Quality Checkpoints And Processes During ERP Implementation

An ERP project should be viewed as a major undertaking for any organization. Further as I have mentioned in my article “Challenge of setting up an ERP Implementation Team” – “ERP project management is the key to a successful ERP implementation. ….An organization must clearly define the ERP implementation “finish line”, or the scope of the ERP.”

An ERP implementation plan should serve as a GPS navigator for the ERP stakeholders.  It should lay out a clearly marked roadmap for a successful ERP implementation.  The roadmap should include key milestone checkpoints, so that project progress can be tracked.

A good ERP implementation plan must break down the project into phases. Each phase must be discrete, manageable and measurable. Typical phases for an ERP implementation are: Planning, Conference Room Pilot, Conversion and Integration, Training, Parallel Run, Go Live and Stabilization. Milestones and deliverables for each phase must be identified. A milestone can be signing off of a deliverable, a high level review meeting, an independent assessment etc.

ERP Implementation Successfactors Next, for each phase of the ERP implementation plan, a list of activities/tasks must be defined. These activities should further translate into processes that are to be followed and/or implemented. Each process must have its objective, resource skill requirements, inputs and outputs clearly articulated.

Coming back to our analogy with the GPS navigator, ERP implementation phases, milestones and deliverables automatically provide the quality and control checkpoints. Not only that, the ERP implementation plan also articulates the processes that are being implemented in that phase.

For any project there are only three critical success factors that require constant attention and monitoring. These factors are resource allocation (personnel and money), time (project schedule) and scope (functionality and deliverables). The ERP implementation plan therefore must establish a budget, a timeline and the scope for the entire project. This serves as the project dashboard. The budget, timeline and scope should then be scaled down to the phase level, establishing the phase dashboard and the phase checkpoint measures.

Each of the defined deliverable must be measured and monitored. At the conclusion of each deliverable, the project team must stop and evaluate whether they are on target with respect to budget, time and performance. Evaluation should consist of quickly collating the measures and analyzing them. In case of deviation a prioritized list of action items should emerge and be implemented rigorously. Immediate feedback and correction reduce ERP implementation failure risks significantly.

It is advisable that at select project milestones, an independent and objective project assessment be done. An evaluation of the current business strategy, degree of business change since the project launch and projected business changes must also be factored into these evaluations.

About the Author

Rajyashree Agarwala is Chief Manager Quality Systems with Eastern Software Solutions.