ERP Software Implementation Best Practices

If you are looking for Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Software Implementation Best Practices – it means that you have already decided on the product. It is important you find software that is capable to meet the requirements your company needs to work and interact with clients and suppliers.

Once you have decided on a product, the software is no longer your sole focus.

What drives ERP Implementation Success?

For an ERP project – 80% of success is –

• How you implement the ERP – the project and change planning
• How the execution of the architecture you design within the ERP package aligns to your business and its aims
• The quality of the team you use to execute

Failure of ERP is more common than you might expect. If we give thought to understand the main failure points, we can take action to avoid them. In this article, we are recommending the best practices for ERP implementation – 

ERP Best Practices before you start

Before you start the ERP implementation ensure that you –

• Identify benefits
• Know what you want to achieve
• Quantify benefits
• Establish what needs to change to deliver the benefits
• Get buy in and sign off on the achievable benefits
• Have senior management support
• Be clear on your detail requirements
• Ensure you see the details covered that makes you different
• Prepare to plan

Best Practices for ERP during Discovery – Design Phase

During the Discovery and Design Phase follow these best practices –

• Define the As-Is at a level more detailed than you might expect
• Create a Gap Analysis between what you are doing in reality and what you could be doing if you lost the spreadsheets, Databases etc.
• Work out what changes are implied
• Recognise that process change may need to happen and start thinking of how
• Get business sign off
• Create a Statement of Requirements that or each functional area details and questions the things that make you unique
• Don’t fill the SoR with the stuff that’s like everyone else
• Design the system architecture selection using any process changes implied by the preferred ‘To Be’
• Doing a proper discovery may uncover Quick Win opportunities

ERP Best Practices for Team & Processes

• Select your team members on ability
• Make sure business managers understand why change is happening and what it means 
• Plan the project management and the chess moves for change well in advance
• Have a process in place to realise change and benefits

ERP implementation – Execution Best Practices

• Success needs the alignment of all three elements – Software, Method, Cast
• Can’t focus on one element in isolation
• It’s a combination of the three that leads to success
• Resolve short-cuts and barriers
• Often the focus is on the software  which is not an effective method

Need Help with ERP implementation?

Do you need help with your next ERP implementation project? NS Success – the Oracle NetSuite ERP Implementation Experts are there to help. Please connect with us for NetSuite ERP Implementation and Support.