Digitalization in Mid-Sized Companies: Why the IT Department Is the Wrong Project Leader
In 9 out of 10 mid-sized companies, IT leads the ERP project. In 7 out of 10 cases, it fails. Who should lead instead. Practical analysis.
“IT handles the ERP project.” This sentence comes up in almost every mid-sized company when it’s about an ERP migration, DATEV automation, or CRM project. Sounds logical — it’s about software. So it’s an IT topic.
That’s exactly the mistake. ERP, CRM, DATEV integration — these aren’t IT projects. They’re organizational projects with a technical component. This understanding is a core part of my ERP consulting for SMEs. When IT leads, discussions revolve around interfaces instead of business processes. Servers instead of workflows. Licenses instead of value creation.
Why ERP Projects Under IT Leadership in SMEs Fail
ERP Migration Under IT Leadership
A manufacturing company with 250 employees migrates its ERP. The IT manager takes over project leadership. After three months, there’s a perfect server landscape, a clean authorization concept, and a migration strategy for the databases. What’s missing: an answer to how procurement should place orders going forward, how manufacturing should plan its work orders, and how controlling should get its reports.
The IT manager solved the technology — and forgot the business departments. The project is delayed by six months because process definition needs to be caught up. The departments feel bypassed. Resistance against the new system grows.
DATEV Project Under IT Administration
A company wants to automate its DATEV interface. The IT admin gets the assignment. He focuses on data formats, export routines, and interface technology. After four months, the technical connection works flawlessly. Only: the posting logic is wrong because nobody involved the head of accounting. The cost center assignment is incorrect. The interface gets shut down again.
CRM Implementation Under IT Direction
The IT manager selects a CRM. Technically excellent, cleanly integrated, API-capable. Sales gets training on go-live day. Three months later, 20% of the sales team uses the system. The rest continue managing their contacts in Excel. Why? Because nobody asked how sales actually works. The CRM maps the ideal process, not the real one. IT implemented the software. Nobody changed the sales process.
Why IT Leadership Sounds So Logical — Yet Is Still Wrong
Choosing the IT department as project leader is the path of least resistance. Software = IT. Who else should do it?
But that’s exactly where the misunderstanding lies.
IT optimizes technology. A good IT manager ensures stable infrastructure, clean interfaces, and secure systems. These are necessary prerequisites — but not the main task of a digitalization project.
Digitalization optimizes business processes. The decisive questions in an ERP project are: What should the procurement process look like? Which approval levels do we need? How does data flow from quote to invoice? These aren’t IT questions. They’re business department questions.
The IT manager can’t answer these questions — not because they’re incompetent, but because they don’t know the operational processes in detail. They know the data flows, but not the decision logic behind them. They know which fields the system has, but not what information the buyer actually needs to trigger a purchase order.
The Right Project Leadership for ERP Implementations
Business Leads, IT Supports
Project leadership belongs in the hands of whoever is responsible for the processes the system will map. In an ERP project, that’s typically:
- The commercial director / CFO for finance-driven projects (accounting, controlling, DATEV)
- The operations director / COO for process-driven projects (manufacturing, logistics, procurement)
- The sales director for CRM and sales projects
- A dedicated project manager with decision-making authority and access to executive management
The IT department is an indispensable partner — for infrastructure, data migration, interface technology, and system administration. But it’s the technical enabler, not the business decision-maker.
What the Right Project Leader Needs
- Decision-making authority. Anyone who should change processes must be allowed to change processes. A project leader without authority is a facilitator.
- Capacity. At least 50% of working time for the project. ERP projects fail when project leadership runs on the side. Established frameworks like PRINCE2 and PMI also highlight part-time project leadership as a risk factor.
- Understanding of operations. Success or failure isn’t determined by technology, but by whether the system makes real daily work better.
- Communication skills. The project leader bridges business departments, IT, and executive management. Anyone who speaks only one language loses the others.
Digitalization Projects in SMEs: Business Before IT
Before Your Next Digitalization Project
Ask yourself three questions:
1. Who is currently responsible for the processes the project will change? This person should lead the project or at least serve as the business sponsor.
2. Does this person have the capacity and authority? If not, create both — before the project starts, not during it.
3. What is IT’s role? Define clearly: IT is responsible for infrastructure, data migration, and technical implementation. Process definition belongs to the business departments.
The Most Common Objection — And Why It Doesn’t Hold
“But our department heads don’t have IT expertise.” They don’t need to. They don’t need IT expertise to define what a procurement process should look like. They need an IT partner who translates their business requirements into technical implementation. That’s a fundamental difference.
Conclusion
Bitkom studies on digitalization in mid-sized companies confirm: digitalization projects rarely fail because of technology. They fail because of organization. And the most common organizational decision that leads to failure is: IT handles it.
IT should participate — but not lead. Anyone who wants to change processes must involve the people who are responsible for those processes. Everything else is technology without business understanding. And that ends predictably.
Next Step
Planning an ERP, CRM, or DATEV project and wondering who should lead it? I help with project organization, the right role distribution, and a structure that leads to success.
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