Executing a maintenance plan for your SAP system| FB Consultancy

Maintaining a successful SAP system is an ongoing process that requires careful planning and execution. There are a number of post-implementation activities that need to be completed in order to ensure that the system remains running smoothly. These areas include defining the scope, developing metrics and benchmarks, executing a maintenance plan and finally monitoring and managing change. By going through the processes highlighted in this article, you will have successfully completed your project.

So you have finally gone live with your new shiny SAP system! But we're not there yet, there are still some small (but very important) tasks .

To really be able to "relax", there are a number of post-implementation activities that have to be completed in order to ensure that the system remains running smoothly. These areas include defining the scope, developing metrics and benchmarks, executing a maintenance plan and finally monitoring and managing change. By going through these processes, you will have successfully completed your project.

1. Conduct your ERP post-implementation review

After you've gone live, spend a few months getting acclimated to the system before doing a post-implementation review. This will give your personnel enough time to get used to the new procedures and adjust to the system, allowing you to have a better feel for how well it is meeting your needs. The aim of this assessment is for you have a solid baseline to measure against.

You should really be looking at

What worked? - Talk about what went well in the project, where your staff see improvements in their day-to-day activities, and so on. Check to see whether you met any of your SAP project goals using your original objective.

What was difficult? - Talk about things that aren't meeting expectations, teams that require further training, and so on.

What would you alter? This is most likely to focus on project areas that could have been handled better. These are critical insights that should be considered during the following phases of the project.

- You may have re-prioritized your requirements during the implementation, so make a note of features or functionality you still want to implement in a later phase.

As you conduct these talks, include any feedback you've gotten from your workers about their go-live experience, as well as requests for additional training or problems they're having.

This is an excellent time to double-check your procedures. To verify that the system is functioning as expected, gather input from key users and look for any bottlenecks. Make a running list of problems that arise, along with a strategy for resolving them as soon as possible. Finally, include your ERP partner in the after-implementation.

2. Develop Metrics and Benchmarks

Developing metrics and benchmarks allow an organization to make data-driven decisions about how well the system is performing, as well as what needs to be improved. Having a good idea of exactly how the system should work will help identify problems during an update or implementation because it makes deviations from expected behaviour more apparent.

3. Executing a maintenance plan for your SAP system

This helps ensure that the system runs successfully in the long-term by helping to address issues that could cause problems in the future. If there are any doubts about whether or not your SAP system is running smoothly, it is possible to perform a number of tests on the updated software package to assess its stability.

4. ?Document your business processes

Because it takes time to create documentation, this is something that frequently gets put on the back burner. However, there are a couple of reasons why it's essential. Standardizing procedures will help you avoid going back to your old method of accomplishing things. Remember how every person had their own way of doing the same thing, resulting in inconsistent and unreliable

Even more essential – you need to safeguard your company's knowledge. If you haven't already done so as part of your implementation project, make the effort now. You risk losing that information if an employee leaves the firm if you don't document your new procedures; the loss in time and productivity can be significant. How are you going to teach someone new the ins and outs of the system if you don't have any documentation?

Some tips as you’re creating your process documentation: - Make use of templates, if possible. If you want to make the most of your time, using a document template will help cut down on some of the work involved in developing procedures.

Cover all areas of the system (not just the fun bits)

Update your documentation as your procedures evolve. They will continue to change as your company evolves, so make documentation a must-have for each employee.

Document why important decisions were made during implementation.

This should include an explanation of how and why important decisions were made throughout the project. Users will have a better understanding of why a task is performed one way rather than another if you can explain why it was done that way in the first place.

The final step is monitoring and managing change . This process ensures that the system continues to run smoothly by making sure there is always someone responsible for keeping an eye on any issues or problems that arise. Monitoring and managing change also involves creating contingency plans in case something goes wrong.

5. Create an ongoing training plan

During implementation, you'll do an intensive round of ERP training with your team before go-live. However, the training does not have to stop there. In the months following go-live, schedule refresher sessions for each team to reinforce established methods and provide individuals a chance to ask questions. As time goes on, you may dive into more advanced topics.

Know your system inside and out

Training only takes you so far if team members don't dive into their system with a willingness to keep learning. Follow SAP's advice on finding opportunities for users to gain additional knowledge about the system, even after training is completed. Just as software packages are constantly evolving, processes are ever-changing as well. Company objectives will change, and employees won't have the same skill sets they did when they first started using the system. As a result, it is important to build in time for training by having a dedicated budget line for this purpose or working with your finance department to find other funding sources.

There are a number of SAP post-implementation activities that need to be completed after go live. These areas include defining the scope, developing metrics and benchmarks, executing a maintenance plan and finally monitoring and managing change. ONLY after going through these processes, you will have successfully completed your project.

Completing these post-implementation activities is essential to the success of your SAP project. By defining the scope, developing metrics and benchmarks, executing a maintenance plan and monitoring and managing change, you will be able to safeguard your company's knowledge, standardize procedures and ensure that your system continues to run smoothly. As your business evolves, it is important to continue training employees on how to use the system effectively and update documentation as needed.