IMPLEMENTERS AND RE-IMPLEMENTERS

IMPLEMENTERS AND RE-IMPLEMENTERS

This post deals with how to implement ERP at a Class A level. Further,  it  applies  to  both  first-time  implementers  and  to  re-implementers, companies  whose  first  implementation  resulted  in Class C or D results and who now want to get the full bang for their buck. For those of you who’ll be re-implementing, be of good cheer:

Many  companies  now  getting  Class  A  results  got  there  via  re-implementation. The steps involved in a re-implementation are vir-tually identical to a first-time implementation; the main difference is that  some  of  the  necessary  steps  may  have  already  been  accom-plished satisfactorily.

Many companies today need to re-implement. Some of these are companies who, as we saw earlier, thought they were implement-ing ERP, but actually were only installing enterprise software. Their motivations were largely software-driven: Y2K compliance, legacy systems becoming unworkable, multiple hardware platforms sup-porting too many operational systems, etc. The problem is that, in many  cases,  the  new  software  was  installed  but  not  much  else changed.

Many companies’ ERP implementations in the past started out with  the  best  intentions  in  the  world.  Company  S,  for  example, wanted to re-engineer and improve processes, to improve the way they managed the business, and to give far better customer service to an increasingly demanding customer base. During the implementa-tion, however, they were overwhelmed by the software. Enterprise software tends to be highly complex, and complexity can make it very difficult to install. As the implementation project took longer

and longer, and cost more and more, top management became more and more impatient. The result: a decision to forget about imple-menting better business processes and just get the software running. 

Thus, Company S has new software but is still running the busi-ness in much the same old way, and thus they need to re-implement. If you’re in this category, this book is intended for you every bit as much as for the company implementing for the first time.