It’s no secret that many ERP’s fail to live up to the expected benefits and improvements they offer. Almost always, that disappointment can be traced directly back to a poor ERP implementation. These implementations typically require an array of skills and competencies to succeed, skills many organizations simply don’t have in house. For example, it's common practice to lean on tentured managers to represent their functional areas and act as the Subject Matter Experts (SME) in an ERP implementation.
There are several possible problems with this approach. Firstly, we are assuming that manager has the capacity to take on a project of this size and still continue to do their "day job". In most cases they don't. Secondly, there may be another type of "capacity" gap - skillset. While the most proficient Accounts Receivables manager may be amazing at keeping DSO very low, they may not be overly proficient in process engineering or process improvement. They may never have had to play the role of a Business Analyst or Process Engineer. Third, you are trying to build the team dynamic, efficacy and efficiency as you go. This is difficult and dangerous, in fact, teams typcially do not reach their full-stride until the very end of the project when they've learned ho to work together effectively. Lastly, you have a strong head-wind - reluctance to change. In fact, ineffective change management and poor communication is a leading cause of poorly executed enterprise system chages and sometimes, the champions of that "adversity to change" are on the team and expected to effect the very change they are introvertedly against.
Let’s explore the things that can help increase your chances of success when overhauling enterprise systems such as an ERP...
Planning
Driving business transformation through ERP necessitates having a vision for how the business will evolve in the future. To make that vision a reality, you need an all-star project team that can excel across the required skill sets: technical know-how, project management, business process reengineering, and organizational change management. Perhaps most importantly, be prepared to tackle the implementations in iterations versus one "big bang". The big bang approach rarely works and sets up the team for one big disappointment as opposed to several motivating wins!
Use an Integration Partner
Most companies don’t have the resources or time to develop the capabilities required internally. That’s why more and more organizations are turning to ERP integration partners to augment their internal resources and abilities. Here are 4 tips to help determine when to leverage outsourced implementation teams for your ERP implementation.
Take an honest look at your internal resources: Do a rigorous assessment of the caliber of skill and ability of your in-house team, compared against the skills required for a successful ERP implementation. Realistically evaluate areas of weakness – these skills and tasks are the ones you’ll want to consider outsourcing to an ERP consultant. Define roles and responsibilities early in the planning process, prior to beginning your ERP implementation and deployment.
Value business smarts as much as technical competency: Functional and technical software skills are critical – but not the end-all, be-all all to a successful ERP implementation. ERP success relies less on how well the technical aspects are handled during the implementation, and more on how the business components of an implementation are executed.
See the big picture – people and processes matter: Functional expertise, technical proficiency, and software-specific skills are important. But configuring software is relatively straightforward. The people and process aspects of an implementation—such as communications, organizational change management, project management and business process reengineering—are much harder to pin down. These skill sets are also harder to find. Many ERP consulting firms simply can’t offer competencies in these areas. When looking for outside help, it is critical to find a partner that not only has a comprehensive technical skill set, but also a proven methodology to help address all the other critical aspects of a successful ERP implementation.
You don’t need to outsource everything – be discriminating: Rely on outside assistance when and where it makes sense. Even the most talented external ERP consultant can’t make decisions for you about how to run your business. It’s your project; you need to provide the appropriate level of internal expertise and support. You need to identify the skills and responsibilities your internal team can provide, and recognize those that ought to be delegated to outside experts. Only people within your organization can judge whether the ERP system as designed does exactly what you want it to do.
Focus on Scope... Constantly and Consistently
Collecting the aptitude and proficiency needed to bring an ERP implementation home successfully is a huge challenge. Start by being honest about what you can and can’t do, and what you know and don’t know. Understand that people and processes are as important as technical prowess, and choose which tasks to keep in-house and which to outsource. It will be tempting to try to include evarything that ails your business in scope. Don't. Be pragmatic and realistic about what is critical to your business and create a plan that focuses on a "minimum viable product". Enhancements and improvements will inevitably be needed after you launch regardless, so why spend time working on processes and features you may never need or use? Instead, plan for frequent iterations post-launch that take user feedback and continue to improve the software solution.
If you set the stage to leverage your internal team effectively, partner with the right ERP consultant, and define a realistic scope, you can lead your organization to a successful ERP implementation. It doesn't have to be the "Golden Unicorn".
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