Inside a BPR: Business Process Reviews in Action

Customers frequently reach out to us looking to transform their organizations by radically reconceptualizing how they utilize their ERP system. It is not uncommon that a poorly configured ERP system can become a significant impediment to business excellence, beleaguering business processes and muddying the information that would otherwise form the basis of decision-making.

As such, remediating an ERP system can be a fundamental step in transforming the related organization. That said, many customers come to us seeking to understand just how this process operates: how does a consultancy like The Estes Group work with a customer to improve their ERP system? Our answer is not especially surprising — a successful business transformation begins with a successful business process review (BPR).

A BPR is a comprehensive review of an organization and its ERP application, to understand the relationship between them and how the ERP system in question might be modified to the betterment of the organization. But the BPR itself occurs in stages, so let’s better understand the stages of a business process review.

Onsite Review

This is the first stage of a business transformation effort, and is an area-by-area assessment of the organization and the ERP-related elements that might be within the scope of the overall transformation effort. It consists of the following activities:

• Clarify business priorities and goals that form the backbone of the assessment. For instance, an organization might be trying to understand whether to reconfigure or reimplement the current ERP system to better serve the needs of the organization, or even to understand whether the system in question is the right system for the organization.
• Review ERP-related business processes by department — understanding each department’s perspective is critical for understanding the movement of data across the system.
  Identify and document issues, gaps, process problems, performance issues, data issues, or any related ERP challenges.
• Review ERP data setup — data is fundamental to a successful implementation, and the core master files (items, customers, suppliers) need to be properly set up to support successful transactions.
• Review ERP system configuration — the base configuration of the ERP system, which can manifest itself at the level of the company and site or even among various setup tables, can significantly alter how the system behaves. Understanding which decisions have been made is critical to understanding the behavior of the system itself.

This assessment is normally conducted onsite, as it tends to be most thorough when conducted in that manner. The consultant involved is documenting findings and making assessments at the time of the review. On the heels of the onsite review, the consultant normally performs any additional follow-up, be it in the form of data review, process follow-up questions, or remote meetings.

Document Findings

Coming out of the business process review, comprehensive documentation would occur as related to the areas covered, including the following:

• Functional areas covered and the characteristics of each.
• Gaps/issues identified within areas and between areas, and across the system as a whole.
• Recommendations to address gaps/issues where applicable.

Determine Key Next Steps

Based on the business priorities, next steps would be identified and recommendations made. Should the organization clean up the existing environment and correct the existing data structures and business processes to better align with the organization’s intent, or should the organization reimplement a new environment to avoid the challenges of the current state? Or are there simply some tweaks to the existing system to be made, in the form of business logic or reporting?

Preliminary Review

At this point, the BPR would be reviewed with the customer. Considerations of the benefits and drawbacks of each approach would be defined and reviewed, and priorities and scope would be identified, which would be used to construct the project plan and budget. It is always helpful at this stage to clarify expectations, to make sure that goals are aligned and to avoid any downstream confusion when the final deliverables are reviewed.

Identify the Scope

Scope definition would serve to answer the following questions:

• Which gaps or issues are most significant, and thus should be fundamental to subsequent planning efforts?
• Which key areas would need to be addressed in order to achieve the goals identified above?
• Which data files (master files and transactional files) are most in need of review?
• Which business processes need to be adjusted?
• How much prototyping is required to make the necessary decisions regarding data setup and process definitions?
• How do we ensure that data entry is better managed in the future?
• How do we ensure that preferred business processes are consistently performed in the future?

Develop the Project Plan

Based on the decisions made in the preliminary review, and the related project plan, determine the project budget that answers the question: what does the cost of the ensuing project look like? A budget may similarly have multiple versions based on the degree of customer involvement:

• High customer/user involvement
• Low customer/user involvement

Final Review

Once the plan and budget have been constructed, a final review will be conducted with the customer. Fine-tuning of the project plan and budget can occur to align with customer perspectives.

Proposal Development

As an output of the final review, a proposal for project execution will be constructed, using all of the information developed at this point. Assuming agreement on and signature of the proposal, the implementation project will commence.

As you can see, a systematic and staged approach to a business process review can set the stage for a systematic and staged approach to transforming your ERP system — to transform your business.

Your ERP Transformation Begins with a BPR

An ERP process review matters because it reveals how well your system is supporting — or hindering — your business. Over time, ERP setups drift away from best practices as organizations grow, users improvise, or data quality slips. This creates inefficiencies, workarounds, and reporting blind spots that quietly slow down the business. Your ERP journey doesn’t have to be complex. A review with EstesGroup’s expert consultants gives you clarity, direction, and confidence in every next step. Whether you’re reconfiguring, reimplementing, or simply fine-tuning your system, the right insights can transform challenges into opportunities.

By stepping back to evaluate processes, data structures, and configurations, an ERP process review uncovers where gaps exist and what changes will deliver the greatest impact. It turns vague frustrations into concrete improvement opportunities, aligns system performance with business goals, and provides a roadmap for smarter decision-making. In short, it ensures that your ERP isn’t just running, but running in a way that drives measurable business value.

Curious how a BPR could reshape your business? Let’s start the conversation.

Before any major ERP decision, clarity comes first. That’s why we offer a free first-step assessment with our industry experts. In this consultation, we’ll review your current ERP environment, discuss your business priorities, and identify where process gaps or system challenges may be holding you back. Think of it as a guided starting point — no obligation, just actionable insight to help you decide whether a full BPR or another path makes the most sense for your organization. And as your needs grow, EstesGroup’s expert ERP and IT teams can also support you with flexible cloud options and EstesCare Support Services to keep your systems secure, scalable, and supported long-term.