ERP Implementation

ERP implementation failure is a very costly affair which could result in huge financial losses for many companies. According to a study conducted by Analyst firm Gartner, it's estimated that 55% to 75% of all ERP projects fail to meet their objectives. Proper planning and execution become extremely important for any ERP implementation. We have identified the following key factors for a successful ERP Implementation:

• Leadership and Stakeholder Engagement: It's very important that entire Organization understands the need for the change. If leaders fail to understand the need for change, it becomes path to disaster and extremely difficult to manage budget and resources.

• Manage Risks and Issues: Make sure the risks are prioritized and an action is assigned. Address all top issues with the steering committee.

• Company culture: ERP implementation is a big change for the company. Look at the past change projects and see if there are any lessons learnt. This will not only help prioritize the project but also strategically design it to succeed in other projects.

• Project Planning: A well structured project plan mentioning all activities with deadlines along with roles and responsibilites is absolutely needed. Project baselines should be established and must be measured with deliverables periodically.

• Understand Changes: Make sure employees understand the changes that are coming. There should not be any surprises. To achieve the best results, address the changes during the early stages of the project. Exposure to the upcoming changes at the early stages will help easier transition in the later stages.

• Test the system: Plan the testing and ensure all mission critical activities are tested thorougly.

• Training: Assess all the training needs. Create a training plan and understand current system skills of employees and address the gaps between old system and new system. Identify change impacts and document them into trainining materials.

• Post Production Support: First few weeks of implementation are very critical for both IT and Business. It's very important that support people are available immediately for any types of issues. Prepare a project implementaion plan and make sure to list all the resources names along with their contact information.

• Celebrate the milestones: Celebrating major milestone achievements will motivate employees for achieving further positive results.