4 Lessons from Our Own ERP Project
We’ve stepped in for many clients when their core business systems or ERP projects went wrong. So when it was time for us to update our own, we thought carefully about how to ensure we did it right. Here’s why it worked for us—and one thing we’ll do better next time.
Set ambitious but achievable goals.
We created a big strategy and vision for systems and process changes, but first we delivered a minimum viable product as quickly as possible. We then immediately got into a routine of biweekly sprints, allowing us to be agile and responsive. Although the continual change has been challenging, we have worked hard to keep confidence and enthusiasm high throughout.
Ensure an executive has ownership of the project.
One of our C-suite (in this case me!) was responsible for the project and remained deeply involved and committed to its success. When things got difficult, I could remind people of the business case, keep the strategy in view, and cut through problems.
Keep your eyes on the prize.
We set priorities and targeted specific business improvements and remained entirely focused on building towards those long-term goals (almost all of the time!). When we have had to prioritize quick wins and expedite solutions, we’ve always been honest and cognizant of the need to take care of the details later.
Make decisions about your data—
We underestimated the complexity of our data migration (doh!) and were plagued by data issues for the first six months. We simply misjudged what was “good enough” for the initial go-live, and we should have made a more detailed analysis beforehand. This created a lot of noise and irritation and required careful, systematic clean-ups.
Every business is different, of course, but the above will work for all major back-office and ERP transformations. Follow these steps and you’ll save yourself time and money—and greatly reduce the stress of the project.
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