The next step, after choosing your perfect ERP implementation plan, is to put it into action. The process of establishing an ERP is not uncommonly difficult, as you are well aware.
Regrettably, you are also aware that ERP implementations often fail and that much preparation is required for this project to be successful.
What is an ERP implementation?
Your company’s production, sales, human resources, and finance departments will all feel the effects of an ERP system rollout. When an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system is set up and made operational throughout a whole organization, it is referred to as an “ERP implementation.”
To make sure everything runs well, it’s a good idea to talk to important people before and during the implementation to make sure everyone is on the same page. Due to the extensive data cleansing and migration required to build an EPR system, the procedure often takes months.
What is the ERP implementation process?
The ERP deployment process encompasses software installation, data transfer (including financial and transactional data), process mapping, and user training. If your ERP deployment succeeds or fails, it will be because of this procedure.
We have created this guide to help you plan your ERP deployment from start to finish. Our topic will be: with the help of helpful hints, expert commentary, and clear, comprehensive explanations
- How to implement an ERP system in seven simple-to-follow steps
- Creating an effective change management plan (and who should be helping you implement it)
- Hidden ERP implementation costs, and how to forecast them
- Migrating your existing data to your new ERP system
- Going live, and how to evaluate the success of your project
Unfortunately, it cannot execute your ERP on your behalf. But it will provide you with the data, tools, and templates you need to learn the implementation process inside and out, improving your project’s odds of success.
What are the steps of ERP implementation?
- Recruit members to work on the ERP project: deciding who should lead the group charged with facilitating a seamless rollout of your system throughout all divisions
- Framework for managing ERP changes: figure out how you can assist your team as they move from outdated systems to the new ones throughout the implementation phase.
- Budgeting for the ERP rollout: how much should it cost to deploy ERP, and are there any unexpected expenses?
- The first step in migrating data from one system to another is to create a strategy, and this is where you should begin.
- Employee resource planning (ERP) training: how to determine the appropriate level of training for each user
- Guidelines for Conducting an ERP “go-live” means you’re prepared to launch your system to the public; now what?
- Now that you’ve finished implementing your ERP system, it’s time to evaluate its success.
1. Bring together an ERP project team
To start, you’re going to have a rather hard time figuring this out all by yourself. Building a strong and committed ERP installation team will alleviate a lot of the stress you’re experiencing.
To start with, you’ll need the following ‘core’ members:
- Project manager: the leader. You, probably.
- Application analyst: responsible for data migration and cleansing
- Application developer: in charge of system customization
- QA test engineer: heads up system testing and performance efforts
However, you’ll require more personnel to guarantee a seamless deployment across all departments (and to prevent the entire workforce from dismissing your well planned strategies as ‘IT telling us what to do’).
These will differ from one firm to another based on the features they are adopting in their ERP system, and they will also be heavily influenced by the people who are considered significant stakeholders in their business.
Here are some example stakeholders you should include when implementing various functions:
| Stakeholder | Function of interests |
| Senior management | Data analysis, reporting, and business intelligence |
| Accounting | Management of general ledger, accounts, assets, and cash |
| Engineers & shop floor staff | digital design, project lifecycle management, production scheduling, |
| Shop floor workers | Document management, inventory, designs |
| Sales department | Forecasting, BI, CRM functions |
| Warehouse staff | Inventory, WMS, SCM, mobile device integration |
Should I hire an ERP implementation consultant?
To put it simply, yes, if you are able to pay for it and do not have the necessary skills in-house. If you choose an implementation consultant with expertise, they will have seen it all and know how to avoid potential pitfalls.
However, if your budget is too limited or your accounts department is known to be tight-fisted, you shouldn’t despair; it is feasible to effectively deploy without one.
How long should an ERP implementation take?
Around what amount of time can an ERP system be set up? You shouldn’t hurry through an ERP deployment. You should carefully consider and prepare for the changes you will be implementing to your business since your ERP will affect every aspect of it.
The typical duration of an ERP deployment is four to eight months; however, this time frame is flexible and can be shortened or lengthened based on the project’s complexity. An out-of-the-box solution may have a shorter implementation window, meaning smaller organizations may just need a few months to adopt it.
It would take far more time—possibly even years—to effectively launch and deploy the system company-wide for a more complicated installation for a worldwide corporation with modifications, various locations, currencies, and languages.
2. Create an ERP implementation change management plan
There are two perspectives on this.
You should start by creating a detailed strategy for your ERP installation and assigning tasks to your implementation team members based on their areas of expertise.
While this document serves as a comprehensive blueprint for an ERP installation timeline, the following checklist should help you gain a rapid grasp of the tasks at hand. Before you start your implementation, you need to get ready for the following:
- Budgeting and cost forecasting for implementation
- Formulating a timetable for the ERP rollout
- Transforming information into the new format
- Improving ERP User Skill Sets
- Getting your ERP system ready for launch
- tasks performed at the actual launch
- Assessing the outcome of your undertaking
Look around and pick the one that works best with your company’s project management approach; tools like Trello, Google Sheets, and Wrike are great for teamwork on projects like ERP installs.
Secondly, you should devise strategies to maintain the company’s support during the deployment. Disruption is inevitable in every process of change, although it can be lessened by:
- Clear communication of any anticipated disruption
- Allowing adequate time for user training
- Taking key stakeholder needs into account (you’re halfway there with this already, having included representatives in your project team)
3. Forecast your ERP implementation costs and draft a budget
How much does ERP implementation cost?
What a brilliant inquiry. If the solution were simple, more individuals would offer to volunteer to supervise ERP implementation projects, and fewer would go over budget.
A recent report from Software Thinktank states:
- 35% of ERP implementations were over budget by 0%-25%
- 15% were over budget by 26%-50%
- 6% were over budget by more than 50%
It appears that more than 50% of ERP projects end up going over budget. Budgeting, it goes without saying, is fraught with peril; exercise extreme caution.
Nonetheless, it is feasible to specify a few charges. Generally speaking, businesses should plan to set aside at least one percent of their yearly gross revenue to cover the expense of implementing an enterprise resource planning system.
In order to keep from being surprised by unexpected expenses, you should account for all of the following in your implementation budget:
- Hardware/network upgrades: these will be far higher if you are implementing an on-premise system
- Staff overtime pay: an important one to remember – “we didn’t budget for overtime pay, sorry” is not a line that will go down well with your team
- Vendor training, customization and consultancy fees: if you’re lucky your vendor may have included these in the initial software price, but this is definitely not a given. Always check
- Data backups and storage: these are often bundled with cloud ERP costs – but again – always check.
While the exact cost of an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system can vary greatly based on variables like company size, needs, and user count, a recent analysis from Software Path estimated that, on average, businesses spend over $9,000 per user in 2022.
Keep in mind that user training and change management only account for 10% of the budgets of the 95% of organizations whose ERP implementations fail. So, be sure to include ERP training expenses in your budget.
Advice: To achieve the most accurate numbers, you need also account for lost productivity during the installation. No matter how efficient you are, there will be a dip in output while the system is up and running.
4. Start migrating your ERP data
You’ve done all the planning you can. You may now begin the meat and potatoes of migrating your business to the new ERP.
The initial stage in implementation is data migration; if done correctly, it will provide a strong basis for the rest of the process. Things can begin to fall apart if you make a mistake.
Since this is their area of expertise, your application analyst should take the lead. Get ready to provide a hand with:
- Data cleansing and verification
- Database setup
- Mapping legacy data to new database fields
- Data transfer to the new system
- Testing and verification of legacy data
- Testing and verification of new data inputs
5. Start training your ERP user base
Your ERP installation project’s success hinges on user acceptance, which in turn depends on having an appropriate user training strategy.
Training your staff may be done in a variety of ways, but the two main categories are “in-person” and “e-learning.”
| Training method | Pros | Cons |
| In-person | Ensures all employees attend through compulsory sessions | Difficult to coordinate across large workforces, especially with shift workers |
| E-learning | Easily customized to specific roles; easier to coordinate than in-person training | Encouraging employees to complete on top of regular work can be difficult |
An analysis of the benefits and drawbacks of traditional classroom instruction vs online alternatives
No matter what kind of training your employees need, there are four things that must be present in any effective program:
- Role-based training to streamline the process and keep time-poor employees on-side.
- Opportunities for trainees to offer feedback (and for the implementation team to act on it
- Clear communication channels with vendor support teams
Advice: find bright, tech-savvy employees to mentor in becoming ERP experts. Then you can concentrate on what you’re doing best since they’ll handle the low-level user difficulties.
Why not include some game mechanics into your training regimen for maximum effectiveness? A point-based system would increase engagement (89% according to TalentLMS), while 62% said that leaderboards and the chance to compete with coworkers would push people to learn (62%). Take advantage of this.
Motivating your busy staff to engage with training may be as simple as offering little rewards (free food, additional hour for lunch) for everyone who completes training activities on time, or as big as a cash incentive or extra day’s PTO for your top achievers.
6. Plan and initiate your ERP go-live activities
The ‘go-live’ step of your ERP deployment will be far more difficult to organize than your wedding.
In order to prepare, you must:
- System testing (pre- and post-go-live)
- Staff scheduling including required overtime or temporary staff
- Identifying metrics for project evaluation
- Creating a communication strategy for system downtime
- Network speed and reliability checks
- Data backup processes
Here, it’s crucial to communicate not just with your team but also with the rest of the workforce. You must specify who is responsible for what, when it is expected to be completed, and the kind of downtime that is acceptable.
Read on for further information on the ERP deployment go-live phase: Five considerations for an effective ERP rollout
7. Evaluate the success of your ERP implementation project
Determine whether your ERP deployment was a success. Start off with these simple questions:
- Has your company gone bust?
- Are they suing your ERP vendor for breach of contract?
- Did you manage to keep the project anywhere near in-budget?
If so, you’ve probably not done terribly. Give yourself a high five.
To get a bit more in-depth about things, you should use a combination of the following metrics:
- ROI: Have you seen a return on the money you spent on your ERP?
- Decrease in human error: a well-implemented ERP should reduce data errors due to process automation. If your training plan worked, employees should be making the most of these features
- Increase in productivity levels: this speaks for itself. Has the ERP achieved exactly what it set out to do?
- Increase in client satisfaction: have turnaround times increased? Are you processing orders quicker?
Is it time to launch ERP?
I hope so! While considering ERP, keep in mind that it is a massive project that should not be underestimated. Make sure of the following to guarantee a successful ERP implementation:
- Make sure you provide enough time to plan out your ERP deployment; getting the system up and running in your company will take more time than you think. In comparison to adopting before you are ready, spending an additional month preparing and making sure your data is clean and ready for migration and that your team is prepared will save you time and effort in the end.
- Avoid becoming one of the 95% of businesses that failed during installation because they did not invest enough in ERP training and support—make sure your staff has the resources they need. Companies are less likely to support your costly project if you skimp on team training, and you won’t get nearly as much out of the system either. You can’t cut corners on support and training if you want your end users to be proficient with the system and comfortable using it in the course of their daily job.
We have completed the ERP installation plan. Last but not least, every business is unique. For best results, adjust this sample according to your company’s schedule, unique requirements, and peculiarities.
