The Full Guide on the ERP System Implementation

Enterprise resource planning software is a gold standard for businesses. Since the late 90s, companies revised their approach to process automation and back-office management, and?ERP systems?have been drivers of this major shift.?

ERP software ensures seamless connectivity and data flow within the organization – a recipe for efficient communication and collaboration. However,?ERP system implementation?is a long-term task and will probably require a lot of focus and involvement of every employee. So, how should you approach this question to implement the ERP system successfully? In this article, we describe the main points you should consider.

Benefits of?ERP implementation

With an ERP system, your business will take a completely different turn in operations and processes.?Here are a few examples of the real value that the?implementation of ERP?software can bring to your company.

• total visibility and data availability;
• enhanced collaboration;
• improved customer services;
• IT costs optimization;
• precise adherence to compliance;
• new approaches to planning;
• easy scalability.

Main Steps of ERP System Implementation\

Let’s talk about the main part of this topic. What steps does the ERP implementation life cycle include?

Software selection

The first and the most obvious step after you decided to?implement ERP?and assembled a team is to find a perfect piece of software. But for the custom ERP, your goal is actually to find a?reliable software team?that can cover your need for development.?

While looking for a development partner, you need to check the following factors:

• whether a company has experience in the field of business intelligence (for example, we have several major projects in this domain, like?Leo?or?HRD Print;?we also specialize in?ERP development for real estate, manufacturing, etc.);
• the feedback on the company on Clutch, GoodFirms, and similar directories;
• how the company approaches the development: how thorough are their preliminary stages, or how do they communicate with the clients??

Establishing a strong partnership will only facilitate the implementation and guarantee the success of your project, as the software vendor will completely focus on your cooperation and attend to the needs of your business.

Development

This is the step with the most extended timeline. The software vendor will take time to study how your business operates, discuss major aspects with you, and run a Discovery Stage as we do. The next steps include:

• specification creation;
• design;
• front-end and back-end development;
• testing and debugging.

We follow the Agile approach, which means that we develop the application feature by feature instead of starting with designing the whole project, then doing the whole development, etc. Agile and Scrum allow us to be flexible and test the application even before it’s fully deployed.

Data migration

It’s one of the most important steps of the way of your?ERP system implementation. We already established that the quality of data will determine the performance of the software. So, we suggest you review all the data you’ve already collected and sort it by next categories:

• master data, or the core data of your company and business processes;
• historical data, or the information which is more than two years old;
• current data, or the latest information you obtained.

Determine what data is the priority and essential to transfer, what data you don’t need anymore, and establish access levels.?

There is a frequent fear: what if our data is lost during the shift to ERP? Don’t worry, we can help you run efficient data migration and ensure that all data is saved and successfully stored in your new ERP system.?

Deployment

It’s the moment you’ve been waiting for. The ERP is developed and tested, it has necessary data, and it’s ready for use. Nevertheless, it’s also a crucial moment to ensure the positive feedback of your employees.?

You can approach the deployment in a few ways.?

• You may transfer everyone immediately to the new system and close up the legacy applications. It’s fast, it’s easier to manage, but it may undermine the productivity of your team, as everyone will need time to adjust. Also, the big amount of simultaneous requests may cause technical issues, especially if your ERP wasn’t designed to handle that.
• You may introduce ERP steadily, going from one department to another. This way, it would not disrupt the whole workflow so harshly, but it will definitely take more time.
• You may leave legacy systems for some period and implement ERP systems as well. This way, you ensure backup in case of difficulties, but it also requires your employees to duplicate their work.?

How to Get Prepared for?ERP Implementation

So,?ERP system implementation?may look cumbersome and challenging, but the truth is that it’s not as scary as you can see. With the right attitude and sufficient preparation, you will be able to go smoothly through this process. Your company will get better productivity, higher customer retention and satisfaction, and a powerful, organized database in the long run. Altogether, it will lead you to growth in revenue and opportunities.?

We analyzed our experience with ERP development projects and found out a few valuable insights for those who are only starting?ERP implementation.?

Don’t neglect?Discovery Stage

ERP system implementation?is a global project that will affect every department. Your ERP should reflect your processes, relations between departments, the specifics of your services, production, or supply chain.?

So, decent software development will be needed to study your business before diving into the actual development. We always vouch for the discovery stage, but for ERP projects it is a necessity.?

The discovery stage is a set of preliminary research our team uses to create a clear vision of your future application. We discuss what goal you want to reach and what problems to solve, how your business operates. Using this information, our team of?business analysts, project coordinators, solution architects, and designers?will create a package of documents that will drive the development. Usually, it includes:

• product vision;
• business processes flowcharts;
• functional and non-functional requirement;
• description of architecture and technology stack;
• risk evaluation;
• project roadmap & budget;
• description of team structure;
• wireframe for user flow;
• and more.

At the end of this stage, all the parties will understand what product we are building, how it should work, and how we will get there. It guarantees seamless development, but it will give you added value as well. At this stage, you can initiate the preparation for ERP adoption and prepare your employees, data, and processes.?

Engage employees from the start

We highlighted the role of employees in ERP system implementation, as they are the end-point users of the software. So, why not involve them in the decision-making during the development? This way, the initial doubts will disappear quicker, and the feedback from actual future users will polish the application.

How can this work? One of our clients assembled a team of employees who will definitely use the new ERP system constantly. They all have different responsibilities in the company and cover all possible scenarios that may arise. Whenever there is a need to review or test the latest features we developed, this team checks them and gives realistic feedback.

Ensure maintenance

Software lifecycle doesn’t end with deployment. Sometimes, maintenance looks like something you will need after a long time, so why bother now??

But it is a false impression: such a large and significant software piece as ERP needs strong maintenance to stay efficient. There is always a chance that something will go wrong with the software. It might break down, or you will need to speed it up or maybe even make some minor changes.?

So, our partnership may go beyond the development and include maintenance packages as well: our team will be able to support your ERP easily, as we will already be familiar with the application and tech stack.

In conclusion

ERP implementation?is an important step for every company that aims for growth and development. It is also a great opportunity to gather all stakeholders and review your internal operations and policies.?

ERP system also becomes a basis for further innovations and digital transformations. For example, artificial intelligence, the main driver of valuable insights and predictive approaches, can show its full potential only when there is enough accurate data to make any conclusions. And ERP software, at its core, is created to manage and provide data.

So, it’s time to bring ERP to your company, and Altamira will be glad to facilitate this change!