New ERP? Post-Implementation Does it Feel Like Success or Failure?

In this blog, we will focus on what happens in ERP post-implementation. So, is it only happy faces, champagne and performance bonuses all around?

An earlier blog described the steps you should undertake when upgrading or implementing a new ERP or System. If you want to know more about the Loughridge Transformations’ Ladder of Implementation, we suggest reading  Upgrading your ERP? Here’s How to Get It Right.

We group the steps on the implementation ladder into two phases:

Organisations often overlook or, at best, take a light touch to the ERP Post-Implementation phase. Even if the first two phases have been very successful, there is a severe risk of undermining the overall end-to-end success by not giving time and effort to the activities after Go-Live.

After reading this blog, we hope you understand why this third phase is equally crucial!

ERP Implementation – Success Claimed?

The success of a system or ERP implementation can be very subjective. For example, have you ever come across the following scenario?

Vendors?

ERP vendors almost always claim the project was a success – otherwise, they might soon be out of business!

Management?

Senior or Middle Management instinctively claim the project was a success, as the organisation will have spent considerable money and resources. Inevitably, they seek a good Return on Investment. Furthermore, if they take a helicopter view, it may look successful. Let’s assume management has done all they can in project sponsorship and commitment. Unless something has gone seriously wrong during the implementation, management naturally takes Go-Live to indicate success.

End-Users?

The devil is, as always, in the details. That brings us to the end-user. We can only judge how successful implementation is by evaluating the adoption of the new system by this user group. How well-entrenched the end-users are in the legacy system and processes and how well the new system(s) supports them influences adoption. It is not uncommon to find split opinions in the crucial end-user group. If you do not address these issues, you risk jeopardising or seriously diminishing the value of all the hard work during implementation – and, ultimately, the Return on Investment.

It is not at all uncommon! We have seen it countless times. This blog addresses how to secure complete success in your end-user group and embed a sustainable finance transformation in your new system or ERP, so you can truly claim victory.

At Loughridge Transformations, we have years of experience and lessons learned in a major international organisation. We have experience with the worldwide rollouts of new or upgraded ERPs. That experience includes deploying enhanced processes supported by off-the-shelf IT products and bespoke, in-house-developed technical solutions. This blog should give some food for thought. Although you might find aspects not entirely applicable to your organisation, we aimed to cover the essential elements based on our experience. 

Managing the ERP Post-Implementation: Who and What?

Suppose your organisation had a dedicated system project team during the implementation phase. It is worth maintaining the core team for a few months after the Go-Live date. They know the ins and outs of the project, so they are perfectly equipped to manage issues that may arise. Dependent on the size of your organisation, you might consider a dedicated full-time or part-time team. The important thing is to have the project knowledge available for some time after Go-Live.

Furthermore, an ERP post-implementation strategy or roadmap can be beneficial. The team should ideally prepare it around UAT (User Acceptance Testing). As a new system or ERP is a substantial investment, you want it to be as per requirement and deliver for your organisation for years to come. Therefore, you need to consider the future, not just the go-live date.  

Unless you have identified burning issues in some process areas that need immediate attention, it is advisable to give your staff the time to learn the new processes and adjust to the system. It will also give you a feel for how well it works relative to your requirements. Depending on the scale of the change, the duration can differ, but we have usually found that a few months, including at least one quarterly Financial Close, is worthwhile.

ERP Post-Implementation Review

We recommend starting the ERP post-implementation phase with a review to collect data on where the project stands following Go-Live.

What Was Successful

What went well in the project, and where did your staff see improvement in their day-to-day tasks. Refer to your initial project implementation objectives to validate that what you have achieved is what you set out to do.

What Was Challenging

For example, leveraging discussions, observations, and user experiences gain full transparency of areas perceived as falling short of expectations, teams that still need more training and the like.

What Would You Change

Typically, this will include aspects of the project that could have been better. But, again, these are essential insights to feed into your post-implementation review and future enhancement phases.

Pending Issues

These are issues that surfaced during implementation but have not prevented Go-Live. Make a list of features or functionality you still want to implement in either post-implementation or a future release. In many cases, the initial implementation may not have addressed every item on the list of original requirements. These could be items deemed nice-to-have or postponed for later releases and are consequently on hold. However, make sure they do not just disappear altogether. Instead, make them part of a roadmap for future developments. Lastly, wherever possible, include your ERP partner in the post-implementation reviews. ERP Post-Implementation reviews should be part of their standard methodology. It is more productive to have these conversations involving them directly than having someone in your organisation take a middle-man role between the system vendor and review team.

ERP Post-Implementation Activities

Let’s now look at the activities within post-implementation following the review.

We want to increase the Uptake, Utilisation, Adoption and Optimisation of the ERP or system. Different organisations and individuals will move through the activities after Go-Live at different paces. Therefore, you should expect a degree of overlap in the timing and categorisation of these activities, and indeed the Optimise step will be more of a continuous effort. Our list is not exhaustive but should give you some idea of what to expect after Go-Live. It is worth remembering that different processes are also likely to move through the steps at different speeds, given the frequency and complexity of the process execution. A straightforward process executed multiple times a day will be quicker in moving through the phases than one more involved and only taking place annually.

ERP Post-Implementation: Uptake

Documentation

Implementation teams often put documentation on the back burner because it takes time and resources, and many people see it as non-value adding. On the contrary, this is an essential and value-adding activity on your road to success. It is best to document your processes during implementation, but other pressing issues often take precedence, and documentation is often left to the last minute or postponed. If your documentation is incomplete, this is the time to ensure that the team has now completed it.

Having clear and complete process documentation helps prevent the back-sliding into the old way of doing things. For example, maybe your organisation was one of those where each staff member had their unique way, which meant your data became inconsistent and unreliable. One of the benefits of your new system should be standardised processes. But to truly get the value, you need to document those processes so everyone on your team works the same way.

End-to-End

Cover the end-to-end process even if this goes outside the boundaries of the process operator. Areas outside can be limited to, for example, showing a flowchart or diagram of the steps outside the operator’s boundaries. The important thing is to show the entire end-to-end process and see beyond silos. Understanding the end-to-end process value chain helps significantly.

Hand-Offs

Be very clear about hand-offs and touchpoints – you do not want ambiguity regarding the process-operator responsibilities. Include timings – many processes need to be executed within a specific timeline, and it has an unfortunate knock-on effect if this is not adhered to or forgotten.

Decision Rationale

Where applicable, document the rationale for vital decisions during implementation, such as the Master Reference Data set-up catering for efficient management reporting, critical features for later enhancements and the like. Understanding why a task is done in a certain way provides context for users.

The implementation team should now also deal with any other implementation deliverables which are unfinished.

ERP Post-Implementation: Utilise

You should already have done an intensive round of training with your team before go-live. However, skill development should not end there. In the months after Go-Live, consider scheduling refresher sessions with each group or individual to reinforce the new processes and allow staff to ask questions. Here, you can go deeper into the functionality and beyond the minimum features staff need to know. You should continually improve the process, knowledge and understanding of the system to leverage it to its full potential.

Your ERP vendor or partner will likely have an approach for transitioning from the implementation consulting phase to the customer-support phase. Get transparency on what such a maintenance or support plan looks like for your organisation. For example, how often do you want to upgrade to newer versions? Will your partner notify you when a new version is available? How to communicate new features and train your team on new versions or features?

Consider what communication makes sense for your organisation regarding interactions between the system or ERP partner and your staff. For example, funnel requests and support issues through one person in the organisation, usually a super-user, and give employees the authority to reach out to the partner directly in some instances, like support issues. Whatever interaction suits your organisation the best, communicate these expectations to the team. Let them know how to contact your partner.

ERP Post-Implementation: Adopt

Keep your documentation evergreen. Update your documentation over time as your processes change. They will continue to evolve as your organisation does, so make documentation a requirement for each team member.

Many System or ERP vendors also provide value-added content to their clients, like webinars, training videos and helpdesk articles, to mention a few. Find out what your partner offers and get your users on their mailing list. This way, your team has easy access to the training content. It also supports developing a CI (continuous improvement) process mindset.

You need a team or a person, dependent on the size of your organisation, to manage your continuous improvement efforts – be it changes within your system or ERP or the end-to-end process. The critical aspect of managing these efforts is not to focus on the technology alone. Instead, think about the process and consider how that impacts the technology. Our experience is that the most successful Finance Transformation Programmes are process-led, not technology-led.

ERP Post-Implementation: Optimise

Knowledge retention: you want to protect the process knowledge within your organisation. If you do not document the new processes, you risk losing that knowledge if a team member leaves or changes role. The loss in time and productivity can be significant. How do you train someone new when no one knows the process?

Define a procedure for capturing, prioritising and executing changes to your process or system. The below points could inspire such a procedure:

• Who can send change requests?
• Where should change requests be sent?
• How will you track them?
• What will be the basis for prioritising requests?
• Who needs to provide approval for changes to the process or technology?
• How do you make a change request process known within your organisation?
• How often will you meet to review and discuss your continuous improvement plan?

ERP Post-Implementation: Change Management

We have often emphasised the importance of change management, and a new system post-implementation review is no exception. While new processes are embedded and underpinned by the new system(s), you can be confident that there will be a degree of resistance, particularly among end-users. There could be valid reasons for this resistance – for example, not enough user training or certain features not implemented in the initial implementation. Whatever the reason, be aware that change management is often required beyond the point of Go-Live.

Successful and Sustainable Implementation

By now, it should be clear why Loughridge Transformations do not like to claim success as early as Go-Live – there is so much still to happen to ensure that your transformation is both successful and sustainable. Of course, every project is different, but we hope to have given you a flavour of things to consider before popping the champagne cork!

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