CIO.com has a very funny (in a sad but true way) post by Thomas Wailgum outlining the 5 steps to ERP software success. From his post;
- Meet with ERP vendor, get taken to expensive sporting event/dinner by sales rep, and select appropriate software package. (And don’t forget to send the check!)
- Install ERP system!
- Integrate with other systems. (Repeat as necessary.)
- Provide thick “How To” manuals—chock-full of Clipart—to users!
- Sit back, relax and enjoy your new ERP system!*
Thomas has included all sorts of “fine print” around step number 5. Check out his post to get the details.
I’d like to add a couple of points that Thomas may have overlooked (I’ve also posted this as a comment to Thomas’s article);
3b. Integrate with other components of the “Suite” (You don’t think that just because you bought software from the same vendor that you wouldn’t have to integrate it, do you?)
3c. Make sure that you use high priced integration consultants recommended by the ERP Vendor…this is WAAAAYYYYY to complicated to do yourself.
4b. Provide lot’s of “happy pills” to your executive team (they are NOT going to be happy with the loss of productivity as people stumble around trying to figure out the new system)
5b. Don’t forget to send in that annual extortion maintenance check. It’s important to pay so that your ERP vendor can fix their existing bugs – and add new bugs features.
5c. Invest in some earplugs…you really don’t want to hear the howls of anguish from your users.
Do you have other advice? Let’s hear it!
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Tags: Enterprise resource planning (ERP), Supply chain management software
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4.c. Worse yet keep in mind the poor CIOs and Supply Chain Managers who lose their jobs because they cann’t about the CEO’s expected results within 24 hours (especially if the ERP system was the CEO’s brain child) after the consultants leave, never to be heard from again.
6. And even worse yet don’t forget about those rather knowlegable customers out there who know what the impact of implementing a complex ERP can be and refuse to buy from your company knowing full well that you won’t be able to make delivery dates and your prices will invariably go up.
My favourite recollection is when a CEO had to stand in front of shareholders at the annual general meeting and say how badly sales had fallen during the year, inventory was too high resulting in lower profit and that it was all a surprise. During the question time one shareholder stood up and asked him this question, ‘Your company just paid milions of dollars to install a new company-wide ERP system. How is it that you were surprised?’