Map the terrain first
An enterprise never hands you a blank page. There is an ERP that everything else bows to, several teams that each believe they own the customer record, and a way of deciding that nobody has written down. The first weeks are for drawing that map. The architecture comes after.
What I learned the hard way
- 01
Draw the systems before you design anything.
List every system that touches a product, a price, a customer or an order, and who owns it. The integration you did not know about is the one that breaks the launch.
- 02
Find who decides, who pays and who can block.
They are rarely the same person. The organisation chart tells you who signs. A few conversations tell you whose doubts can stop a project.
- 03
Meet your technical peers in the first week.
The ERP lead, the security officer and the network team can save you months or cost you months. Ask them what went wrong last time. They will tell you.
- 04
Ask how things really work, then go and look.
A documented process describes the intention. Sit with the person who does the job and watch one order go through from start to finish.
- 05
Put the map on one page and show it.
Boxes, owners and open questions. People correct a drawing far faster than they answer an email.
- 06
Mark the unknowns as unknowns.
A question mark on the map is honest and useful. A guess drawn as a fact turns into a wrong estimate three months later.
Tips and tricks
- Book the introductions before the kickoff, not after it.
- Ask every system owner the same three questions: what feeds you, what do you feed, and what breaks.
- Keep a list of names with what each person cares about.
- Put a date on the map. It will be out of date in a month, and that is fine.
- Share it early and unfinished.