ERP Modernization: A Low-Code Approach to Enterprise Resource Planning in 2026
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems sit at the heart of most organizations' operations — and many of those systems are decades old, highly customized, and extraordinarily difficult to change. According to a June 2026 Panorama Consulting survey, 67% of organizations are actively planning or executing ERP modernization initiatives, with the average age of current ERP implementations exceeding 12 years. The traditional ERP modernization playbook — rip out the old system and implement a new one in a multi-year, multi-million-dollar project — has a failure rate that would be unacceptable in any other business domain. Low-code platforms are offering a better path.
The fundamental problem with traditional ERP modernization is that it attempts to change everything at once — technology platform, business processes, user interfaces, integrations, and data models — in a single "big bang" cutover. When something goes wrong (and something always goes wrong), the entire business is affected because every process depends on the ERP system. Low-code platforms enable an incremental modernization approach that drastically reduces this risk.
The Incremental ERP Modernization Model
Instead of replacing the entire ERP system at once, organizations use low-code platforms to modernize one business capability at a time while the legacy ERP continues operating. The approach works as follows: identify a specific business capability that is poorly served by the current ERP (e.g., purchase requisition, expense reporting, capital expenditure requests); build a modern application for that capability on a low-code platform, integrating with the ERP through APIs for master data and financial posting; migrate users to the new application while the rest of the organization continues using the legacy ERP; and repeat for the next capability.
Over time, an increasing proportion of user interactions shift from the legacy ERP to modern low-code applications. The ERP system gradually transitions from being the user-facing system of record for all processes to being the backend financial engine that modern front-end applications call when they need to post transactions or retrieve master data.
Key benefits of this approach include: dramatically reduced risk (each increment affects only one business capability), faster time to value (each increment delivers user benefits in weeks rather than years), user-centric design (each new application is designed around how people actually work rather than ERP screen limitations), and preservation of ERP investment (the financial controls, audit trails, and regulatory compliance embedded in the ERP remain intact).
Real-World Modernization Patterns
- Procurement modernization: Replace ERP purchase requisition screens with intuitive procurement applications including catalog search, budget checking, and approval routing — while the ERP handles the purchase order creation and goods receipt processing
- HR self-service: Build employee-facing applications for time entry, leave requests, and personal information updates on a low-code platform, integrated with the ERP HR module for payroll processing and compliance
- Financial planning: Create budgeting and forecasting applications that pull actuals from the ERP and enable collaborative planning, replacing spreadsheet-based processes while maintaining the ERP as the system of record
- Asset management: Deploy mobile-first asset tracking and maintenance applications for field workers, integrated with the ERP fixed asset module for financial accounting
Why Informat Excels at ERP Modernization
Informat provides: comprehensive ERP integration capabilities, rapid application development for modern user experiences, workflow automation for processes currently embedded in ERP, and enterprise governance ensuring modernized applications meet compliance requirements.
Conclusion
ERP modernization does not have to be the high-risk, multi-year ordeal that organizations have learned to dread. The incremental approach enabled by low-code platforms — modernizing one capability at a time while preserving the ERP as a financial engine — offers a faster, safer, and more user-centric path to modern enterprise operations. For organizations whose ERP systems are constraining their ability to operate efficiently and adapt to change, the low-code path to modernization is the smartest approach available in 2026.