SPONSORED FEATURE: For many CFOs, choosing an ERP system is like trading up to a new luxury car – they want to step up to maximum performance and value in one fell swoop
But, with a new ERP system, the devil is in the details. Each aspect of it requires careful consideration, because implementing an ERP system is closely linked to the full-scale digital transformation of business processes. Most of the time, when an ERP choice doesn’t work, it’s because an organisation tries to do everything at once, trying to replace legacy hardware and software at one go. This usually results in unrealistic timeframes, missed deadlines and ultimately spiralling costs.
“Implementing an ERP system is a complex task, involving planning at many levels, from business strategy to processes to operations and more,” explains consultant Olga Annenko. "When companies try to do this too rapidly, without carefully planned integration, they usually fail.”
Annenko cites an important German industrial automation producer that has tried, each year, for the past three years, to implement an ERP system. Each year there is a push to have it ready by Christmas, and each year several departments have been unable to get ready in time.
To make implementation successful, choose the right vendor:
1. Make a clear and extensive list of requirements before discussions with vendors. Begin by carefully defining the scope of your project, and break down the business processes into operations that the ERP system can support. Dealing with a single vendor who can address all these requirements is enormously helpful. Developers like IT DEV Group have vast expertise in all the major sectors, and working with just one vendor reduces complexity on every level.
2. Choose a trusted partner. This can make a vast difference to success or failure in ERP system implementation. Developers like IT DEV Group, with its rich offer of functionalities, and long experience in integrating such solutions, can help a company to grow into an ERP solution, perhaps starting with the core finance engine or expenses automation, and working out from there. Such a partner should be able to grow with the company as it develops the system, adding functionalities where needed at the right pace to succeed. And such a partner will not hesitate to suggest alternatives when it thinks the company is headed down the wrong path.
3. Choose a vendor who can offer the most advanced solutions. IT DEV Group, for example, has a long track record of providing enterprise-level software to the middle market, applying deep sector expertise, giving them the capabilities that were once the preserve of big business.
4. Work with a forward-looking vendor. A vendor should provide ERP system planning so that long-term evolution is taken into account. Companies should not have to look again at the system in a few years’ time. IT DEV Group provides a verified roadmap for the long-term, one that could be advanced and expanded by its own development teams to evolve the product set.
5. Name a board-level sponsor. To ensure that there is buy-in across the enterprise, a board-level sponsor should take ownership of the project, working closely with the trusted partner.
An experienced vendor, like IT DEV Group, can help companies build a team of key stakeholders to manage the implementation. The company should bring the right people in the business to the implementation discussions to reduce risk and enable a successful project across the enterprise.
This should also bring in those users who can contribute to making the implementation a success. For example, if reporting on a project-by-project basis is critical for the business, it could make sense to get project managers involved.
ERP implementation is not just about the software. It’s very much about the company behind the software. An experienced and expert developers like the IT DEV Group can go far to ensure that your company gets the full value of the implementation. Choose erp application development .
Also read:
Bình luận