An ERP system is not finished when the data is loaded and the first invoice is posted. The weeks after go-live decide whether your team trusts the system or quietly returns to spreadsheets and paper. This article sets out a practical ERP go-live support plan for mid-sized companies in Egypt and the Middle East: what to watch, who does what, and when support can step back to normal operations.
Why the first 90 days matter
Before go-live, the system runs on test data and planned processes. After go-live, real invoices, real stock movements, real payroll runs and real users expose the gaps. Most of these gaps are small: a missing approval step, a report column nobody mapped, a unit of measure set wrongly on a few hundred items. Left alone, they pile up and push people back to old habits.
A 90-day window gives you enough time to see a full month-end close, at least one quarter of supplier and customer cycles, and the peak-period workload that test cycles never reproduce. It is also long enough for new users to move from following a manual to working from memory.
Before go-live: agree the support terms in writing
Most post-launch disputes come from unclear expectations, not from bad code. Settle these points before the cutover date and put them in the contract or the statement of work:
- Hypercare hours: the hours of cover in the first two weeks, including after-hours coverage for payroll and month-end days.
- Response and resolution targets: separate targets for critical issues (a user cannot invoice or close a shift) and minor issues (a report layout).
- Issue log owner: one person on your side who receives, prioritises and signs off every issue.
- Change rules: what counts as a bug fix covered by the project, and what is a new request that needs a quote.
- Exit criteria: the conditions under which the vendor's hypercare ends and the monthly support plan begins.
If you are still comparing vendors, our article on ERP support after go-live covers what a vendor should provide in more detail. This plan assumes those terms are already agreed.
Days 1 to 14: hypercare
The first two weeks are about keeping the business running. The vendor's engineers should be close to the users, reviewing the issue log every day, and fixing anything that blocks a sale, a delivery, a purchase or a payment.
Run these routines daily:
- Review every open issue with the internal owner and tag it as critical, high or low.
- Check the first transactions of each branch or department by hand, including taxes, discounts and returns.
- Reconcile the main accounts (cash, bank, receivables, payables, inventory) against the old system or the physical count.
- Confirm that integrations such as POS feeds, bank files or e-invoicing submissions are arriving correctly.
If your company must submit invoices to a national e-invoicing platform, test the full submission path in this window, not on day 60.
Days 15 to 45: fix, train and tune
Once the critical issues are closed, shift the focus to the users. Many problems that look like software faults are training gaps: a cashier skipping a step, a warehouse clerk entering receipts in the wrong order, a manager who cannot find the approval screen.
Use this period to:
- Run short role-based training sessions with real screens, not slides.
- Publish a one-page guide for each role with the five tasks they do most often.
- Review performance on slow reports and large data screens, and add indexes or caching where needed.
- Clean up master data: duplicate customers, inactive items, wrong price lists.
Companies that have run complex operations on our ERP projects, such as the multi-company Earth Movers ERP for construction contractors, usually find that the biggest gains in this phase come from simplifying screens and removing unused fields, not from adding features.
Days 46 to 90: hand over to normal operations
By the third month, the system should run a full cycle without emergency fixes. This is the time to test your handover. Can your own IT or operations lead restart a failed job, restore a backup, add a user and read the logs? If not, the dependency on the vendor is still too high.
| Phase | Main goal | Owner | Exit criteria |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hypercare (days 1 to 14) | Keep operations running | Vendor engineers, internal issue owner | No open critical issues; core accounts reconciled |
| Stabilize (days 15 to 45) | Fix workflows and train users | Vendor and department heads | All roles trained; top 20 reports verified |
| Handover (days 46 to 90) | Move to normal support | Internal IT lead and vendor support team | One full month-end closed without emergency fixes |
At the end of this phase, sign off a handover document. It should list the environments, access rights, backup schedule, monitoring alerts, open low-priority items and the contact path for each severity level. Then move to a standing support plan with clear response-time commitments.
Metrics to track each week
Simple numbers tell you whether the plan is working. Review these with the vendor every week during the first quarter:
- Number of open issues by severity, and the average age of each.
- Number of manual workarounds still in use (spreadsheets, paper forms, duplicate entry).
- Time taken to complete the top five transactions, such as a sales invoice or goods receipt.
- Number of support tickets from the same user or department, which often signals a training gap.
- Reconciliation differences between the ERP and the source systems.
If the critical-issue count is not falling after the second week, something in the process is wrong. Escalate it early. Waiting for the monthly review usually makes it worse.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Ending hypercare on a date, not on criteria. Calendar dates are easy to write into a contract but do not show whether the system is stable.
- Letting the vendor own the issue log. Your team should own priorities. The vendor should own the fixes.
- Skipping month-end. Many problems only appear when accruals, depreciation or payroll run for the first time.
- Training once, before go-live. People forget. Plan a second round in week four.
If you are planning an ERP project and want a support plan that fits your size and operations, contact our team to discuss the scope. You can also read about the wider ERP system services we provide, from implementation through to ongoing support.
Frequently asked questions
How long does ERP go-live support usually last?
Intensive hypercare usually lasts two to four weeks, followed by a stabilization period that often runs to 90 days. The right length depends on how many modules you launch, how many branches or sites are involved and whether you have a full month-end in that window.
What is the difference between hypercare and ongoing ERP support?
Hypercare is the intensive, close-to-the-users phase right after launch, with daily issue reviews and fast fixes. Ongoing support is the regular maintenance plan that follows, with defined response times, monitoring and scheduled updates.
Who should own the ERP issue log after go-live?
A named person inside your company should own it. That person sets priorities and signs off closures, while the vendor handles diagnosis and fixes. This stops urgent issues from being ranked by whoever shouts loudest.
Can we handle ERP support in-house after the first three months?
Many companies can, provided they have a technical lead who can manage backups, user access and integrations, and a clear escalation path to the vendor for complex faults. Test that handover before you reduce the vendor's role.
