Our client, a medium-sized consumer goods supplier, is experiencing significant growth. However, its legacy technology environment—especially its ERP system—was holding it back. The company faced a critical inflection point. Leadership asked for a comprehensive audit of the company’s IT and technology landscape.
Discovery: What We Found
In many family-owned and rapidly growing businesses, technology evolves in response to immediate business needs—not always as part of a long-term strategy. This client was no different. Over time, systems had been added, teams adapted, and everyone focused on keeping the business running smoothly. But growth brought complexity—and that complexity needed to be unraveled.
Culture
The company’s culture is one of its strongest assets. Employees are highly engaged and loyal, many with long tenures. Newer employees—often hired from larger, enterprise environments—brought energy and new ideas for modernization. There was shared optimism about the company’s future under the leadership of the new CEO.
The enthusiasm was palpable across both legacy and newer teams, showing a company ready for its next chapter. However, that same positive culture occasionally led to a reluctance to challenge the status quo or shift established roles and responsibilities.
IT Focus
The internal IT team was laser-focused on ensuring business continuity—especially through peak seasonal periods. Their dedication to maintaining uptime and supporting ERP and EDI systems was impressive.
Yet, as business needs expanded, the core ERP—once a best-in-class manufacturing solution—had become outdated. IT, while proud of its performance and reliability, wasn’t asked to lead a broader business technology strategy. As a result, their role remained centered on legacy systems.
Architecture
To support evolving business functions, various departments adopted newer software systems. These solutions delivered immediate value, such as enabling new revenue streams or improved customer experience. However, without an overarching architectural plan, these additions became disconnected over time. The result was a patchwork of technologies—functional, but difficult to manage as a whole.
This organic evolution is common in growing businesses, especially when speed and responsiveness are prioritized. What was missing was a unified approach to technology that could scale with the business.
Processes
Business processes were often defined around the people who had been performing them for years. Many employees wore multiple hats, managed data manually, and relied heavily on tribal knowledge to get things done. While this approach fostered ownership and adaptability, it also introduced risk and inefficiencies—especially when systems or roles changed.
Newer employees saw opportunities to streamline and automate, but their changes didn’t always come with the process or organizational design needed to sustain them. This occasionally created friction or unintended bottlenecks.
Roles
Roles and responsibilities for IT systems were not clearly defined. The concept of an “IT Owner” or a “Business Owner” for systems had not yet been formalized. In practice, business teams became default owners of the tools they selected—without necessarily having the expertise or support to manage them effectively. This blurred ownership model is not uncommon in mid-sized organizations where technology responsibilities evolve informally.
Vendors
To fill capability gaps, the company leaned on external vendors. In some cases, this accelerated progress. In others, it created dependency or uneven results. Vendor use varied widely across departments, leading to inconsistency in vendor management, expectations, and integration.
Recommendations: The Roadmap to Change
Recognizing that the company was at a natural transition point, our recommendations focused on building a foundation that supports continued growth while honoring the business’s culture and operational strengths. We emphasized gradual, thoughtful change—balancing modernization with maintainability.
Simplify the Tech Stack
We recommended consolidating and simplifying the technology environment around a modern, cloud-based ERP system integrated with eCommerce capabilities. Instead of continuing to layer on additional tools, the company could benefit from a core platform that supports 70–80% of their business needs more cohesively.
This would reduce technical debt, simplify support, and provide a more scalable foundation for future growth—especially as new markets, channels, or products are added.
Build a Business–IT Partnership
One of the most impactful steps was to establish clear ownership models for systems. By defining what IT owns, what the business owns, and where shared responsibility lies (especially in techno-functional roles), teams can make better, faster decisions.
This approach fosters collaboration instead of confusion and empowers both sides to bring their expertise to the table—ensuring that business goals and technology capabilities are aligned.
Map & Re-engineer Key Processes
Before making system changes, we advised mapping the current state of key processes across departments. Many processes had evolved to accommodate existing systems or individual roles—but hadn’t been reviewed for efficiency or standardization.
Reengineering these processes with a “touch once” mindset can significantly reduce manual work, improve accuracy, and free up staff to focus on more strategic tasks. Documenting the current state also reduces the risk of unintended consequences when making changes.
Structure for Support
As new systems are implemented, it’s critical to consolidate the growing base of technical expertise under IT. This helps ensure that tools are supported consistently, and that knowledge is preserved and shared.
We also recommended developing an intentional strategy for vendor use—clarifying when to bring in external support to accelerate change, and when internal teams should maintain and sustain operations. This balance is especially important for mid-sized businesses with lean in-house teams.
Go at the Right Pace
Finally, we encouraged a crawl–walk–run approach to modernization. Large-scale changes require organizational readiness, process clarity, and stakeholder buy-in. By breaking the journey into manageable phases, the company can build confidence, learn from each step, and avoid disruption.
At LABUR Advisory, we don’t parachute in with a playbook. Instead, we act as true partners—trusted advisors who have been in the trenches and know what it takes to move a business forward. We work side-by-side with our clients to co-create a practical roadmap to each client’s specific reality.