For your consideration… A recently concluded ERP implementation survey found that 93% of ERP implementations take longer than expected. 93%! How, then, is it unexpected? Here’s another finding: 59% of implementations cost more than initially assumed. There’s a shocker. And 57% suffered “operational stoppages”, which means that they could not carry on their business for some period of time. No wonder people cringe when the subject of ERP software comes up. Unfortunately, it gets worse. I think the worst statistic in this survey by Panorama Consulting Group is that, for all of the grief that the implementations cause, only 21% realized half or more of their projected benefits they were expecting from the software. Dismal.
So what can you do to increase your chances of having a good implementation experience? It looks like some drastic measures might be necessary. However, the number one thing you can do to avoid implementation trouble may just be to avoid the implementation altogether. What I find time and again is that the number one recommendation for improving information flow in the enterprise is to replace the computer information systems such as ERP and CRM. The trouble is that these recommendations are often made by software “consultants” who make their money from selling and implementing the software packages or by internal IT personnel who know little about the flow of information inside their own organization.
In many cases the process of mapping information flow to seek out process improvements is skipped or given short shrift. Manufacturers will hire consultants to help them learn Kaizen (continuous improvement) as it applies to their production processes, but never give a thought to applying the same simple rules to their information flow needs. Did you know that information science has its own branch of the discipline? Business Process Reengineering (BPR) aims to ferret out wasteful, non-value adding work and remove it from the process. Isn’t that a better idea than finding a new way to automate that wasteful process?
Many large companies used BPR in the mid 1990′s to make improvements to their business processes, but most smaller companies missed the wave. Many of the small companies had yet to implement systems like ERP and CRM at that time or were struggling through their first implementation. Today, with the economic situation as it is, small to medium businesses cannot afford to make any mistakes and can’t afford to be wasting even a few hours per week of their time. Now is the time for them to be streamlining processes and improving the way they use the software packages that they already have. Improved processes and adjunct software tools that simplify tasks are often all that is needed to greatly improve information throughput.