Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) – part 2
Hiring professional ERP consultants from outside would be the right choice and the most cost-effective way for implementing ERP systems. These people are ERP vendors or third-party consulting companies, and their services is of three types – consulting, customization, and support. Client companies also employ specialists of program management, business analysis, change management, or UAT to prioritize their business requirements during ERP implementation. The length of ERP implementation depends upon many factors such as size of the business, extent of customization, number of modules, scope of the change, and willingness of customer to take ownership of the project. The project is split into various phase-ins. A typical ERP project can take around 14 months, requiring 150 consultants. It could run to years for a multinational company.
Data migration is strategic to the success of ERP implementation, and requires the following steps:
1. Identification of data to be migrated
2. Determination of data migration timing
3. Generation of data templates
4. Freezing of tools for data migration
5. Decision with regard to migration setups
6. Decision on data archiving
Since ERP vendors have a standard business process package, problem arises when there is a business process mismatch, resulting in failure of ERP projects. So, it becomes essential that a through analysis of present business process is performed by the organization and select that ERP vendor whose ERP modules represent a close match to that analysis. Redesign of business process can be made later if necessary. This redesign has caused some organizations to gain competitive advantage, while some have actually lost it. Business process mismatch can be reduced by:
- linking of all current organizational processes to the strategy of the organization
- analyzing whether each process is effective in relation to its current related business capability
- understanding the currently implemented automated solutions
Filed under: Lean Tools and Techniques,Six Sigma Methodologies | Tags: Enterprise Resource Planning