System Implementation Tips from the SSON

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Every technology implementation is a disaster waiting to happen (and many actually end up that way in practice) — and this goes double in supply chain where millions of dollars could be riding on every transaction. Success requires good project management, good change management, and eternal vigilance. And a few tips every now and again don’t hurt. Here are ten tips for system implementation, courtesy of the SSON.

  • Keep Focus
    Avoid scope-creep like the plague. While it’s important to keep track of good ideas that arise and, if time permits once the base implementation is complete, implement a few of them, scope-creep can kill a project within weeks of its start.
  • Optimize from the Beginning
    What’s the primary task for the system? And how do you make that task as quick and easy to do as possible?
  • Get Buy-In
    A system that no one uses isn’t useful. Make sure your users are on board with respect to utilization and training.
  • Get the Right Team for the Job
    Would you hire a plumber to wire your house? A lawyer to diagnose a health problem? So why would you hire a consumer Web 2.0 expert to implement your ERP system?
  • Don’t Forget the Users
    Once you’ve got buy in, be sure to keep them informed and involve them in important decisions. Otherwise, that buy in might disappear by the time the system goes live.
  • Beauty is Not Truth
    Usually, you have a choice, due to time and cost constraints, between a system that looks good and a system that works good. Hopefully you know how to choose the right one.
  • Don’t Be Too Rigid in the Schedule
    You never know everything when you start a project. Some phases will take longer, some phases will finish faster. Have the necessary flexibility.
  • The Budget is Golden
    While some flexibility is required where the budget is involved, you have what you have and you need to keep that in mind at all times.
  • Communicate, Communicate, Communicate
    The best way to keep your users excited is to communicate constantly, showing that you’re not forgetting them.
  • Go All the Way
    The implementation is not complete until the goal is accomplished. Which is not a live system, but a live system that does what it was supposed to do.