Change Management in PropTech: Why 70% of ERP Projects Fail

Technical consultants focus on configuration. They map data, build integrations, and test workflows. But they often overlook the person who has been running AP for fifteen years and sees the new system as a threat to everything she knows.

We've encountered this pattern repeatedly. In one organization, a senior accounting manager who "knew everything" was four years from retirement. She had no interest in learning new processes and actively resisted every change. The technical implementation was flawless, but adoption stalled because the most influential person in the department was quietly undermining it. Until we addressed her concerns directly, documenting her institutional knowledge, involving her in training design, showing how the system would make her final years easier, the project couldn't move forward.

These aren't edge cases. They're the norm.

One of the most common change management challenges we face is migrating organizations from desktop applications to web-based platforms.

A property management company that had run Yardi Genesis for fifteen years had staff who knew every keyboard shortcut, every screen, and every workaround. When we migrated them to Yardi Voyager's web interface, the process was straightforward. The human transition was anything but.

Staff struggled with multi-tab browser workflows. They reported that session timeouts interrupted their work. They missed the speed of desktop applications. Age was a factor; team members who'd learned computing on desktop software found web interfaces unintuitive in ways younger staff didn't experience.

We addressed this by redesigning training to align with their actual workflows, not software features. We configured timeout settings to match their work patterns. We created quick-reference guides for everyday tasks. Most importantly, we acknowledged that their frustration was legitimate rather than dismissing it as resistance to change.

Electronic payments are among the most emotionally charged changes in property management technology.

Controllers who've signed every check for twenty years don't just lose a task; they lose a control mechanism that made them feel secure. They worry about fraud. They worry about errors going unnoticed. They worry about being held responsible for payments they didn't physically approve.

We've learned to address this head-on. We implement approval workflows that actually provide more control than physical signatures. We show audit trails that are more comprehensive than any check register. We design exception reports that flag anomalies before payments go out. The technology is better, but only if users trust it.

Our approach goes beyond training sessions and user guides. We assess organizational readiness before configuration begins. We identify influential users, both supporters and resisters and engage them early. We design training around job roles, not software modules.

We track post-go-live adoption metrics: login frequency, feature usage, and support ticket patterns. When we see workarounds emerging, we address them immediately rather than waiting for frustration to calcify into permanent resistance.

This is the soft-skill IP that technical consultants overlook, understanding that a 58-year-old property accountant learns differently than a 28-year-old analyst. Recognizing that tenure creates both expertise and resistance. Knowing that trust in new systems builds gradually through small wins, not big-bang launches.

Technology implementations fail because organizations treat them as IT projects rather than as business transformations. The software is the easy part. Getting people actually to use it to change workflows they've followed for years requires understanding human behaviour as deeply as database architecture.

We don't just configure software. We transform how teams work. That's why our implementations stick.