Home ERP Implementation Phases | Lifecycle | Stages | Plan
ERP Implementation Phases | Lifecycles | Stages | Plan is one of the most important area to understand if you are planning for an Enterprise Resource planning software for your business. This will help you to understand what steps to be taken and where and with whom the responsibilities lie in your organization.
Enterprise Resource Planning go through with various stages and phases which is also known as lifecycles that needs to be plan in advance in order to ensure each stages are properly delivered and successful. The process of implementing Business software is to automate processes is referred to as the ERP installation life cycle. It starts off with a variety of stages to get ease for the organizations.
The implementation process is required for small and medium-sized businesses. There is business process management software available that is designed specifically for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and can be quickly installed.
So, in this Blog post we will walk through to the is ERP, Life Cycle, Implementation Failure Rate, Key Phases & Stages of ERP implementation & How Long Does an ERP Implementation Take. So let’s Dive into it.
A typical ERP Implementation phases plan can be divided into different phases that cover the entire ERP software perpetration lifecycle, from conception right through to deploying and supporting the live system and its User. Following these ERP Implementation stages strictly will ensure that your ERP software has high chance of success.
Every business is different and so are its requirements. therefore, choosing the right ERP software for business is the first and most important step. With multiple options available in the market, it could be rather difficult task to choose the right fit for business operations. since you have to go with multiple demonstration understand the capabilities of the software and so on…. Therefore, in this step, ERP modules that don’t fit your demand are excluded.
Read our complete ERP Selection steps and criteria
Once the software is selected now the discovery and Planning phase starts – this include Functionality freezing of ERP software, on boarding right team for the project and so on…. The discovery and planning phase of an ERP project is a crucial step that sets the foundation for a successful implementation. This phase typically involves various steps such as
Overall, the discovery and ERP Implementation phase & Stages is critical to ensure that the system meets the organization’s needs and is implemented successfully. By following these steps, organizations can lay the foundation for a successful ERP implementation and ensure that the system delivers value and benefits to the organization.
The design phase works from detailed requirements and an understanding of current workflows to develop a detailed design for the new ERP system. This includes designing new, more efficient workflows and other business processes that take advantage of the system. It’s important to involve users in the design phase, since they have the most understanding of current business processes. Involving them in the design also helps to ensure that they’ll welcome the new system and take full advantage of it.
GAP analysis is performed to evaluate and compare the current system of the organization and its future position as needed. This way you can easily identify the key processes that need the most attention with ERP and come with Potential solution after analyzing the GAPs.
The re-engineering phase of an Enterprise Resource Planning implementation project involves analyzing and redesigning business processes to align with the functionalities of the organizations workflows and business processes. This phase typically occurs after the GAP analysis or after planning and design phases and before the Development phase.
During the re-engineering phase, the project team identifies existing business processes, assesses their effectiveness and efficiency, and determines how they can be improved. This involves mapping out the current processes and identifying pain points, bottlenecks, and inefficiencies. The team then evaluates how system can support and improve these processes and designs new processes that leverage the capabilities of the ERP system.
The re-engineering phase requires close collaboration between the project team and key stakeholders, including business process owners and end-users. The team must ensure that the new processes align with the organization’s goals and objectives and are accepted by the stakeholders.
This is process what Development and implementation done. This phase may be longer than other list of phases mentioned here as proper coding and developing the modules within the ERP system is needed. In this phase most of the task is handled by the technical coders and functional resource who ensure the list of functions that the organization is looking for has been understood properly and implemented correctly.
Many a time in this phase Organizational change management may happen due to the existing functionalities of ERP software. Therefore one need to keep track of the methodology through which the development is carried out by the vendor.
Testing phase is completely dependent on software testing team. The software testing is dependent on the methodology applied for development. Software testing can be agile or water fall based on ERP product implemented. Although in most of the cases where customizations is high Agile method is used with frequent deliveries of the module to each department.
In order to ensure powerful testing vendor team as well as client team should also be involved for testing so that all functioning is working properly. Testing phase can be time consuming if the development and coding is not proper.
Once the testing of the software is completed on a local server. Implementation is the stage where the actual use of software starts. This phase may include addition of real data from the business instead of test cases. In this phase data from legacy system migration may take place. once the implementation is completed final testing is done on the client server and training phase starts.
Training is one of the most important phase from the above as this is where the team start using the solution. Training schedule can be done in iterations. Training may be technical or functional.
The last and the final phase of ERP software development is the Maintenance phase, This phase also include support and hand holding to the existing and new user of the company. In Maintenance phase updates and upgrade may happen if there are any auto updates to the module set by the ERP vendor.
Many forget to cover the Migration phase of an ERP software. ERP implementation may take years or months. With these with passing years new methods of working or practices are adopted by companies.
For example : When eCommerce was not in the market – Companies use to sell products and services in a traditional method. But after eCommerce started booming companies adopted online stores and online purchase of materials directly. Therefore legacy software may not have ecommerce integrated in the current ERP solution or your existing ERP software may come up with ecommerce modules to integrate with latest version.
This phase can happens if there has been a major update or upgrade in the ERP system. Migration phase can be a lengthy phase as custom modules need to be migrated to the latest version of the software. Further this phase don’t disturb the current working of ERP software but if migration is successful you gain new features and functions in the ERP software.
All the above phase may be implemented in a row or organization may skip one or the other phase based on the size of ERP that has been implemented. For example : GAP analysis is already done by the company or Custom designing may be already covered for the ERP solution.
Enterprise grade software are not cheap – it requires investment from monetary side as well as your personal time that needs to be invested for a successful project deliveries. The ERP implementation life cycle refers to the process of implementing it to automate business processes. From the very beginning, it involves a number of stages and steps, including project implementation planning, analysis, design, implementation, transition, and operations. Small and medium-sized businesses must go through the implementation process. Once can make a use of business management software to define their own ERP life cycle.
ERP Implementation Failure Rate
As per Mckinsey estimates that 75% of all ERP projects fall short of their objectives and that 74% take longer than anticipated. An ERP project involves both technical and cultural changes. Failures in the ERP system can have a devastating impact on the entire organization.
The vehicle management company Leaseplan’s decision to abandon its migration to a Leading ERP system in 2019 as a result of numerous project delays and change management difficulties is a well-known example of a failed ERP implementation. Due to this, the company had to write off $100 million in project costs and completely restart.
Poor planning, which led to the company developing software that was “not fit for purpose in the emerging digital world in which [it] operated,” was blamed for the project’s catastrophic failure.
There are ten barriers to the implementation of ERP, according to a Deloitte survey. Out of all of these barriers, resistance to change, a lack of sponsorship, inflated expectations, and subpar project management are the main causes for concern.