An exit strategy sounds pessimistic. In practice, it is normal risk management: what happens if terms change, a module gets discontinued, or the service provider changes?

Before go-live, management and IT should be able to answer these points:

1. Export: Can master data and transactional data be exported completely and in a machine-readable format? Test this with a sample of orders, items and journal entries.
2. Contracts: Check clauses on data portability, notice periods and data deletion.
3. Customizations: Are metadata, scripts and interfaces documented, not just known to the implementation partner?
4. Operations: Verify backups and disaster recovery independently of the provider’s own backup.

Companies that only clarify this once they want to switch negotiate from a position of weakness. Vendor lock-in often arises exactly when exit options go unchecked.

Open ERP platforms do not replace this check. They make it easier: source code, data and extensibility stay with the customer. More context: digital sovereignty.

An exit strategy belongs in every ERP vendor evaluation, on equal footing with feature scope and price.