The operational system has a job
An ERP records transactions and supports the daily work that creates them. Replacing it is a major operational decision. Better insight does not have to begin there. A separate, read-only replica can preserve the ERP as the source of record while giving analysts and applications a place to examine the data without changing live transactions.
A replica is useful only when its meaning is understood. Customer codes, document status, reversals, returns, and timing rules have to be mapped. A clean dashboard built on a misunderstood field is still a wrong answer.
Reconcile before presenting
Compare the copied records with trusted source totals and individual documents. Make exclusions and discrepancies visible. When a number cannot be explained, the interface should show uncertainty and a path for investigation rather than quietly smoothing the difference away.
This discipline makes later automation safer. An agent answering a payment question, or an analyst reviewing stock risk, needs the same traceable definition of the underlying fact.
Build around the question
Start with a question a team already struggles to answer: what changed in cash, which customers have stopped buying, or which items may run short before the next delivery. Show the relevant records, the calculation, and the next person who can act. The goal is a clearer decision, not another layer of charts for its own sake.