SITUATION
A leading U.S. manufacturer of specialty building products had attempted to roll out Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance as a “finance-only” deployment. But the real-world impact extended far beyond accounting: inventory, production, and warehouse operations were drawn into the system—without their full participation or buy-in. The result? A go-live that quickly turned chaotic. Training was rushed. Key departments missed critical workshops. The systems integrator pressed forward toward a fixed cutover date—leaving little time for testing or stakeholder alignment. By the third site rollout, internal teams were overwhelmed by a deluge of SQL hotfixes just to keep inventory and production flowing. Misposted transactions, data corruption, and mounting support tickets eroded trust and halted the entire program. That’s when the CFO brought in Ryse Technologies for a four-week rescue assessment led by Dylan Gabhart.
CHALLENGES
- No clear scope boundaries: What began as a finance implementation impacted operations, production, and supply chain
- Insufficient user engagement: Training was crammed in; many departments skipped workshops entirely
- Fixed-date mindset: The systems integrator drove timelines without allowing space for fit-gap or UAT
- Support overwhelmed: Business Technology Services (BTS) teams were buried in break/fix work and hardcoded patches
- Fragmented deployment: No consistent design—each site had been customized ad hoc
- Executive confidence collapsed: The CFO froze the rollout pending external assessment
OUR APPROACH
Ryse initiated a six-dimension rapid assessment, interviewing finance controllers, schedulers, superusers, and BTS leads. These insights were cross-referenced with runbooks, issue logs, and project artifacts. Each of the following areas was scored for forward readiness using a traffic light system:
- Testing Rigor
- Issue Management
- Training Readiness
- Cutover Planning
- Stakeholder Communication
- Hypercare Structure
Only two of the six scored “green.” The rest revealed structural flaws that couldn’t be addressed without halting the rollout. Most critically, there was no standardized solution design—each plant was a one-off. Continuing the rollout would mean cloning bad code and manual fixes across all future sites.
OUR RECOMMENDATIONS
We presented two recommendations:
Despite the discomfort of a "reset," leadership chose to build the right foundation—knowing it was faster, safer, and cheaper than patching forward.
RESULTS
- SQL Hotfix Dependency: Reduced from daily fixes to zero in live sites.
- Rollout Governance: Shifted from ad hoc to a fully established Center of Excellence.
- Issue Tracking: Moved from email & Excel to Azure DevOps with full visibility.
- Implementation Scope: Clarified across all functions (previously blurred lines).
- Plant Confidence: Increased from low to stable with measured go-lives.
IMPACT
Eighteen months later, the finance reimplementation is live in two plants with zero SQL hotfixes. Issue tracking is centralized in Azure DevOps. A cross-functional Center of Excellence now governs all future rollouts. By confronting hard truths early and stepping back, the manufacturer converted a collapsing initiative into a sustainable digital transformation platform. Sometimes, the fastest way forward is a smarter restart.
WHY IT MATTERS
ERP failure is expensive—but preventable. Ryse Technologies helps clients recognize when to course-correct and provides a structured, data-driven roadmap to do it right. This engagement didn’t just fix the rollout—it built a repeatable platform for long-term growth.
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