If you have shopped for anything from a new pair of shoes to an enterprise resource planning system, you know that purchasing decisions can take up a big chunk of your time. For example, an April 2015 study of 2,000 U.K. residents, commissioned by the Skipton Building Society, found that respondents spent an average of four days at the end of each month just figuring out how to spend their leftover cash. They likewise devoted 10 days to selecting a gift for their partners, five days to deciding on monthly pension contributions and a staggering two weeks for picking out a new car.
The effects of delays on ERP Implementation and other projects
These long, drawn-out decision-making processes can have wide-reaching effects. Almost two-thirds of the subjects (64 percent) of that study stated that they had missed out on an opportunity, whether a bargain deal or a job, due to their dithering. Of course, not every decision involves a straightforward choice that someone is simply taking too long to make. Sometimes, an excessive number of options and/or a particularly complex product (e.g., a traditional ERP solution) means that even a decisive team may struggle to find the best way forward, leading to lost sales opportunities and unnecessary expenses.
Whether a decision is made in matter of minutes or days, what happens afterward is often just as important as the initial selection. Let's turn back to shopping around for ERP platforms again. We can think of the entire process as a multi-layered cake that must be "consumed," with each layer bringing something slightly different to the table. The lengthy discovery process (4-6 months for even a basic implementation of traditional ERP) could lead into the similarly time-consuming project management and technical support "layers."
Cloud ERP software can save SMBs tons of time and money throughout this ordeal, as long as the journey is properly managed and broken down into manageable phases. Let's look at how ERP implementation would ideally go, from start to finish. Each business' situation will be unique, and lead times could vary based on the complexity of their requirements (e.g., the amount of custom development), but this skeleton is broadly applicable.
1) Defining and discovering company needs
What pain points and challenges do your current ERP and accounting tools create? How is your business setup and what could be improved about its organizational structure? What date would you ideally like to go live with your new solution, and what can be done to hit that target? These types of questions can serve as starting points on the road to superior ERP.
A handful of common problems underpin many ERP implementations. For starters, poor planning is widespread and it often leads to compounding technical issues and excessive expenses. There are also the matters of not vetting vendors to see if they can provide specifically what the business needs, failing to allot enough time for the transition and overlooking any legacy applications that ought to be decommissioned.
"Many organizations do not do enough upfront planning before they begin an ERP software evaluation," Kevin Beasley of VAI told CIO in 2012. "This often leads to confusion down the road because they might not fully understand their current processes and how to evolve them to maximize business benefits and efficiencies."
Overall, SMBs must identify their requirements and plan ahead. That way, they can move confidently into the specifics of the evaluation and selection phase.
2) Evaluating and selecting technology options
The ERP implementation process should become more targeted as it goes along. At this stage, businesses can start thinking about what specific software would check off all the requirements on their lists. An experienced vendor can even help evaluate the best potential options.
"Cloud ERP will often be the best choice for SMBs."
A cloud-based solution will often prove to be the best possible selection, especially for fast-growing SMBs, media companies, nonprofits and professional services organizations. Compared with traditional ERP, cloud ERP is easier to install, less expensive to manage (since the service provider handles security upgrades, server capacity, etc.) and more valuable to finance teams.
More specifically, it can provide access to data in real time, integrate with leading business applications such as Salesforce and simplify workflows into just a few clicks apiece. Redundant data entry in spreadsheets as well as wrangling with traditional ERP complexity can both become things of the past.
3) Building, implementing and integrating the chosen ERP solution
With a timeframe and project scope in mind, the work on technical implementation can begin in earnest. Systems can be installed and optimized in the context of the IT environment that the organization already has in place, applications can be configured and initial data uploads can be conducted.
Business processes may be reevaluated at this point to better take advantage of the new applications and interfaces offered by the fresh ERP system. Integrations with other applications will also need to be accounted for and handled with care. Again, these tasks are much easier with cloud ERP than with traditional alternatives that offer less in terms of out-of-the-box support for other software.
4) Maintaining and supporting the new ERP system
ERP success is a marathon, not a sprint. Even with a good start, a business must devote ongoing attention to keeping the ERP system well-maintained and readily accessible to teams.
Support and training are essential for sustaining ERP success.
Additional training can help along the way. Sandboxing of devtest environments as well as thorough testing of common system transactions are also essential for maintaining the integrity of the ERP solution.
Making the most of the ERP journey and destination
ERP implementations are not easy work. But a cloud ERP solution, paired with a realistic process that has been fine-tuned for a company's requirements, can make it as efficient as possible.
Cloud ERP software is the best choice for an easy-to-set-up ERP platform that can streamline your processes and pay back your initial investment in short order. Implementation times that would normally run into the neighborhood of six months to a year and a half can be trimmed to 60 or 90 days in some cases.
