Top 10 Key Elements to Successful ERP System Deployment-Key Element #8

AIT’s Professional Services Group is responsible for managing the implementation of an ERP deployment, making sure the project is properly resourced and executed. Our role with clients really starts during the sales process where we gather information about the company, its requirements, and the unique problems it is trying to solve. We get an idea of the personality and culture of the company. That gives us a great head start to hit the ground running after a contract is signed. AIT has developed a list of the top 10 keys to successful ERP deployment.

Top 10 Key Elements to a Successful ERP System Deployment

      1.      Develop a project mission statement

      2.      Get executive team commitment

      3.      Identify and define the scope; map requirements to objectives

      4.      Establish methodology, realistic resources, and timeline

      5.      Identify, designate, and support key personnel

      6.      Prepare your data

      7.      Create a training plan

      8.      Conduct pilots to work out the kinks

       9.     Take steps to ensure things progress as expected 

     10.   Measure results

Conduct pilots to work out the kinks

We schedule as many as three pilots before go-live with each implementation. The first pilot tests processes by functional business area to observe how the system operates on a day-to-day basis. We determine what does and doesn’t work with these processes and improve accordingly. The second pilot is an end-to-end dress rehearsal to assess the hand-off from one function to another – ensuring processes are running as intended from start to finish. Occasionally, additional tweaks are made to finalize these processes and a third pilot will confirm our mutual assurance of quality before go-live.

Top 10 Key Elements to a Successful ERP System Deployment-Key Element #7

AIT’s Professional Services Group is responsible for managing the implementation of an ERP deployment, making sure the project is properly resourced and executed. Our role with clients really starts during the sales process where we gather information about the company, its requirements, and the unique problems it is trying to solve. We get an idea of the personality and culture of the company. That gives us a great head start to hit the ground running after a contract is signed. AIT has developed a list of the top 10 keys to successful ERP deployment.

Top 10 Key Elements to a Successful ERP System Deployment

      1.      Develop a project mission statement

      2.      Get executive team commitment

      3.      Identify and define the scope; map requirements to objectives

      4.      Establish methodology, realistic resources, and timeline

      5.      Identify, designate, and support key personnel

      6.      Prepare your data

      7.      Create a training plan

      8.      Conduct pilots to work out the kinks

      9.      Take steps to ensure things as expected (establish a method to resolve conflict and issues)

     10.  Measure results

Create a training plan

At the beginning of the project, we determine what modules will require training and develop a strategy for education. We will work with your team to provide a mutually acceptable step-by-step training agenda and will schedule it into the overall implementation. This is typically handled with a two-phased approach. 

The first phase includes standard training on how CloudSuite™ Industrial (Syteline) works out of the box, including best practices. The training comprises a combination of online training, with self and instructor-led approaches. The second phase includes a more targeted onsite instructor-led method of working through our clients’ specific processes to provide operational alignment. 

Top 10 Key Elements to a Successful ERP System Deployment-Key Element #6

AIT’s Professional Services Group is responsible for managing the implementation of an ERP deployment, making sure the project is properly resourced and executed. Our role with clients really starts during the sales process where we gather information about the company, its requirements, and the unique problems it is trying to solve. We get an idea of the personality and culture of the company. That gives us a great head start to hit the ground running after a contract is signed. AIT has developed a list of the top 10 keys to successful ERP deployment.

Top 10 Key Elements to a Successful ERP System Deployment

      1.      Develop a project mission statement

      2.      Get executive team commitment

      3.      Identify and define the scope; map requirements to objectives

      4.      Establish methodology, realistic resources, and timeline

      5.      Identify, designate, and support key personnel

      6.      Prepare your data

      7.      Create a training plan

      8.      Conduct pilots to work out the kinks

      9.      Take steps to ensure things as expected (establish a method to resolve conflict and issues)

     10.  Measure results

Prepare your data

Data conversion impacts the success of an ERP implementation. Analysis and strategic decisions start at the beginning of the project. It’s critical to identify ahead of time what data will need to be transferred, with an emphasis on how many years of historical data you wish to convert, who is responsible, and how much clean-up is required.

An example is when a client converts from their legacy system to CloudSuite™ Industrial (SyteLine), the client must prepare and cleanse their existing customer and vendor data. They may discover that address fields between legacy and the new systems are used differently and must be updated prior to being moved to the new system.

When you consider clean up, account for the fact that a customer may not have placed an order in several years –it might be more practical to add them as a new customer rather than spend the time transferring their data over from the legacy system.