10 Keys to ERP Go Live in an Agile Era
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Decide on the measurements or success. No matter how small the go live, it cannot be judged a success without success metrics. Call them KPIs, call them “perormance milestones,” but nd a way to measure gains in productive and perormance. SAP Solution Manager, properly congured, can help to measure system perormance which can be tied to internal KPIs. Develop a “center o excellence” mindset. ERP is a long term commitment. Without a center o excellence approach, employees take undocumented knowledge with them when they leave. Dependence on consultants leads to cost overruns. ASUG and other use groups are developing a growing body o knowledge on building a center o excellence. Pick MVPs or your go live team. Successul go live stories are lled with talented representatives rom key business units. The “olks that cannot be spared” or the go live are the exact ones that need to be there. Backll/cross-train/plan or their presence on the ERP project. Pick team members who have a combination o deep company process know-how and high infuence amongst their workgroup peers. The New Rules o ERP: 10 Keys to ERP Go Live in an Agile Era With the introduction o ERP 6.0 and NetWeaver Enhancement Packages, SAP mini go lives happ en requently , bringing the same testing and change management issues associated with a ull blown SAP implementation. Whatever the size o the go live, h ere are some tips to ensure that when you fip the switch, you’ ll like what you see. xecutive THE MAGAZINE FOR SAP MANAGERS 1 2 3 ! ! ! Seize the opportunity to standardize and consolidate. In many cases, SAP’s new releases provide opportunities to drop redundant systems and standardize on out-o-the-box unctionality. Previous customizations are not always needed. Firms like Panaya provide the capability to identiy obsolete code prior to upgrade. 4 !
Transcript of 10 Keys to ERP Go Live in an Agile Era
8/8/2019 10 Keys to ERP Go Live in an Agile Era
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Decide on the measurements or success.No matter how small the go live, it cannot be judged a success without success metrics.
Call them KPIs, call them “per ormance milestones,” but nd a way to measure gains inproductive and per ormance.
SAP Solution Manager, properly con gured, can help to measuresystem per ormance which can be tied to internal KPIs.
Develop a “center o excellence” mindset.ERP is a long term commitment. Without a center o excellence approach, employees takeundocumented knowledge with them when they leave. Dependence on consultants leadsto cost overruns.
ASUG and other use groups are developing a growing body oknowledge on building a center o excellence.
Pick MVPs or your go live team.
Success ul go live stories are lled with talented representatives rom key business units.The “ olks that cannot be spared” or the go live are the exact ones that need to be there.Back ll/cross-train/plan or their presence on the ERP project.
Pick team members who have a combination o deep company processknow-how and high infuence amongst their workgroup peers.
The New Rules o ERP:
10 Keys to ERP Go Live in an Agile EraWith the introduction o ERP 6.0 and NetWeaver Enhancement Packages, SAP mini go lives happen requently,bringing the same testing and change management issues associated with a ull blown SAP implementation.Whatever the size o the go live, here are some tips to ensure that when you fip the switch, you’ll like what you see.
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Seize the opportunity to standardize and consolidate.In many cases, SAP’s new releases provide opportunities to drop redundant systems andstandardize on out-o -the-box unctionality. Previous customizations are not always needed.
Firms like Panaya provide the capability to identi y obsolete code priorto upgrade.
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Engage independent voices on the project.Many projects take a bad turn due to excessive reliance on one vendor with a vestedinterest. A third party auditor or a well respected subject matter expert like an SAP Mentorcan provide a valuable (and sometimes dissenting) perspective prior to crucial decisions. Theymay know o workarounds and alternative approaches not proposed by your main vendor.
Select one top notch independent in the speci c ocus o your go live(Xcelsius, New GL, NetWeaver Portals, XI/PI, etc.).
Respect the distinction between change management and training.Companies o ten merge change management and training tasks to save on costs. But ichange management gets pushed too ar into the training cycle, users will not buy into thenew system. Involve users early on in the process, prior to crucial workfow decisions.
With more requent go lives in the “Enhancement Package era,” don’t relyon outside consultancies or all your organizational change management.Find (and promote) an internal champion.
Anticipate integration sna us.One o the most common ERP go live sna us is third party incompatibility. Develop a pre-go-live roadmap o all the applications implicated in the go live and plan or integration testingaccordingly.
When possible, move away rom vendors that are not certi ed tointegrate with SAP and lean towards partners with close ties to SAPgoing orward.
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When you customize, head to the cloud.The latest ERP systems are highly con gurable, making the route o standardized ERP
unctionality less problematic. But there are always areas where customizations are needed.Save those or the vital competitive processes that separate you rom your peers. And whenyou do plan to customize, go to the “cloud” whenever possible. Look into SOA and REST-based approaches that allow you to “compose” your killer app on top o your ERP system –without altering source code.
The SAP Developer Network has a vibrant community o “smart geeks”who are always experimenting with ni ty ways o building new webapps on top o SAP.
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Reward those who achieve the targets.Those who can complete success ul go lives and measure those results are going to receivetheir share o job o ers and project solicitations. Reward the high achievers.
Financial bonuses are not always the best reward or high per ormanceERP talent. Send them all expenses paid to the trade show o theirchoosing instead, or o er to match dollar or dollar their next trainingand certi cation.
Post-implementation audits determine the value o the installation.“Go live with no problems” is not enough to justi y a modern ERP go live. Plan or post-implementation audits at appropriate intervals (e.g. one month/three months/six months) toassess go live benchmarks and troubleshoot areas o disappointment.
An outside expert like Eric Kimberling o Panorama Consulting, one nota liated with a particular vendor, can help de ne the goals o an “ROIaudit.”
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