Top 5 ERP Implementation Best Practices

Nov 02, 2017

The adoption of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solutions to streamline business processes has grown exponentially in the past few years. ERP systems have now branched out to include functionalities for manufacturing, procurement, HR, etc. As our obsession for the post-digital “everything needs to be connected” environment grows, many organizations have identified ERP platforms as the perfect solution to connect, control, and capitalize on every day gains with the help of data.

Traditionally, IT teams have been responsible for the specification and implementation of technology resources within the organization. Transitioning from existing legacy systems into an agile ERP system requires significant resources, time, money, and indulgence from stakeholders and users at every level of the organization. This makes it incredibly important to get the correct software and the correct implementation partner, as they can determine the success or failure of your ERP rollout.

Here are 5 ERP best practices to ensure implementation success for your organization.

1). Understanding & Prioritizing Your Key Requirements

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An ERP software is expected to be a key component of managing your core business processes. As such, gaining a complete understanding of the processes in your organization and how they function and affect your overall business is pivotal while choosing your vendor and ERP software. Another crucial part of this evaluation phase is prioritizing your processes. You should build a strategy by putting your immediate needs on top of the priority list, followed by long term strategic goals.

2). Establishing Key Performance Metrics for a Positive ROI

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How do you measure if your ERP implementation is a success or not? By establishing Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that will allow you to quantifiably measure the performance of your software post-implementation. You can build a solid business case for your software by using these KPIs to judge whether or not you need customizations to the software—and how they will affect your ROI. You can also use the KPIs to judge the value your vendor provides to you.

3). Invest Time in Training

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ERP software implementations not only affect your systems and business processes, they also affect the day-to-day work of the people who are expected to use the system. You cannot expect all your employees to pick up a system from the get go. Investing a little time in the training of your employees in the new software can go a long way towards satisfying your users and deriving much greater ROI from the tool in the long run.

4). Get Data Migration Out of the Way Early

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Your data is one of the main assets of your organization. Any successful ERP implementation will require you to transfer your data from the old system to the new one. Most companies put off data migration until late in the implementation process, which can have a negative impact. The sooner you start doing it, the more time you will have to test the data, and the lower the odds of data loss occurring. Be sure to prioritize your data for migration. You don’t have to migrate all the old data just the pertinent parts. 

5). Get Everyone Onside

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Every best-in-class ERP implementation has one thing in common. It has everyone in the organization from the boardroom level to the daily user level pulling together for the same cause. If your board is not comfortable with the budget, and if your users are not comfortable changing software, you’re in for a tough ride. It is important to communicate properly with everyone to make sure they are on the same page to ensure your ERP implementation success.

ProV is a premier global IT service delivery company that specializes in implementation help for organizations like yours. We work with you to make sure you have the correct software fit, specific for your organization. We follow up with best-in-class implementation techniques that save you money and time, and contribute to a higher ROI than you imagined. To learn more about how we use technology to simplify business processes and make organizations more agile, drop a comment below or contact us today.

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Topics: ERP, IFS