The “As-Is” Trap: Why a One-to-One Implementation of Digital Technology Is a Bad Idea

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The organisation is dissatisfied with its digital tools. The old system is faltering, the competition is moving faster, and management has just returned from an inspiring conference and is raving about the new technology they heard such enthusiastic stories about. The cloud! That platform! That AI! And so a project is launched with a brief that sounds temptingly simple: “Just implement the new technology ‘as is’, so exactly as we work now.”

It feels safe. No hassle with processes, no arguments with ‘users’, no resistance from departments that don’t want to see their way of working change. Just replacing the technology with something more modern; everything else stays the same.

Implementing ‘as is’ sounds modest and safe, but is in fact the most expensive choice you can make: you pay the full price for new technology and get the limitations of the old one thrown in for free. It is also an impossible task, because the implementation of any new technology still forces you to make choices — but ‘ad hoc’, without giving it any thought and certainly without a strategy.

Why ‘as is’ isn’t even an option

With every new technology, choices have to be made that were implicit in the old system. A new platform often handles processes and information processing in a fundamentally different way, for example using workflow engines instead of email chains, real-time API integrations instead of overnight batch files, standardised data models instead of proprietary spreadsheets, and dynamic, granular content instead of static content pages.

This means that even in an ‘as-is’ implementation, choices must be made regarding, for example, the process, the process steps, data, content and responsibilities. You cannot ‘simply carry over’ the old process and the old information model; you have to rebuild it. This means you need to think carefully about the architecture and how you want to organise the work – in other words, the governance.

Who makes the decisions: you or the technology?

If the organisation refuses to make those decisions, something happens that doesn’t really please anyone: the person made responsible for the delivery ends up making the decisions. That is often the IT department, together with the technical implementation partner.

You cannot blame the professionals responsible for the technology for thinking in terms of what the technology can do. They have to replace a complex system with a new one and are bound by tight deadlines and a budget. Whenever a request falls outside the ‘as is’ scope, the business is told: “That’s outside the scope”.

No scope for genuine improvements

The ‘as-is’ process analysis is also very limited, because rather than looking at improvements to the process, the focus is solely on how the new system can facilitate the current process. Where this is not possible on a one-to-one basis, IT often makes the decisions on how to resolve the issue.

It is then only a matter of time before the business is confronted with the new system and is dissatisfied with what has been delivered. The new system operates just as inefficiently as the previous one – because no ‘to-be’ optimisation has been carried out – and sometimes even performs less well because decisions have been made that work very well from a technical perspective, but not for the professional who has to carry out this process on a daily basis.

The bigger problem: too much IT, too little strategy

But there is more to it than just technology. The deeper flaw with the ‘as is’ approach is that it turns the project entirely into an IT project, rather than a change project with a technological component designed to achieve an organisational goal.

Technology dictates the agenda; strategy, process optimisation, innovation and genuine value creation are left out of the picture. Gartner’s CIO Agenda shows that this goes wrong on a structural level: 66 per cent of CIOs expect to increase digital investment, but as other studies also show time and again, 80 per cent of transformation efforts fail due to rushed implementation and the lack of a sound strategy.

‘As is’ means stagnation and even regression

Analysis of failed projects consistently reveals the same underlying cause: leaders get caught up in the hype surrounding the technology and adopt the latest tools without any real idea of how they will improve operations or service delivery. They want to move forward quickly, but what they actually end up with is stagnation or even regression.

An ‘as is’ implementation literally leaves money on the table: it may be quick to implement, but anyone who overlooks the link to business process transformation puts themselves at a competitive disadvantage because the real opportunity will be seized by someone else. And anyone who automates a chaotic manual process ‘as is’ does not end up with a better process — they end up with chaos, only faster. As an organisation, this means you are moving backwards rather than forwards.

A practical problem: you can only spend the money once

There is another compelling argument against the ‘as is’ approach that is rarely voiced in boardrooms: you can only spend the money once. The budget, the energy and the political goodwill required for a major digital investment rarely come around twice during a single board’s term of office. And it is precisely this unique, one-off opportunity that is squandered on replicating what already existed.

The pattern that follows is predictable. Immediately after the ‘as is’ implementation, an urgent need arises — usually out of necessity — from the business to optimise processes this time round: the inefficiencies that had been deliberately put on the back burner are now visibly costing money, and staff are running into the limitations of the new system, which enforces old habits.

At the same time, management is asking for strategic information: what performance is the technology delivering, which targets have been met, and what is the return on investment? But the process optimisation that is now necessary, the setting up of KPIs and the reporting layer on top of that – there is no time left for that, no energy left and certainly no money left. The budget has run out, the project organisation has been disbanded and the organisation is ‘done’ with the implementation.

Waiting for the next opportunity?

What remains is a painful void: a new technology that, on paper, can do anything, but in practice behaves just like the old system, with no measurable performance gains and no improved processes. And then the wait begins for the next opportunity for implementation, the next budget round, the next system.

With a high chance that it will simply be ‘business as usual’ again, because one can seriously doubt whether the organisation has actually learnt anything in the meantime. There is no retrospective, no proper evaluation of what went wrong; the interpretation of the failure is usually ‘the technology fell short’ rather than ‘we skipped the transformation’.

Without that reflection, the next implementation is approached with the same haste, the same enthusiasm and the same mandate: simply carrying on as things are now. In this way, ‘as is’ becomes not a one-off mistake, but a self-perpetuating cycle in which the organisation pays the full price of new technology round after round, yet thereby merely buys yesterday’s limitations. The only way to break this cycle is to spend the money properly the first time round – on strategy, process optimisation and value creation – rather than on the past.

The minimum requirements for any digital implementation

If ‘as is’ isn’t the way forward, what is? Regardless of the digital technology — ERP, CRM, cloud, AI, CMS, DMS or a workflow platform — these minimum requirements apply:

1. A digital strategy with a clear ‘to be’

Without a well-defined digital strategy, you are investing in technology that does not align with your objectives. The strategy answers the following questions: what do we want to achieve as an organisation, what value must the technology deliver, and what does the target state (‘to be’) look like? Only then can you determine what to retain, improve or, conversely, phase out.

2. Success factors and indicators (KPIs)

Before implementation, define measurable success factors: turnaround times, error rates, cost per transaction, customer satisfaction and adoption rates. Without indicators, ‘the new technology is up and running’ is the only criterion for success. And that is the weakest criterion there is. Measure adoption and process outcomes centrally, not just technical delivery.

3. Process optimisation prior to automation

Review and redesign the processes before the technology is implemented. Standardise, harmonise, simplify and eliminate unnecessary steps. View the new platform as an opportunity to take a fresh look at the entire end-to-end process.

4. A thorough analysis of functional and technical requirements

Carry out a thorough analysis involving all stakeholders. Ask business professionals how they would ideally like to work and why. Then translate this into functional requirements. You can consult the various specialists within the organisation – IT, security/privacy, etc. – regarding the technical requirements.

Functional requirements (wishes and requirements): what must the system do, and how should it ideally work, based on which process, for which role? Documented, prioritised (MoSCoW), validated with the business — not with IT alone.
Technical requirements: architecture, integrations, data quality and data migration, security, scalability, manageability.

5. Business-led governance — not IT-led

Business owners must take the functional decisions and drive the change process. It is a change process with a digital component, not the other way round. If the business is unwilling to take responsibility, IT should, in fact, refuse the implementation brief.

6. Change management and adoption

Technology implementation without change management is the classic pitfall: employees revert to old ways of working. Train, communicate, involve end-users from day one, and make adoption an explicit indicator (KPI) to measure success.

7. Realistic planning and phasing

Avoid both the ‘big bang’ approach and rushing the process. Realistic deadlines prevent teams from cutting corners on acceptance testing and change management: a phased roll-out minimises the risks. Moreover, rushing is often the root cause of the desire to keep things ‘as is’: recognise this and allow sufficient time for the transformation.

8. Data quality

The problem of dirty master data or duplicate, outdated, redundant (‘redundant, outdated, trivial’ – ROT) information is not automatically resolved by moving the data to the new system. Data investigation and cleansing are integral parts of the project, not an afterthought.

9. Management and continuous improvement

Implementation is the start, not the end. Set the organisation up for continuous improvement — measure and report on the results, make use of new platform releases, and improve where it delivers the most value.

Work on optimisation, streamlining and compliance ‘by design’ so that you do not find yourself stuck in a new ‘as is’ situation in five years’ time. In this way, you will achieve a higher level of digital maturity and become an organisation that truly makes the most of the opportunities offered by digital technology.

Learn all about digital strategy and process optimisation

In November and December, TIMAF is organising two training courses to help you carry out a successful digital transformation: the digital strategy course and the practical process management course.

Digital Strategy Training Course

Do you want to learn how to use digital technology effectively and solve real-world problems? In the ‘Strategy in Digital Transformation’ training course, you’ll learn how to use digital technology to make a tangible difference within your organisation.

8, 9, 10 December 2026

3 days from 09:30 to 16:30

EUR 2,980 per person, including training materials, lunch and catering

Also available as an in-company training course for EUR 2,000 per person, including training materials.

Process Management Training

Would you like to learn how to implement BPM as the foundation for a digital transformation? In the BPM Specialist Training course in November, you’ll take a hands-on approach to your own case study.

Sign up and discover how to design processes that are ready for the future – with measurable value and transparency as your starting point.

25 and 26 November and 2 and 3 December 2026

4 days from 09:30 to 16:30

EUR 3,500 per person, including training materials, lunch and catering

Also available as an in-company training course for EUR 2,500 per person, including training materials.