RE eT ERP Implementation Life Cycle 7 > Testing > Going live > End-user training > Post-implementation Although these phases may seem very linear and distinct from each other in realty throughout an actual implementation, the Phases are in fact quite fluid, In ‘many cases, companies go through many implementations—in different busi its, di i i given time, more than one of the ‘phases may be operational. Some ‘companies opt for the one and only ‘Big Bang’, while other companies favor sequential rollouts—each company has different needs. But whether itis the Big Bang’ method or sequential rollout, thelife cycle phases are the same. Pre-evaluation Screening . But Once the company has decided to go in for the ERP. system, the search for the perfect ioe ao an there are hundreds of ERP vendors—of all sizes and shapes—all claiming to have Go ahead Company Management MAGIA (Customization implementation Teeting |Gap Analysis Reengineering fear tentEnterprise Resource Planning snot a viable solution. Itisalsoa very ae that are evaluated to less than packa fa small number of packages, rather than { doa pre-evaluation screening Not all packages are equal— iching a deci ie number of uation 0! he company should ideal for you. Analyzing all the packages before rea time-consuming process. So, itis better to limit th ‘5. Itisalways better to do a thorough and detailed Ge doing a superficial analysis of dozens of packages. 50, i to limit the number of ease that are to-be evaluated by the comm! tt oe aid ohianate IC pars each hasits own strengths and weakness, So the pre-evaluation proces» $ ro in on the few best packages that are not at all suitable for the company’s business processes. One can Ze} vial cette tal es bylooking atthe product literature of the vendors, getting help from the coesaie beter eA arent ip importantly finding out what package is used by similar companies. tis aWay® find out how the different packages are performing in environments similar to you a Sie Ifone studies the history of the ERP packages and finds out how each package a ved, U at soon becomes evident that every ERP package grew out of the experience or opportunity of a group of people working in a specific business who created systems that could deal with certain business segments. It is generally accepted that most ERP packages are stronger in certain areas than in others, and each one is madly trying to add functionality in areas where they have been lacking. For example, PeopleSoft is strong in HR and less so in manufacturing; Baan on the other hand, is historically stronger in manufacturing than in financial and so on. The ERP packages evolved over a period of time as the companies grew. The experience gained from implementation, feedback by the users, the need to enter into new markets and pressure from | competitors forced most ERP vendors to re-define and expand the scope of the activities and eae of their roca. le concepts were expanded upon, new functions were introduced, ideas were copied from others, anc i i igi eee eno 7 ae es Ree still, each package has a history (or origin) that So, while making the analysis tis a good idea to investi igi | eae cater to almost all fakes and service Beattie RETR eee was developed initially for the manufacturing i i another basins Sco a sofwate developmen Tessie oe te eof and re-designed to caterto the needs ofthe diverse business sectors thar va eee Temembered that many ERP packages are still very good in some aren sus catetin8 (0. But it should be catering to the needs of other sectors. areas, even though they are capable of Once you select a few packages after the Scteening, you can start the detailed evaluatior 8. n proces: Package Evaluation The evaluation/selection process is one of the most i because the package that you select will ccide the “aes Bhases of the ERP implementation involve hugeinvestment,oncea package's purchased, itis eq cu! the Project. Since ERP system™s ia‘ it right the first time’ proposition and there igs al ie “sy task to switch to another one. $0 The most important factor that should be kept in ming aa ae none of them are perfect. The idea that there is no perfect prec ne tVing the differe isthat . is ectin i i thedecson making tam. The objective of he eee needs to-be under oo Bye each and every requirement (a perfect fit). 1 isto fing ‘ a isnot to identify a Package that covers company/sneeds rin other words software thatcouldipe cae (2 Mexible enough to meet He $0, once the packages to-be evaluated are identified, the gs 4 © obtain a good fit. ‘ ; ARPA ie ovat ompan : that will permit the evaluation of all the available packages on si ey to develop selection criteria Scale. To choose the best systemSEP opm it Ou 1" the company should identi identifies with the busines” the system that meets the exactly as the company ctices of business needs, matches: eee the company, the business profile and differences. Some im, at a Itis impossible to get a system that will perform ae tout the aim should be to get a system that hes the etn eceret ue S to-be kept in mind while evaluating ERP software inchude- eine with the company’s business Processes . ree oF integration between the various component Flexibility and scalability Need Complexity User friendliness Quick implementation Ae Support multi-site planning and control fechnology—client/ server capabilities, database independence, Availability of regular upgrades Amount of customization required Local support infrastructure Availability of reference sites Total costs, including cost of license, training, implementation. maintenance, customization and hardware requirements. VV¥VVVVYVVVYVVYVY Itis always better to form a selection or evaluation committee that will do the evaluation process. This committee should be comprised of people from the various departments (the functional experts). the top management (preferably the CIO or COO) and consultants (package experts). The selection commutes should be entrusted with the task of choosing a package for the company. Since ‘all business functions are represented and the management is involved, the package that is selected will have company cwide acceptance. The package experts orthe consultants can act as mediators or play the role of explaining the pros and cons of each package. Project Planning Phase ue designs the implementation proces. isin this phase tha the details of bow tog8 Tisis pe ee ae ee. Time schedules, deadlines, etc. for the project. are arrived at. The a planis developed. Roles are identified and responsibilities assigned. The organizational resources : dfor the implementation effort are decide and she people who are supposed to head the pas are identified. The implementation team members are selected and task allocation is decide when to begin the project, how to do it and when the project is to-be phase wich will plan what todo in case of contingencies: how to monitog the t ‘what control measures: should be installed and what corrective actions vid , ‘out of control. Usually, a committee constituted by the team leadersof the project planning. It will be headed by the ERP in-charge (usually the cach implementa ly (during the entire implementation lifecycle) to review the a : phase. the success of the ERP implemen! cagsteopty this is____——— anticipates and covers any functional gaps, tailored to a company’s needs, meets only es nich both ‘want to-be headed, The trick iso design a ecagestn custom thas been estimated that even the best ERP pac 80% to the company’s functional requirements matic issue for the company’s BPR. One of j robles ‘The remaining 20% of these requirements ed vates the busine: the most affordable, albeit painful, solutions entail Se Ranson (he ‘course, a company can simply agree to live without a particulay solution). Other solutions include: i z isky) hopes on an upgrade (low-cost but ris P ae Pree cai arty etic that might fill the gap (hopefully it also partners with the ERP packages, keeping interfacing to a minimum) > Designing a custom program ie Bien ie ERP ae code, (the most expensive alternative; usually reserved for mission critical installations) eebcsiie Itis in this phase that the human factors are taken into account. In ERP implementation settings, reengineering has two different connotations. The first connotation is the controversial one, involving the use of ERP to ald in downsizing efforts. There have been occasions where high-level executives have invoked the reengineering slogan and purchased an ERP package with the aimn of reducing significant numbers of employees. While every implementation is going to involve some change in job responsibilities, as processes become more automated and efficient, it is best to treat ERP as an investment as well a acost cutting measure rather than a downsizing tool. ‘Downsizing’ is a business practice that may have its place, but it should not be cloaked within the glossier slogan of ‘reengineering’ or justified by the purchase of an ERP package, ERP should engender business change but should not endanger the jobs of thousands of employees. The second use of the word reengineering in the ERP field (or bust o33 i gn eetensinn re ons pan engeni success by the major ERP consulting firms. The BPR approach toan ERP imploncn vue en there are realy two separate but closely linked implementations involvey implementation and a business process implementation. The BPR en element of necessary change within organizations. This approach ieee and has received its share of criticism forcreating bloated bunigers se) ofthe BFR pproch to ERP wouldaguc atthe ge aM exerted project, ut ate an implementation that involves significant changes in responsi eo ie human element 10 mid-market focus and as allimplementations are becoming mare n°: AS the ERP market shifts 108 come under some real scrutiny. Bmore cost-sensitive, the BPR approach has to fit’ the ERP package. Of cheap but annoying lementation implies that cd on an ERP site: a technical joach emphasizes the human ‘nerally more time-consuming Customization This is the main functional area of the ERP implementation, The customization process and for good reason: the Holy Grail of py <2 bit of mystique around the esting company practices with the FR package tn onyee 8 {Hlementation is synehoni understood and mapped in such a way thatthe artived.at solyign business processes have to-be the company: But, companies cannotjust shut down thei, peta te with the overall ral of ¢ mapping processesapr Life Cycle place. Hence, the Prototype—a gi i ‘Mulatioy fi The prototype allows for thoroug ih re tee sine consultants configure and St Te tRe “to-be” model in Cand test the the BPR before the actual 80-live aes! attempt to sok Configuring a company’s system Pa also—and perhaps More Relics success of the ERP implementation, that those ¢; cite fit into the package, where the 8a] ‘ : PS in functionali accounting practice that cannot b pete configured into the system ‘ 2 ng Out what will work business process itself, and an ability to we skills should be assigned to these tasks, Processes the company—will be used controlled environment, As the ERP ve any logistical problems inherent in Teveals not only the str i ‘s impor as ly reng! hs of a company’s business process but © the health of the company and to the ‘onfiguring the system are able to explain what willnot example, a company might have an ot some shipping process that won't and what will not, requires knowledge of the ork with people throughout the company So, people with such ee p As a rule, in most large implementations, the functional customizations are split between the diffe : ‘Tent areas within the in financials and so forth, ERP vendors are Constantly striving to low include automation and Pre-customization. SAP for instance, templates that can be tweaked for each individ MAS 500 ERP System provides a set of customi and a customizer. Unisoft Provides Unisoft C1 some will be involved company; so some will attend to HR, ©" Customization costs, Strategies currently being pursued has pre-configured industry-specific ual company (Accelerated SAP or ASAP Solutions). Sage ization tools which includes a software development kit ustomization Language (UCL), Unisoft Customization Forms (UCF) and Unisoft Customization Reports (UCR) to customize its ERP package ATLANTIS ERP. Similarly, almost all the ERP vendors offer some tools that automate at least some part of the Customization process. Many third-party companies offer Customization tools to make the task of customization as easy as possible, The current ERP industry push towards developing the mid-range market in turn creates an added incentive to reduce costs, encouraging the sought-after mid-rang companies to feel they can afford to implement a top-of-the-line ERP package. By creating a custom pre-configured ERP module for a Particular industry—say, a shoe software manufacturing prototype created for a shoe manufacturer— the need for hands-on custom customization is reduced, thereby keeping the costs down. The hope is that a kind of “question and answer” format can be used to find the kinds of business process information hitherto addressed through the hands-on customization process. In theory, these pre- conga tools should save time and money, but every business is unique and at least some customization is unique to each project. Implementation Team Training Around the same time that the customization is taking place, the i implementation team is being trained, ot so much on how to use the system, but on how to implement it, This is the phase where the company rains its employees to implement and later run the system. The F| 'RP vendors and the hired consultants aL, i vereettte EP i implementation is over. But for the company to-be self-sufficient in running’ the. El waa sues ‘good in-house team that can handle the various situations, So, itis very vital that eage recognizes the importance of this phase and selects employees with the right attitude— People ais ae willing to change, learn new things and are not afraid of technology—and good functional knowledge. ii brea ith extreme case sc ‘hiss the phase where you ry to bre { and now you must come up wi cenarios— figured a with the same query, users entering invaliq scenarios. The system is €O ne eer reads, multiple users gpg anathema : ze nt a ee spiem and e fixed before going live. Pigeeaktashn the system and these DUB be fixed he system. You have reached a point where you are testing rea} k the syst areas and soon. s should Going Live This is the phase where ERP is made av is almost complete—data conversion is side, the prototype is fully configured an proclaimed operational, even though the impl 0 it successfully for some time. But once the system is ‘live’ the ol isused for doing business. ailable to the entire organization. On the technical side the work done, and databases are up and running; and on the functionaj \d tested and ready to go operational. The system is officially lementation team must have been testing it and running Id system is removed and the new system End-user Training This is the phase where the actual users of the system will be given training on how to use the system. This phase starts much before the system goes live. The employees who are going to use the new system are identified. Their current skills are noted and they are divided into groups, based on the current skill levels. Each group is then given training on the new system. This training is very important as the success oft the ERP system is in the hands of the end-users. Therefore, these training sessions should give the participants an overall view of the system and how each: Person's actions affect the entire system. In Once the implementati 5 ithe pie and th plementation phaseis very critical who are trained to handle the problems thay me-Wide acceptance oe Will go. To reap the full benefits who have the technical provess to ma. at might ctop up. There ete Should be enough employees required. The system must be upgraded the necessary enhance © People Within the company Here the organization should thinkin Mba When ne versions ma to the system, as and when with any upgrade or enhancements, there ek incremental ee 2 technologies are introduced: be , Soinstead of going in for upgrade ae lot of oy aspects i the new enhancements. AS the organization should first analyze the costs an ene anew version anna x have to- 8, ‘vendor,