Steps To Implement ERP Software

It really doesn't matter which Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software you or your company plan to install, there are always some basic steps that need to be taken when implementing ERP systems. Even a thorough understanding of the ERP software does not guarantee a consultant truly understands how to implement an ERP system successfully.

Each step of ERP implementation is critical, however, one of the most important and most overlooked steps is detailed planning to understand all of the business processes, the data elements that are involved, how the data is collected, the types of management reports used to run the business, and external systems that need to be integrated.

It's imperative that direction come from the highest executive levels, but at the same time, needs to involve all users of the system, since at the time the new ERP goes into production, at minimum, all employees MUST be able to perform their jobs. This is not to say that they won't do their jobs differently or more efficiently, but the data and operations needed to perform their job functions must be available.

Once all of the functional operations and system objectives are identified, the next step is to have someone knowledgeable on the ERP application develop a Functional Design which needs to include a Gap Analysis as well as a Systems Interface Design and Data Migration Strategy.

The gap analysis is critical and its purpose is to identify what functions are required that are not native in the ERP application. These are the functions that will require custom development and can greatly increase the cost of the total solutions.

The systems interface design takes into consideration the external systems that would need to be integrated and the associated methodologies and data flows.

The data migration strategy is a plan to migrate the current data from the existing system(s) to the current system. It's important, and usually not a small task, to make sure the data is "cleansed" before importing into the new system. Simply migrating the data itself is significant and can often require the development of data extraction and import tools. In cases where database tables may only contain a few records, it may be best to manually key the data into the new ERP system, rather than investing resources into developing migration utilities.

Once the above steps are complete, the developers can start working on prototyping including the development of data extraction & importing tools, developing customizations, creating reports, and testing.

Prior to going live on the new ERP system, the personnel needing training will need to be identified and training materials will need to be developed. In addition, user roles and permissions should be defined along with a detailed integrated testing plan that can be executed upon final migration of the data. It's also important to have a clear support strategy to assist users in adjusting to the new system.

Once live, technical personnel should be prepared to document any errors or issues and make necessary modifications.

For more information on CYOP's open source ERP solutions, please contact us or signup for a FREE Business Process Assessment.