Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Paul Bruges
The ASAP Roadmap is a detailed project plan by SAP that describes all activities
in an implementation. It includes the entire technical area to support technical
project management and address things like interfaces, data conversions and
authorizations earlier than in most traditional implementations.
Project Preparation,
Business Blueprint,
Realization,
Final Preparation and,
Go live and support continuous change.
Accelerated SAP's “Project Estimator” can be used to guide the project team
through a series of predefined questions, and drives interviews with senior
executives and key operating managers about their expectations of R/3 and the
speed of its deployment.
Phase 4 - Final Preparation: In this phase, the R/3 system is fine-tuned. Necessary
adjustments are made in order to prepare the system and the business for
production start-up. Final system tests are conducted and end-user training is
completed. Initial audit procedures are developed.
Phase 5 - Go Live and Support: In this phase, procedures and measurements are
developed to review the benefits of the R/3 investment on an ongoing basis. SAP
support and services are provided to ensure that the system continues to run
smoothly. The Online Service System (OSS) provides electronic support using a
remote connection. The “Implementation Assistant” provides answers for most
questions that may arise. it is an easy-to-use repository of information defining
what to do, who should do it, and how long it should take.
Ernst & Young LLP has developed a system re-engineering approach called “The
Total Solution.” The Total Solution approach has five components:
Phase 1 - The Value Proposition: Building the business case. The key before any
process can begin is to make sure it makes sound business sense. The following
questions should be answered before the process is started:
· Is the technology investment justified?
· Does it match the company's objectives?
· Does management understand what change means, and does that change
have full support?
· What is the framework for making decisions?
· What milestones will measure the project's progress?
· Is value being delivered throughout the process?
Phase 4 - Success Dimension: The right blend of people, skills, methods, and
management is important to the project’s success. The implementation team
should include people with skills in process management, change management,
knowledge management, and industry skills. Teamwork is very important.
Deloitte & Touche Consulting Group believes that their Fast Track implementation
methodology can enhance and accelerate ERP software implementations no
matter if your business objective involves global reengineering, process
improvement or software replacement. The five phase Fast Track workplan with its
specific activities help achieve a rapid high-quality business transformation:
· Scoping and Planning: Project planning is initiated;
· Visioning and Targeting: Vision and targets are identified;
· Redesign: Software design and development are started;
· Configuration: Integration is planned.
· Testing and Delivery: System is delivered.
Fast Track is designed to reflect and integrate decisions regarding business
redesign, organizational change and performance, training, process and systems
integrity, client/server technologies and technical architecture. Fast Track identifies
five areas (groups) as an individual thread to be woven into a cohesive fabric
through its five phase workplan. The areas and a list of the functions performed are
as follows:
· Project Management which includes project organization, risk management,
planning, monitoring, communications, budgeting, staffing, and quality assurance;
· Information Technology Architecture which includes hardware and network
selection, procurement, installation, operations, software design, development, and
installation;
· Process and Systems Integrity which includes security and audit control;
· Change Leadership which includes organizations design, change readiness,
policies and procedures, and performance measurements;
· Training and Documentation which includes training design and delivery for
project team, management, end-users, operations, and helpdesk.
Now that we know more about implementation methodologies, let’s take a look at
the ERP lifecycle. The ERP lifecycle is structured in phases, which consist of the
several stages that an ERP system goes through during its whole life within the
hosting organization. The stages are:
Adoption Decision,
Acquisition,
Implementation,
Use and Maintenance,
Evolution, and
Retirement phase.
Adoption Decision Phase: In this phase, managers must question the need of a
new ERP system while selecting the general information system approach that will
best address their critical business challenges and improve the organizational
strategy. This decision phase includes the definition of system requirements, its
goals and benefits, and an analysis of the impact of adoption at a business and
organizational level.
Acquisition Phase: This phase involves selecting the product that best fits the
requirements of the organization to minimize the need for customization. A
consulting company is also selected to help in the phases of the ERP lifecycle that
follow, especially in the implementation phase. Factors such as functionality, price,
training and maintenance services are analyzed and the contractual agreement are
defined. In this phase it is also important to analyze the return on investment of the
product selected.
Use and Maintenance Phase: This phase consists of the use of the product in a
way that returns expected benefits and minimizes disruption. During this phase,
functionality, usability, and adequacy to the organizational and business processes
are important. Once a system is implemented, it must be maintained. Because
malfunctions have to be corrected, special optimization requests must be met, and
general systems improvements have to be implemented.
Evolution Phase: In this phase, additional capabilities are Integrated into the ERP
system to obtain additional benefits. The extensions can be classified in two types:
Evolution "upwards". Functionality is oriented to decision making with applications
such as advanced planning and scheduling, data warehouses, and business
intelligence systems;
Evolution "outward" to the system’s environment, with applications such as
customer relationship management, supply-chain management, inter-
organizational workflow, and electronic commerce.
The three methodologies that we discussed earlier seem to ignore the evolution
and retirement phases. This might be due to the fact that they are primarily
implementation methodologies. They are mainly focusing on adoption decision,
acquisition, implementation, and use and maintenance phases. Companies using
an ERP need to take into consideration these two last phases because they will
live with their system for the next five to ten years. They need to take into
consideration the ERP lifecycle. So, ERP methodologies need to go beyond the
implementation and cover the complete ERP lifecycle.
References
www.umsl.edu/~sauter
www.jdedwards.com
www.baan.com
www.oracle.com
www.peoplesoft.com
www.sap.com
www.microsoft.com
www.ey.com
www.deloitte.com
www.bearingpoint.com
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