From experience, remote deployment of ERP or any software for that matter is entirely possible. This statement however comes with a list of caveats for those in pursuit of a fully remote deployment. In my experience delivering software to customers, I’ve often found the wagon was being placed before the horse and the degree of commitment and/or prioritization necessary for the success of the project was minimal at best. In most instances, the resource time dedicated to a project which was expected to make a significant impact on the business was marginal at best. In my years of delivering consulting services, it was extremely rare to return to a customer site to find a completed list of action items. Often cited reasons for incomplete tasks were daily operational activities which took precedence over the ERP. I also found that core team members were not incentivized to work on the project and although executives would insist the new ERP implementation was essential to the business, the ERP project tasks were often found at the very bottom of the assigned resources’ duties. I would like to clarify what I meant by customers placing the wagon/carriage before the horse. Customers who encountered the greatest degree of internal resistance and challenge deploying the new ERP often had a few critical errors in common,  They did not conduct adequate upfront business analysis and solutions mapping,  They failed to redesign antiquated business practices, and  They become overdependent on the ERP consultants and the new software to solve critical business challenges during the ERP implementation project and following.   Remote or on-site deployments both have the potential to fail or be ineffective if, We do not assign dedicated resources capable of taking ownership and accountability for assigned action items on the client end  The project is not given a priority level consistent with the urgency and ROI expectations set by executive leadership,  Project leads and subject matter experts(SMEs) are not respected and granted the autonomy to make decisions aligned with business unit objectives, and  Core team members are not properly incentivized to deliver the best performance possible on the project across time, quality and cost variables. In most cases the best outcomes are achieved with hybrid teams mixing vendor and client resources working closely with strong management commitment to success.   Some of the most common justifications I’ve heard for on-site visits were to build trust and rapport between the consulting team and customer; confining both teams (customer and consultants) to ensure session engagement and commitment, and to provide the consultant more context of the business environment. All of these objectives with clear planning and continuous communication of expectations can be achieved remotely as well. When it comes to remote deployments, the true challenge is effective and responsive communication. To ensure a successful remote deployment, we must ensure effective and transparent communication between and amongst both teams. This means ensuring the client’s core team is inquisitive and expressive when proposals, recommendations, or statements made by consultants are not understood or clear. Effective communication also means having proper project governance, and change management plans to avoid conflicts or confusion amongst both internal and external teams. With the advent of more low-code composable enterprise systems with near ‘plug and play’ configurability and modular approaches, the monolithic ERP systems we are accustomed to are becoming a relic of the past. These new ‘point-solution’ type systems are much easier to self manage for clients given the short learning curves and minimal supervision; which  makes them ideal for remote deployment modes. The pandemic had proven that with effective project planning and remote audio-visual conferencing technology, we are more than capable of delivering ERP software remotely. Gaps can exist with resourcing at the client end although these can be addressed with little effort and with assistance of vendors to select appropriate personnel. While ‘live’ human interaction is important, we should keep in mind that it is not the sole contributing factor to the successful deployment of any enterprise software. Authors: S. Telfort (Epicor), G Fernando (views and opinions are authors’ own)