We borrow today from a pretty basic but very worthwhile article penned by ERP consultants Panorama Consulting, in which they give company managers five good arguments for persuading those Powers That Be of the need to upgrade their frontline ERP systems – you know, the ones they run their businesses on every day. We’ll reprise their five suggested pathways here today. We thought their comments were smart enough and succinct enough to quote nearly verbatim, but to give due credit, you’ll find the original article here.
- Return on Investment. Executives need to see when, how and where a new system will start paying dividends. Collecting actual data on costs of time-consuming workarounds (e.g., one full-time employee spending x hours/week hand-counting inventory at $x cost) and showing how the system will increase efficiency and free up staff to generate returns via other efforts.
- Measurement Tools. People can be (rightfully) nervous about bloated ERP projects that suck time, energy and money and never meet expectations. Show that a new ERP system will have quantifiable results by identifying and describing key performance indicators of the project. Determine how success will be monitored throughout the implementation and beyond.
- Standardization Strategy. One of the great benefits of an ERP system can be realized via standardization across business units. Identify departments wherein standardization could be most easily achieved (human resources, accounting, customer service, etc.) and develop a strategy to blueprint processes in each of them. ERP consultants like can help you sort through “current state” processes to build the “future state” processes needed for enhanced business benefits and ERP system utilization. Documenting and mapping processes is essential prior to software selection.
- Change Management. Investigate and document previous training and organizational change management initiatives conducted by your company. What worked? What didn’t? What do end-users need to increase usability, or to save time or money? Create channels of communication with end-users to start achieving buy-in and determining change management strategies from the beginning. Document what they say and communicate it to the executive level.
- Total Cost of Ownership. Executives should have a clear picture of the total cost of ownership (TCO) for their purchases. Panorama suggests TCO should be quantified for at least seven years. Sounds about right to us. Executives don’t like surprises. Work with your consultant to determine the true TCO including licensing, resources, integration and customization.
All in all, doing this is not easy, but it’s actually very manageable when viewed as steps in a process. You can do it, and a little help from your consultant will easily cap off a reasonable proposal if everyone keeps the end goal in sight and moves efficiently. You won’t be the first, nor the last. And early in the year is the best time to begin.