Home TIMEFRAME FOR NEW ERP SYSTEMS
ERP Implementation timelines and schedule is one of the most important area while selecting and customizing any ERP software for your business. The first question comes to mind even before selecting the solution is How long does an ERP implementation take? the simple reason is that Time is money and the more time require – the more cost software development can take.
Today there are many readymade ERP system available some of them in open source category and some are proprietary (licensed based). There are many small and midsized businesses that are turning towards ERP Systems Implementation – Enterprise resource planning software nowadays. If we go back in past we can see the cost of ERP implementation has been reduced drastically due to competition and availability of many software in the market, but the time frame and timeline of implementing an ERP solution has not reduced much although many systems nowadays comes in a modular format with different modules that can be installed quickly and software implementation can be done easily.
Common Questions – When the modules are available why so much time?
This is one of the frequently asked questions by organization across the globe, as everyone seems that the module is available out of the box then implementing it should not take much time, and as we all know time is money for every organization.
A typical timeframe suggested for a small sized organization implementing an ERP systems without much customization is 3 to 6 months to go with Pilot testing, similarly for medium sized business it varies from 6 to 12 months based on the requirements, and number of processes that needs to be covered in the ERP systems.
Although with Big organizations we have seen it has taken more then 3 years to roll out an ERP implementation.
The above are just a rough figures based on Globalteckz Experience in implementing ERP systems for more than 30+ clients in 3 years time. Although the timeline of ERP implementation depends on lot of other factors that are involved during and after the implementation.
Few factors that define timelines for ERP systems implementation are as follow:
1. Selection of the ERP systems
Selection of ERP software is one of the most crucial stages prior to implementation. There are loads of options available in the market which can fits your needs exactly, based on your business requirement if your selection if wrong then implementation could be a failure or time consuming
2. Requirements defining.
There are many times requirements or Business requirements defining are not done properly even this can increase the timelines of ERP systems implementation since in the mid of implementation the vendor may miss few point to inculcate in the functionality of the tool. This is the most repeated case where the requirements are defined in one line which reads very simple but during the implementation new points comes in mind which breaks the actual timelines
3. User
Another key area is the number of users who would be actually using the software, as we all know that different departments will have different users based on which roles, rights & hierarchy needs to be set up. Every department requirements may vary from the actually defined requirements of the project which can increase the timeline
4. Organization Size
Organization Size refers to small, Medium or Big since medium and big sized organizations requires ERP software to manage multiple branches across countries. Based on the size of the organization the timelines of the project may vary.
5.Expectations with an ERP Systems
Expectation from ERP implementation is another factor where the client expects that each and every problem of the business process should be solved through automation, this might also delay the timeframe. Large distances between the branches of the organizations can waste a lot of time.
6. Customization
Customization process is one of the lengthy process in any ERP implementation – customization is done to alter the application that fits the needs of the businesses. Customizations should be defined properly to ensure the technical and functional team can understand what requires to be done during the coding. This step may also delay the typical implementation time frame for ERP system.
7. Business processes and workflows
Business process are complicated then time spent for understanding the requirements may be more an may take time to complete the ERP implementation
8. Vendor Experience
Vendor experience plays a very important role in deciding the time frame of the project specifically customization experience and third party integration experience matters the most since every business define their workflows and business processes as per their choice. Having experience in similar implementation helps a lot in understanding the scope easily.
9. Number of people working on the project
Last but not the least is the number of resources working on the project is another most important area which is ignored by the client. Further the experiences of the team with similar project is another area. Do note that freelancers or single person with just technical knowledge cannot handle ERP implementation. And we have seen that many project fails just to get low cost from the freelancer and choosing them over a company.
10. Methodology
Method of implementing an ERP software also matters when it comes to timeline of the project. There are now a days various method available that save client time and offer quickly roll out of modules for every department.
The above points are just base on understanding the timeline of the project although when you actually start implementing an ERP solution there are many more other factors which decides the actual timeline of the project.
ERP system implementation timelines and schedule varies based on the above list of factors. Further we suggest to craft a list of process of your business requirements that needs to be implemented in the Software. Based on which you can easily understand the criticality of each process and the availability of functions and features in the selected system.
Plan ERP system at earlier stages
When you are new in the businesses there are lesser processes which needs to be optimized. Through the selection and planning of ERP software at an earlier stage will help you to focus on what processes needs to be change in order to gain more capabilities and optimizations. Early Adoption of ERP will also help you to determine how Quickly you can be able to implement an ERP system. You can find a right system and partner who can help you to provide best business analysis.
Further as your company grow cost of implementation and timelines can also be avoided as you have already a system in place which needs small tweaks and customization based on the changes in the processes.
About Globalteckz
We at Globalteckz offers you with one of the leading Open source ERP solution – Odoo which is modular in nature and offers you with variety of out of the box modules as per your business. Further we also offers our clients with customizations and integration services as per their business requirements.
For more information you can contact our sales team on sales@globalteckz.com or fill our Inquiry form
Other Articles on ERP software you might be interested in reading