7 Safety Tips for a Successful ERP Project

When I first saw the movie Titanic back in 1997, I remember wondering why it was considered such a romantic movie. Sure, there’s the iconic picture of Leonardo Dicaprio and Kate Winslet on the bow of the ship leaning into the wind with their hair blowing. OK, that’s romantic. They were a dashing couple riding the high seas on a glamorous trans-Atlantic voyage. Again, that’s pretty romantic.

Still, as I reminded my lovely fiancée when we saw the movie, the SHIP SANK! The brilliant engineer designed a boat that was supposedly unsinkable and the brave captain piloted it right into an ICEBERG. Sorry - not romantic.

When I started managing and consulting on ERP software projects with Baan in the 90’s, I started with romantic notions of what IT projects would be like. As long as I had the right equipment and an experienced crew then all my projects would be successful, right?

After 17+ years of voyages, I’m a bit more jaded but no less sure that ERP or any other enterprise software projects can avoid Davy Jones Locker. That’s because I’ve seen a few projects go to their watery grave and, fortunately, lived to tell the story.

Now I know that if you aren’t equipped to run your ERP software project with great project management, then your project WILL go down. And sadly you may go down with it! I recommend you follow these “safety tips”.

1) Choose your ship carefully

Titanic was a technological marvel, way ahead of its time. Because the ship was so large, though, it was unwieldy and impossible to turn in time to avoid disaster. It was complicated and had lots of “bells and whistles” that were useless in a time of crisis. Who needs a beautiful ballroom when you don’t have enough lifeboats?

I imagine that when disaster was imminent, the captain and crew fumbled frantically with a baffling set of controls. They probably cursed the ship’s designer too! J

It’s exactly like that with enterprise software and ERP projects. To choose your ship properly you should:

1. Make sure your ERP software is the right “fit” for your business by researching unbiased ERP software buying guides.
2. If you are a big company or unsure who you should have in your “short list”, you may need help from an unbiased ERP software selection firm like Panorama Consulting.
3. For ERP software selection, avoid large consulting firms (Accenture, Deloitte, etc.) who have huge consulting practices in the ERP software you’re considering. Not to pick on Deloitte (well, maybe a little), but I recently had a large client pay $1 Million dollars to have them do an ERP software selection project. Surprise – they picked SAP, which coincidentally is their largest ERP software practice! (BTW, I could have made a recommendation for much less.J).
4. Avoid paying for costly “bells and whistles” that you don’t need. In our ERP Consulting practice, we like to call it “functionality in search of a use”.

2) Choose your captain and crew carefully

Titanic captain Edward J. Smith was an experienced seaman who had piloted many large ships through successful voyages. The problem was that he had never piloted this ship. Not only was this ship larger than any he had sailed on before, it was also the first voyage of the ship for both him and his faithful crew.

Bottom line: he was over his head – quite literally!

In the context of ERP software projects, you need to:

1. Make sure that the project manager and ERP consultants have atrack record of success with that specific ERP software vendor. I’ve seen ERP software and industry “generalists” come in that have failed miserably because they didn’t know much of anything about the specific ERP package.
2. Ensure that the PM has the proper certifications. I recommend PM’s who have PMP certifications, at least a working knowledge of the standard ERP system processes.
3. Check at least three references of customers that have succeeded on your ERP package with a team from the consulting firm you’re planning to use for your implementation. Don’t let the consulting firm be in the room or on the phone.
4. Bring the best people for the internal project team. Customers always say that they can’t spare their “best” people because they’re the ones that are “running the business”. OK then - who are their backups?
5. Hire and train someone to “backfill” for those “key users”. The business should have a Plan B if they were to leave anyway. Make sure each person that trains their replacement documents their “tribal knowledge”.
6. Give the PM and key users deliverables to meet and key performance indicators (KPI’s) to hit.
7. Give them an incentive if they meet their targets. I’ve seen something as simple as a public thank you, a party or a gift card work. I have to be a little cautious with this, but trips to the local watering hole really help. If that fails, give them a bonus!

3) Don’t make fatal assumptions

Captain Smith made essentially one fatal mistake. He piloted the Titanic straight into treacherous icy waters because he was so overconfident that his ship was unsinkable. A good project manager never makes that kind of assumption. They’re also never afraid or too proud to make a course correction when conditions change, or rely on the co-pilot’s advice (usually from a consulting project manager) if it makes sense.

4) Use Milestones and Deliverables to “Course Correct”

The best run projects are planned carefully and managed to reach “milestones” and provide “deliverables”. The PM first develops a project plan using a project management tool – some like MS Projects – that builds in dependencies so that the plan can adjust automatically when things change. Believe me, they will change. The milestones then become the “buoys” along the way and the deliverables become the gifts you give your “stakeholders” when you reach each milestone.

5) Deliver “quick wins”

The idea is to deliver “wins” at intermediate points in the project so that you can know whether you are off track - before you’re taking on water. These deliverables should absolutely be tied to the key performance indicators (KPI’s) of the project and of the business.

Here are some examples of quick wins that I’ve seen in successful projects:

1. Getting other enterprise software such as an easy-to-use business intelligence (BI) softwareworking early in the project. It doesn’t have to be from the ERP software vendor.
2. Doing the data migration up front. ERP system users love to see their own data for training, scenario testing and Conference Room Pilots (CRP’s). It also helps with data validation, which can head off massive trouble when you’re scrambling around the decks at “go-live” time.
3. Implementing process change according to “best practices”way before the ERP system is ready for production. An example is installing bar coding on the shop floor and interfacing with the legacy system to get the advantages of automated warehouse receipts, hours accounting, etc. right away. Then you can flip the system over to interface to the ERP system with minimal effort.
4. Going mobile. An example is installing a manufacturing execution system (MES) or document management software that can be used with mobile devices, such as an iPad or Android tablet.
5. Delivering key reports well before the go-live date. Nothing sinks an ERP software project faster than the CFO not having their financial statements and KPI’s.
6. Set up executive “dashboards” and standard reports. Examples that always delight are a “product line profitability” chart by customer and item, a top X customer sales report and on-time delivery performance.
7. Set up “alerts” so that managers and “key users” can “manage by exception”. That way they’ll know if they’re about to hit the iceberg before it’s too late!

6) Use the “80-20” rule

The minute that a milestone is missed or a deliverable isn’t delivered on time, then it’s time to course correct and maybe to sound the alarm. My favorite PM methodology uses an “80-20 rule” and a series of CRPs (at least 3) to gauge readiness and celebrate milestones.

This methodology recommends flow charting and testing the processes that you do 80% of the time and then presenting these in the software with a “CRP 1” to show management that you’ve got those down. Then you proceed to the “20%’ers”, which are all your exception processes, reports and customizations. Interestingly, the testing of the 20% processes typically takes about 80% of the time.

Bottom Line: You will DIE if you don’t get them nailed down and documented before you go-live – especially the reports!

7) Hire project managers that know your ERP software

I also think it’s important to have a person running the ship that has a track record of success with the software you’re implementing, not just a generalist who can supposedly manage with a “one size fits all” approach.

Certifications such as a PMP are important, as are business certifications related to the industry. I work with ERP software in manufacturing, so APICS certifications such as a CPIM or a CIRM indicate that a PM would have the business knowledge underlying the ERP system as well as general management skills. PM’s should also have a good understanding of the industry they’re working in so they “know the business”.

This means that ideally the PM is keeping abreast of industry publications and news, like this Manufacturing Daily paperli from our friends at Travis Consulting, and on-line IT news like this Scoop.it I Love Enterprise Software collection.

If you do your homework and you follow these 7 safety tips, then I can virtually guarantee that you will have a successful voyage. At least you won’t go down with the Titanic!

Thank you very much for reading my blog. This post was distilled from an earlier blog called “Do These 4 Things to Avoid an IT Project Disaster”. I’ve also written a number of posts on our Performa Apps business blog:

How to Make Your Social Media Profiles POP Like Richard Branson

David and Goliath: How to Turn Small Into POWERful

Enterprise Software: How to Turn Your ERP Project Into a Party

Halloween: 4 Simple Ways to Take the HORROR Out of a Startup

Halloween II: 4 More Simple Ways to Take the HORROR Out of a Startup

I also write posts for LinkedIn that are both related and unrelated to this one. If you check them out, please feel free to connect to me and leave comments. Who knows? Maybe we have some common interests. :)

The 3 Minute Interview That Changed My Life

How to Do What You LOVE, No Matter What You Do

The @NFL Can Do Better: Dan Snyder and Redskins

The @NFL Can Do Better: Domestic Abuse

3 Surefire Ways to Take the FEAR Out of a Startup

3 Easy Ways to Avoid an IT Project DISASTER

If you’re interested in the topics of enterprise software, ERP software, BI, consulting, manufacturing and others, then I invite you to check out my new website inforln.com. There is an enterprise software resource library with examples of work instructions, whitepapers, etc., an ERP software presentations library, videos and our new blog.

Posted by Dan Aldridge

Dan Aldridge is the CEO of Performa Apps, an ERP software consulting firm specializing in Infor LN and Baan. He has almost 20 years of ERP implementation experience. Dan has helped dozens of companies with their ERP software implementations and training including Carrier, Mercedes Benz, Snap-on Tools, Blue Bird, Flextronics and a host of other manufacturing companies. He is a serial entrepreneur and blogger with his new site inforln.com. You can reach him on e-mail, About.me, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+, Scoop.it, WordPress,Slideshare, Pinterest, and Facebook . His company is on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Google+, YouTube, Scoop.it