Oracle ERP Implementation: 5 Key Steps For A Successful Oracle ERP Cloud Project
What is ERP implementation?
Oracle ERP implementation is a critical project for any business looking to deploy a new enterprise system. It doesn’t matter if they are replacing their on-premise solution or adding new features to their current cloud environment. Irrespective of the kind of ERP system chosen by the business, the success of the system depends on a successful implementation. The end result is an enhancement in user adoption, process alignment, data quality and enterprise fit.?
More often than not, the success is measured by identifying and managing users expectations, project requirements, budgets and schedules. It requires careful planning and project execution with certified resources who not only analyse the technical aspects of the new Oracle Enterprise Resource Planning Cloud solution but can steer the business aspects of an organisation through a thoughtful implementation.?
In this blog we have outlined the ERP system implementation steps and the tasks associated for a successful ERP implementation project.?
Oracle Enterprise Resource Planning Cloud Implementation
As businesses continue to migrate their on-premise apps to contemporary cloud solutions, they often think about the steps required for a successful ERP implementation. Businesses go through an Oracle ERP implementation for a number of reasons including - to update their cost structure of their applications, cut down the risk of technological expiration, and efficiency. It is crucial to identify the real reason why Cloud ERP projects succeed and the steps to be taken to avoid failure.??
Let us go through the Oracle ERP cloud?implementation steps to follow.
Step 1: ERP Cloud implementation planning
Define and determine project categories including scope, design, teams, and communication. Initially, implementing a cloud migration looks like any other business project, however the differences are cleared when the project plans are mapped. For instance, when compared with on-premise implementations, the advantages of a cloud project are apparent early in the process.?
The components of a cloud project are divided into five groups which are as under:
Project Definition
It is the first step of a cloud implementation project. Though it may come across as a diligent method, failure to do so at this stage will create issues going forward. Proper planning at this stage reduces the risk of errors and enables the implementation team to prepare for any shortcomings in the future.?
It is best to start by writing the project’s intent by clearly defining the mission statement that includes your overall objectives. After that, create a roadmap which includes your goals, scope, risk, resources along with the budget. This task would be the same for both on-premise and cloud implementations.?
Build Your Team
It is easier to create a team for your cloud implementation project. There is no requirement for hardware architects, custom app developers, report builders, or software installers. For a cloud implementation project, you would need to include business process consultants and data analysts. Moreover, it is crucial to clearly define each role and its responsibilities.?
Create Your Design
A good project design is imperative for the success of your cloud implementation project. Key things to be included in the design document are applications to be deployed, third-party applications along with integration. The design must have proper data definitions, user requirements, and concerned business processes. Contemporary cloud applications have a much simplified way of managing these tasks.?
Kickstart Your Project
Identify which business units will be covered along with the sequence. Moreover, determine the main requirements to the new system live. Some features might be earmarked for the upcoming phase after the initial go-live. It is also the time when you must include key metrics to analyse and assess once you go live. Again, this is a similar approach for both on-premise and on-cloud implementations.?
Communication
Internal communication is crucial for your implementation project. It is important to develop awareness and anticipation across your organisation with frequent updates about the progress of the project and how the organisation will benefit from the project. By communicating these ideas to the team, all team members can quickly get on board and work together on a single goal.?
Step 2: Implement Cloud ERP Solutions
Once the planning stage is done, it is time to implement the project design from the previous stage. It is a critical stage where most of the project is defined including the budget, time and tasks. Having said that, implementing a cloud project is much easier than a conventional on-premise solution.?
Let us discover the main activities that are included in this stage:
Configure
Cloud applications are oriented towards configuration and not customisation. Hence, it is vital to configure data structures and hierarchies, organisations, and user roles at the beginning of the project. In cloud migrations, main business activities are easy to set up and can be linked with standard business processes along with their workflows.
Integrate
As a business, you must expect some kind of integration. Few solutions incorporate all business functions in large enterprises. Integrate third-party solutions or legacy systems into cloud applications. Here, you can use existing integration frameworks built for other projects. Most businesses use the Oracle Integration Cloud to enhance and simplify any necessary integrations.?
Data
Moving a project to the cloud means moving data into the cloud. As the data definition and its quantity is defined, this task needs extraction, transformation, and load (ETL) skills for data quality and normalisation tasks. For complex data scenarios, it is best to use Oracle Enterprise Data Management Cloud to streamline data across diverse systems.
Extensions
One of the major benefits of cloud applications is that they are built to be configured and not to be customised. Though, applications can be customised using Oracle Platform as a Service. Integration with Oracle SaaS applications reduces the complexity for the commonly used integrations, and extensions are retained when the app is updated.?
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Reports
Oracle Cloud applications come with a plethora of reporting abilities and predefined reports. During implementation, you can easily sort these requirements into two types:
Step 3: Verify Cloud ERP Implementation Tasks
Once the implementation tasks mentioned in step 2 are done, it is crucial to check the accuracy of the tasks against business requirements. It is important to confirm the following:
Data Quality
Data is the essential requirement for all enterprise systems. It is a must to verify the following related to the migrated data: cleanliness, conformity to data dictionary, concurrence with predetermined pull, and to check if the data is correct.
Data Archive
More often than not, legacy systems tend to have a lot of old data. Hence, it is crucial to preserve this important data. When you move to the new cloud system, you must archive the old data and transfer only the required data. Archive data that is not migrated and provide read-only access to preserve data integrity.
Workflows
Workflows are the type of activities that connect and take the business process forward. Business processes connect with workflows and guide the end-to-end enterprise activities. It is a must to verify the decision logic variations of each workflow.?
Security
Thorough testing of the four key operations is essential including copy, read, update and delete access to system logins, business-critical data, user configurations and account management. Identify and verify security protocols with Oracle.
Roles
It is important to check all the relevant job roles, positions, and titles for identification and implementation.
Responsibilities
It is important to define work activities and tasks. However, you must understand that responsibilities are different from roles. Appropriate mapping of responsibilities to roles is essential for security and workflows.?
Step 4: Get Ready for Cloud ERP production
As soon as you get business approval, the countdown to a production cloud system starts. The below mentioned tasks must run in parallel:
System Readiness
Conclude the list of items to be addressed or updated and set initial values in the system. For instance, identify the first purchase order number to be issued in the cloud.?
User Readiness
Provide the users their usernames, passwords, and general information related to their account. Explain to them about the assistance they have access to once the solution goes live.?
Business Readiness
Emphasise on finishing change management and core training as and when needed. If the project successfully implemented change management in the initial stage, the users will be ready to work on the new system.?
In the initial phase, there are certain benefits of the cloud projects when compared with on-premise projects. There is less complexity and less tasks to focus on, which helps cut down the cost by shortening the timeline. It is best to proceed when project team members are assessing the decision to go into production. Once the system is ready for production, you need to work on the last step before going live.?
As discussed in Step 1, the project has already established the “go/no-go” criteria. It is important to review these criterias with the management. If there are any doubts or concerns, you must rectify those issues. For a business, it is crucial to go-live when all the members are on the same page and are communicating well.?
Step 5: Successfully deliver a Cloud ERP Deployment
Go-live is a cakewalk for projects where all the previous steps are followed successfully. A few problems might occur from time to time, but these can be managed efficiently by the team.?
The project team along with the related IT infrastructure must rigorously monitor and analyse the system performance. Apart from that, check with users on their tasks and experience. Go-live will be a quick process for cloud projects due to the reduced complexity.?
Conclusion
It is evident that by following the above steps successfully, you can undertake the Cloud ERP implementation with ease.?We hope that these steps will be helpful for your first Oracle Cloud project. If you are looking for assistance with your Cloud ERP implementation project, then you can get in touch with Conneqtion Group, India’s 1st Oracle PaaS Partners.?