as a basis for identifying the Gap that needs to be filled in the transformation strategy.

3. Develop a transformation roadmap

With priority orders, readiness levels, and the degree of impact for each department - this is also the core content of the detailed implementation plan that Viindoo tailors for each business after completing the Gap assessment and strategic positioning. 

This plan doesn’t just tell businesses what to do, but also when to do it, where to start, and how to coordinate between units in the organization to achieve the highest transformation efficiency.

A few principles when setting implementation order

The technology roadmap should be layered - but each layer needs a foundation

So where to begin?

​ Not with ERP, nor with IoT. Start from where the organization truly needs to change - and can absorb that change.

The right question isn’t “which one first?” but:

• Where is the biggest bottleneck in the current value chain?
• If we solve that bottleneck, will the business be able to move to a better state?
• How ready is the organization (in terms of people, data, and processes)?

Conclusion

There’s no fixed technology model. Only strategies that fit the unique reality and capability of each organization.

A technology solution, no matter how modern, if implemented in the wrong place in the transformation journey, is unlikely to deliver results. Conversely, a simple solution, if deployed with the right focus, at the right time - aligned with the organization’s level of maturity - can create significant and lasting change.

The issue isn’t whether ERP, CRM, or IoT should come first. The real question is whether the business has enough strategic clarity, data-based evaluation, and organizational readiness to know where to begin - and to deploy in a way that doesn’t trip itself up.

That’s why Viindoo has designed the Digital Transformation Strategy Consulting Service as a foundational step - helping businesses pinpoint the starting point, build the right roadmap, and manage deployment in a controlled manner. Not to impose technology, but to ensure that each technology is implemented at the right time, in the right role, and delivers real value.