Enterprise Resource Planning Systems

After Going Live

After Going Live

An organization enters a stabilization period characterised by a reduction in performance These can be due to new software and processes encountered by the users An organization need to manage ERP system issues to pull through this period Management must adress upgrades and evaluate the success of the project (OLeary, 2000)
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ERP Support Organization

The implementation team must be available to support users. ERP project team will play an important role in addressing the day-to-day ERP system operation. Activities includes: Detecting & responding to systems bugs Respond to user queries Adjust system parameters as the organization changes Ensures a consistent production version of the software Managing different ERP input and output capabilities Maintaining and updating documentation and training materials Maintaining and upgrading the software (OLeary, 2000)
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Determine what needs to be done or revised

Can be achieved by evaluating data conversion, determine what new process bottlenecks have emerged since system implementation, and assess whether documentation and training has been sufficient (OLeary, 2000)

Prof. Dr. Regina Polster/Summer

Enterprise System Application_6

Data conversion
- Old data need to be put into an appropriate format for implementation - Changes to the data may be derived from a number of resources eg. existence of new fields, and the development of new MAPs - Reducing potential data conversion problems requires a number of actions:
- Reconcile data from the old system with the ERP data sources where applicable - Perform mapping from one database to another

(OLeary, 2000)

Process Bottlenecks
Will always exist despite a successful implementation Process bottlenecks will be different for different firms Approaches to find bottlenecks: Listen to customers & partners (complaints and help desk questions) Internal ERP data analysis (exception reports, transactiona data) Organizational analysis ( talk to the users)
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Documentation and Training

System and process knowledge is needed for the system to work, therefore appropriate documentation and training are required before going live. The satisfaction of documentation and training can be assessed when the system is in use Therefore the review of changes in documentation and training starts when the system goes live. (OLeary, 2000)

Compare Plan & Reality

System comparison involves at least 3 dimensions: Expected v/S actual system capabilities Planned and actual use Systems design & implementation

(OLeary, 2000)

Evaluate success
Measuring system implementation success -Timing (first/second year after go live) - Determine duration, costs, and benefits - Choice rationale (technological, strategy and business process rationales)
Balanced Scorecard technique for evaluating performance in organizations, it can also be used for deciding whether to implement an ERP (OLeary, 2000)

Why ERP projects fails?

Some reasons: Lack of education Lack of top management support and commitment Not defining requirements corrrectly Selecting the wrong ERP peckage Lack of required resources employed by the client Resistance within the organization Solutions that does not fit the systemrequirements Unrealistic expectations: benefits & ROI Lack of training Unrealistic time and budget estimations

(Toolbox.com, 2009)
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Training
FAQ about User Training How should user training be timed? Too early in advance can be forgotten, too late will not be in time How much training should users receive? Depend on a particular module for which users are being trained for How do you make up time lost on training? Putting in extra hours, or making use of temporary employees When should you train? Training scheduled during working hrs = important, while after working hrs training = not so important as day-to-day responsibilities How can employees be encouraged to train?

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Training
Training the Implementor Not only system users need to be trained, those involved in implementing the system should be trained as well Lack of knowledge of what the system is all about can lead to unnecessary changes and costs (OLeary, 2000)
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References

O Leary, D. (2000). Enterprise Resource Planning Systems. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press Toolbox.com, (2009). Why ERP implementation fails. Retrieved March 20, 2008, from http://projectmanagement.ittoolbox.com/doc

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