How to Implement an ERP
Congrats! You’ve just given your business a huge leg up by choosing to invest in an ERP and elevate the systems and operations of your business.
However, now that you’ve taken this big step, the next big step may feel just as daunting. Implementing your ERP system. You may be feeling overwhelmed at the prospect of shifting everything online (if this is your first ERP system,) or you may even be feeling frustrated at possibly transferring your business from a current ERP system.
No matter where your business currently stands, we want to remind you to take a deep breath. ERPs are designed to bring your business more ease and fewer headaches, and there’s no reason this philosophy can’t be adopted when implementing your new ERP.
With the right approach, implementing your new ERP system can be done seamlessly, and as a team of experienced Netsuite professionals, we can’t wait to show you how it’s done!
Assess Your Business
The first step in implementing your ERP system, whether it’s something like NetSuite or Salesforce, is to assess your business. You invested in an ERP to elevate your business, and it's important you have a clear idea of what elevating it means to you AND how your latest investment will accomplish that.
Take a look at what’s not working in your business right now and what is. What function does your ERP provide that can fix or improve upon that? Next, get a clear idea of how you’ll introduce your new ERP into the day-to-day systems and make sure you have any necessary additional hardware that may be required to accommodate your new system.
Build A Plan
Once you’ve assessed your business and your latest ERP, the next vital step before implementing is to build your plan. Think of this as your plan of attack and the phases you’ll roll out for the implementation of your ERP. Doing a company-wide overhaul may be time-consuming and slow down your business operations, whereas attacking it department by department may allow an easy transition.
Additionally, it’ll be helpful to break down the process for each department! What managers will you have overlooking the progress of each phase? What timelines will you give them? Get as detailed as you’d like here so that your team has no room for doubt.
Prepare Your Team
Speaking of your team, before implementing your ERP, preparing your team is also just as crucial. You’ll want to make sure they’re not only aware of your incoming implementation, but that they’re also familiar with the system and how to get the help they’ll need as they learn to adapt to it.
Scheduling training days with them and making them aware of the chain of command will be a great way to ensure your team is comfortable with their new ERP so that the transition can be easier.
Manage The Project
Alright! Once you’ve built out your plan and gotten your team on board, you’re all set to roll out the project and start hitting those deadlines. Just keep in mind that the work doesn’t stop there. Even the best-laid plans often go astray after all! So you’ll want to stay on top of managing the project.
With head leads in every department, you can make sure they’re on top of monitoring the progress in the day-to-day scheme of things, as well as notifying you if anything notable should be flagged for a potential delay.
Course-Correct!
Sometimes, even the best implementations that are properly planned and rolled out can still stray off course because of unforeseen circumstances. For this matter, it’ll be important that you’re always ready and prepared to course-correct.
Have a backup plan for delays as well as the next steps in the event that your implementation has to be put on pause for any reason. Ensure that your staff and anyone involved in your business know exactly what will happen so that nothing throws off the success of your business until you’re able to get the ball rolling again.
Less Stress, More Ease!
Implementing your new ERP may feel like a stressful task, but when done right, you’ll quickly find that there’s no need to worry! Simply follow our steps and take deep breaths as you elevate your business to new heights!
Still feeling overwhelmed at the thought of implementing your new system? As experienced project managers, we’d love to step in and take this off your plate! Find out all the ways Ekwani can get your implementation project with ease!