There are many risks involved with deploying a new financial system. To ensure the successful launch of your next ERP project, there are three key steps you should follow for effective planning and implementation. Success is when your organization achieves business goals, the project costs are within budget, and the “go live” dates are met. Failure means project cost overruns, missed deadlines, and no return on the investment.
Gartner and others have studied ERP implementations for years and found that as many as six in ten IT projects fail to meet the goals of the sponsoring organization. So how do you make sure that your project is one of the four successes?
Start with Executive Visioning
The executive visioning session is a “top down” driven process involving both the senior executive stakeholders within an organization and the ERP project team. Including the CEO, CFO, CIO and appropriate IT or operational staff, the goals are simple–to identify the business case and objectives for the ERP project. Outcomes should include:
- Alignment of project goals with the stakeholders
- Defined business case and drivers for the ERP project
- Return on investment review
- Increased employee productivity
- Improved decision making
- Additional revenue or higher gross margins
Complete Operational Review and Business Process Analysis
In step two, the major operational requirements should be uncovered using a “bottom’s up” approach. The team should first understand the business requirements for each operational function and then perform a gap analysis to compare the project requirements against the project solution.
The operational review can include:
- “Day in the life” review to identify hidden requirements
- Alignment of the business drivers identified in the Executive Visioning Session
- Comparison of business requirements to the considered technology’s “out of the box” capabilities
ERP Project Review and Plan
The Project Findings document is built as a final step to reflect the outcomes and decisions made during the first two steps to create a blueprint for project success. Aligning the ERP project recommendations with the business case and the ROI project goals created in the Executive Visioning Session, the ERP Project Findings document should include:
- Business case and drivers
- Business process requirements
- Software fit-gap analysis
- ROI definition
- Definition of project scope, timeline and resource requirements
A Proven Approach to ERP Project Success
Effective planning plays a key role in ensuring a successful deployment of any new technology solution. With a “top down” approach for the business issues and a thorough “bottoms up” operational review that involves the process owners within the organization, the blueprint for both the ERP implementation and project success is clear. To ensure that your next ERP Project follows these guidelines, contact Steve Kane (301-634-2404 andskane@broadpoint.net) at BroadPoint Technologies, Virginia’s most experienced Dynamics GP Microsoft Partner.
by BroadPoint technologies, a Virginia Microsoft Dynamics GP Partner
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