How to Measure ERP Implementation Success?

Every company has its own unique way of working, its own process functions, and challenges. Similarly, every company will have its own objectives & reasons for ERP implementation. The definition of success for ERP implementation will be unique to each company. So, before deciding to implement ERP software, you must have a clear vision of which specific areas you want to improve? Which problems you want to overcome? Only when you have a clarity of objectives and goals to be achieved, it will be easier to define, "How you will measure ERP implementation success"

"To Achieve Success, You first need to define it for yourself".

What parameters will you use to measure the ERP Implementation success? How will you compare the "Before ERP Implementation" and "After ERP Implementation" results? You will have to precisely describe success criteria at department level, organization level, for the short term and long term. Click here to read some examples for your reference.

How to measure ERP Implementation Success?

We observe that most companies measure ERP success based on tangible results such as increase in revenues, reduction in costs and improvement in profits. These are ultimate goals of every organization, but, it is only a single dimension of measuring ERP implementation Success. There are a lot of intangible, strategic benefits, which although cannot be measured in monetary terms, are important criteria to measure if the ERP implementation is successful in the true sense.

Let us look at some examples:

• Does ERP software provide real-time, accurate data & complete visibility?
• Has ERP software enabled streamlined processes & standard business practices?
• Has ERP helped reduce errors, improve efficiency & productivity of resources?
• Are employees using the system willingly & daily to save time & achieve more?
• Are you using ERP data & to measure performance & take timely informed decisions for achieving continuous improvement?
• Are you able to set up rules to implement business discipline & finance discipline in the company?
• Are you monitoring defined KPIs and using ERP to reduce cycle times, improve forecasting, meet production schedules, improve resource utilization & more.
• Are you able to achieve improved customer satisfaction?

Summary:

We recommend you define specific objectives and goals in all areas of your business. Then,  prepare a comprehensive scorecard to measure the impact of ERP. This will help you to direct all your efforts to make the best use of your ERP to achieve all-round development & progress of the organization. Finally, you will be able to measure if the ERP implementation is successful in the true sense.

This article is an excerpt from the Blog "How to measure ERP implementation Success" on the "Force Intellect" website