ERP Project Management

Our failed experiences guide us to do better. But if this experience comes at a high price, we need to be much more careful. As in all projects that aim to change the corporate culture and way of doing business, success and failure in ERP are caused by some of our basic choices.

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) software is application infrastructures that are desired to work in an integrated and uninterrupted manner from production to finance in companies. The problems experienced in the maturation process of many products in the history of technology are also valid for the software industry. Like every new technology, ERP came to the fore with great excitement in the business world. Many works that had been done with direct human power in various industries until that time would now be carried out in an automation environment and resources could be used more efficiently. Now that machines talk to machines, these can be seen as ordinary requests. However, the first attempts were not always successful. If we have a mature and standards-compliant ERP environment today, we owe a lot to these negative experiences.

“While multimillion-dollar ERP projects are being implemented in the world, serious road accidents have occurred in large companies with well-known brands for many reasons, such as sometimes faulty technology choices, sometimes infrastructure inadequacies, sometimes not understanding the process and sometimes the requirements of the industry. Before looking at the source of failure in ERP, we find it useful to correctly define what the problems were at the beginning.”

To look at it from a technology perspective first, the maturation of industry-standard hardware and software we use today is only the story of the last 15-20 years. In the beginning, ERP software had to be content with its own unique hardware, software architectures with limited possibilities, and computing infrastructure equipped with database standards, which are the legacy of the past. Aside from the technology aspect, the drawbacks of evaluating ERP opportunities as just ordinary business software within the business management approach emerged over time.

Now We Need to Switch to ERP!

ERP is a technology that affects the corporate cultures and business styles of companies. Organizations generally make their ERP choices based on some basic business needs. For example, many reasons such as responding better to market demands, using existing resources such as workforce and other physical assets more effectively and efficiently, improving the production process, being innovative, and making future projections are the triggers for ERP investments.

In order for ERP projects to be successful, some steps are necessary to define the project objectives correctly. Resources such as sufficient budget, technical infrastructure, and support team should be allocated for the project. Institutional stakeholders such as managers, employees, and suppliers should contribute to the process. If it is a project that will cover many business processes, the transition phases to modules should be well analyzed and planned. Above all, all these jobs require proper management of work time and resources.

“ERP applications provide integration between business processes, encourage cooperation and sharing among employees in accordance with the growth and profitability goals of the company, sometimes forcing the usual working styles and forcing the institution to make a change in line with efficiency and productivity. This is a difficult and demanding process to manage professionally. On the other hand, a properly managed ERP project usually repays the lost years of companies in agility and profitability within a certain period of time.”

Many managers, who think that things should be managed in a different way, may decide to switch to ERP in this direction. Those who want to be successful can step into a new world by paying attention to certain points within the framework of the issues mentioned above. However, even though it may seem like a bad joke, it doesn't take much effort for you to fail an ERP project.

We were chatting last night, it suddenly came to mind!

Of course, such a world does not exist for professional managers. ERP decisions are not made in a few days. However, ERP projects can fail. Let's question the reasons together;

Project Target is Not Defined Correctly

It is important to correctly define the requirement, which is the motivation of the ERP project. Is it aimed to improve one or a few business processes or is it a general transformation? If there is clarity on these issues, have detailed needs analyses been carried out? What are the issues that do not meet the needs in the current system? Because institutions decide on their ERP systems once in a long cycle, these business applications depending on the maturity and life of the product will carry the backbone of the institution for a very long time.

Failure to Establish Expectation and Resource Balance

We know what we want, we want our investment to be long-term, but we do not have enough information about our resources. The cost of ERP to institutions is not only the license, support and maintenance money paid for the software. It may require training and manpower over time, as well as a certain technology infrastructure and IT support team. This constitutes the material dimension of the work. It also needs teams, including senior managers, to devote time to the project, especially during the initial stages of installation.

Technically, project teams are expected to be knowledgeable about the subject and competent in communicating with the employee. Because ERP projects change the routine in institutions when appropriate, and employees may resist some changes. In this sense, do we have sufficient technical staff? Will our project managers be able to devote the necessary time to this task, or will they manage the project "as time can" depending on the importance of their main role? An ERP choice that will be made without considering all these visible and invisible costs will also determine the course of the business.

Reluctance to Change the Business Model

Like all business applications developed in industry-standard, ERP software also carries some methodologies that will make business management more effective, as well as expertise for various sectors. ERP is the translation of globally accepted project management standards and workflow models into technology. Therefore, it aims at a transformation that encourages efficiency, productivity, and competitiveness in institutions. Professionals already make ERP choices to change existing business models and make them more effective. If you want things to go the same way, you obviously do not need to make such an investment. However, the existing systems that carry the institutions to these days definitely have features that have business value. Therefore, it is possible to evaluate and reinterpret the right parts operating in the old business model within the framework of the ERP project.

Space Shuttle Quest

Tools gain value in line with the benefits they offer. ERP is also the right investment to the extent that it meets business requirements and offers a technology that is open to development. For example, Workcube, which offers end-to-end solutions to businesses, 100 percent web-based Workcube ERP with 64 different modules, more than 4,500 business functions, and business objects, is an ideal product for managers aiming for a simple and user-friendly business ecosystem with the experience gained from hundreds of installations.

Basically, ERP applications are the carrier platform of institutions' continuous improvement efforts. Due to the changing nature of business utility over time, ERP should not be thought of as an ultra software to be bought once and set aside.

“ERP is a business tool that will carry your company on a long and challenging route with comfort and confidence. For this reason, when making your ERP selection, you should first consider the requirements of your business and question only the benefits you aim to obtain from the product.”