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Implementation Issues
Implementation Issues
Cost/Benefit

ƥ Complexity (and therefore cost) of ERP exceeds the

requirements of some companies
ƥ Complexity of ERP drives costs beyond reasonable
limits
ƥ All the costs may not be known upfront; there are
many hidden costs
ƥ Costs of ERP exceeds benefit
ƥ ERP implementation deviates business focus and
pushes up the costs
Implementation Issues
Implementation Issues
Creating business buy-in
ƥ ERP Is not an IT project; it is a business project.
ƥ It is imperative that business owns it up.
ƥ Business driving holds the key to the success

Procurement of Software
ƥ Methodology- any or the best fit?
ƥ Criteria for selection?
ƥ Version?
ƥ What price to pay? How many licenses? What kind?
ƥ Phasing?
Implementation Issues
Procurement of Hardware
‡ Sizing: methodology?
‡ OS
‡ DB
‡ Vendor?
‡ Data center infrastructure

Implementation Methodology
‡ What role to outsider consultant?
‡ What role to insiders? ; training issues?
‡ How to select the consultant?
‡ On what terms?
Implementation Issues
Project Organization
ƥ Project implementation team, Steering committee
ƥ Role clarity and Delegation of authorities
ƥ Visibility of top management support
ƥ Project management methodology and templates
ƥ Decision class and timeline

Configuration management issues

Ö Integration and testing
Ö Performance issues
Implementation Issues
Data Conversion and migration
‡ Do we migrate old data? If not, the continuity issues?
‡ For what period?
‡ Is the old data good enough for the new data
structure?
‡ Review and reconciliation of old data confirming to
the project schedule
‡ Data cleaning, testing and migration

Master Files management

‡ Who does? Centralized or decentralized?
‡ Authorizations?
‡ Control?
Implementation Issues
Motivational Issues
‡ Embed challenge along with well support system
‡ Counseling and coaching
‡ Communication
‡ Celebrations and recognitions

Knowledge Management
‡ Conscious KM system
‡ Difficult to retain people with good software skills due
to market pressure to leave
‡ What to do with the trained staff after the project?
‡ How to disseminate knowledge
Implementation Issues
Operational Deficiencies

‡ Developing reports
‡ Not all required reports are available at
implementation time
‡ Persistent minor errors and operational issues
‡ Difficulty in integrating with other systems
‡ Software does not have all functionality.. What to do?
‡ Security issues
‡ Authorization issues, resulting in some users being
granted too much access and others not having
access to data they need
Implementation Issues
System Development
‡ Complexity, very few people understand SAP beyond
a single module, making overall design decisions
difficult
‡ Frequency of software upgrades places a large
burden on system maintenance
‡ Frequency with which requirements change, cause
problems for developers
‡ Inadequate system testing may leave errors in the
implemented system
‡ Requested system functionality may sacrificed in
order to meet implementation deadlines
Implementation Issues
System Development..

ƥ Shared knowledge among project team members is a

problem - users do not understand SAP and technical
personnel do not understand user requirements
ƥ System documentation is inadequate, particularly
with respect to system design and controls
ƥ Too little effort put into redesigning the underlying
business processes, resulting in a system that
represented a Ơtechnology swapơ that failed to
capture many of the benefits
Implementation Issues
User Support
ƥ Hand holding
ƥ On-line support to users
ƥ Creation of multi-disciplinary team
ƥ Documentation of issues and solution management
ƥ Training
System Performance
‡ Response time
‡ DB tuning
‡ Infrastructure and Security management
‡ Business continuity
‡ Upgrades
Post Implementation Experience
‡ Data Growth
‡ Authorization and controls: framework of governance
‡ Disaster recovery and Business continuity Plan
‡ New way of working
‡ Assessing implementing benefits: Benchmarking
‡ Attrition of people
‡ Staff redundancy
‡ Role erosion
‡ System use: Issues of culture
‡ Post-ERP structural issues
‡ More investments
Critical factors for successful ERP
ƥ Clear understanding of strategic goals
ƥ Commitment by top management
ƥ Implementation owned & driven by Business
ƥ Excellent project management
ƥ Organizational change management
ƥ A great implementation team
ƥ Data accuracy
ƥ Extensive education and training
ƥ Focused performance measures
ƥ Multisite issues
ƥ Redeployment of staff to new challenging jobs