ERP is not something you can buy, you have to achieve it!

Bulbul Ahmed

Strategic Transformation Leader | ERP, IT & Enterprise Solution Project Manager | Master Business Analyst | Management Consultant | Driving Innovation Through Process Optimization, Culture Development, and Automation Technology | 28 March, 2019 (Thursday)View 2370

75% ERP projects fail

If successfully implemented, ERP will put yours in one of the top percentile companies in the industry.

According to analyst firm Gartner Inc., 75% ERP projects fail! This statistic is applicable to any industry in Europe, North America and the rest of the world.

Failure doesn’t mean ERP never go-live. Failure means not getting the expected result which can happen before or after go-live.

ERP success does not depend on software, vendor, consultant or budget

Many companies who trying to implement top ERP software (such as SAP, Oracle, MS Dynamics) are failing. Only some of them are getting their expected outcome.

Many companies select the best ERP vendors in the market, still 75% implementations fail. It fails even if the ERP Vendor assign their best consultant having a lot of experience.

Same software, same vendor, same consultant getting success in few companies but failing in many other companies within the same industry sector.

Regardless of small, medium or large in size; companies spending millions of dollars on ERP projects, but only 25% of them getting their expected result. Therefore, it’s not about money. Money cannot buy you ERP success. So, what’s the key to success? Let’s move on to know.

ERP implementation is a very tough & complex project

ERP implementation project is a mix of

People
Business Process
Software
Culture
Information
Consultants
Technology

That’s why ERP Project is very large in scope with a lot of risks & variables. It involves all departments and all people; You will have to deal with a lot of issues and make a lot of critical decisions. It is not just a simple IT project. It requires big changes and takes longer time than expected if not properly managed.

You have to go through a maze of alternative software packages, vendors and consultants. There will be a lot of broken-promises by vendors. Lot of surprise will come and you will have to spend money that you didn’t budget or expect. Consultants will take money for each minute they spend, and definitely it will be lot more than budgeted initially.

Maintaining the budget and timeline of ERP Project is almost impossible. It is possible only if the company takes ownership and manage the project by itself without depending on the software vendor.

There is no shortcut to ERP success

From the above facts, it is very clear that ERP success is not about big budget, it’s not about the best software package, it’s not about experienced consultant, it’s all about how you manage & own the project.

You have to take it as your own project, not software vendor’s project. Software vendor is just a supplier; and a supplier does not ensure success of your business, it’s you.

There is no shortcut, you have to meet below criteria in order to ensure successful ERP project…

The project manager must be from your company, not from software vendor’s.
The contract, budget and timeline must be planned & controlled by your own people, not by external consultants.
The business requirements must be extracted by your Business Analysts, not by external consultants
New process and responsibilities must be decided and established by your internal team of Functional Business Analysts
The software configuration as well as customization should be performed by your team, not by ERP vendor. ERP vendor is just to train your project team about their software.

By sitting in comfy chair and spending a lot money on software & consultants, you can never ensure success of ERP project. ERP is not something you can buy, you have to achieve it!

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