ERP Questions

I’m roughly one year into an acquisition of a custom retail packaging manufacturer, and we are looking at an ERP conversion in the next###-###-#### months. We currently use a DOS based Infor product from the early 90’s.

I know this is a massive undertaking, and I’m deeply concerned about a failed implementation. I would really like to do everything we can to set the conditions for a successful implementation prior to even selecting a vendor. Some things I’m considering are:

- mapping all business processes to an extreme level of detail
- shuffling as many core processes (scheduling production runs and some other relatively simple processes) as possible away from the ERP to simple solutions like Asana/Monday before converting to de-risk any failed conversion issues
- making a full time IT hire (zero technical folks on staff full time - we outsource IT)
- cleaning the dead weight out of my current ERP (old SKUs / old customers etc)
- making a full time hire of a project manager (with the ability to convert to new role once project is complete)

Am I missing anything? Do any of these pre-conversion initiatives sound like a waste of time?

Would love to hear the community’s thoughts and would love to hear about ERP conversion stories.