A successful ERP implementation requires more than selecting and configuring the right technology. It needs a well-defined ERP implementation methodology that provides a structured approach to managing the project, establishing clear responsibilities, deliverables, and decision-making processes from planning through go-live. In Part 1 of our introduction to Pemeco’s Milestone Deliverables, we covered project planning, business process mapping, and ERP systems testing and piloting. In Part 2 of our introduction to Pemeco’s Milestone Deliverables, we look at these three areas: project organizational structure, training and data migration.
How Should You Structure an ERP Implementation Project?
Your business has formalized its organizational structure, hired the right people, and incentivized the right behaviors, all with the goal of driving a successful business. In my article, Set Up Your Project Like a Mini-Business, I argue that organizations should apply the same rationale when setting up their ERP projects.
An effective project structure is key to delivering a successful ERP implementation project. It facilitates effective execution, rapid decision-making, and knowledge transfer.
In terms of structure, the ERP steering committee should sit atop the project hierarchy and be made responsible for executive-level strategic decisions. The ERP core team sits below the steering committee on the project hierarchy and should be charged with managerial and functional implementation responsibilities, including end-user training. The end users sit below the core team and collectively comprise the ultimate project “client”.
How Should You Approach Training During an ERP Implementation?
Training is an important part of a successful ERP implementation because it prepares the organization to manage the new system after go-live. Our training methodology is based on the philosophy that an implementing organization should largely become self-sufficient in the future management of its ERP system.
Conceptually, our approach is simple: we help make the core team members super-users or, in other words, ERP experts in their respective functional areas. These super-users ultimately become responsible for training the end-users (among other things).
Although I set out the formal training requirements below, it’s important to mention that much of the training takes place outside of the classroom, as part of the implementation. For example, the core team members accumulate and demonstrate their knowledge of processes and systems during the walkthrough presentations and the departmental pilot phase. Select end-users get practical hands-on training as they run the business scenarios through the integrated pilot testing.
ERP Core Team
The ERP core team receives its formal, in-class training early on in the implementation. In terms of formal classroom training, we recommend the following four-course program for the core team.
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Course 1: ERP and Business Process Overview |
The core team learns ERP principles, the program objectives, end-to-end future-state business processes, cross-functional handoffs, data and control requirements, key roles, and the expected business outcomes. |
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Course 2: System Navigation and Common Tasks |
The core team receives hands-on training in the user interface, navigation, search, workflows, approvals, reporting, security, and common transactions. |
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Course 3: Role-Based Functional and Process Training |
The core team is organized by functional role and trained on relevant future-state processes, system transactions, standard operating procedures, controls, exceptions, data responsibilities, and realistic end-to-end scenarios. |
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Course 4: Super-User, Trainer, and Support Enablement |
Core team members develop the skills to train and coach end users, assess proficiency, troubleshoot common issues, transfer knowledge, manage escalations, and reinforce adoption after go-live. Specialist technical administration training is provided separately where required. |
End-User Training
Poor end-user training is a leading cause of ERP implementation failure. Simply put: if front-line employees fail to use the system as intended, the system will neither be capable of processing transactions nor generating meaningful reports.
For this reason, it’s critical to ensure that the training accomplishes what it’s intended to do: make end-users proficient, comfortable and willing to adopt the new business processes and systems. We do this by incorporating quality control and assurance processes in our training methodology.
Training course preparation, including the drafting of documentation and manuals, should take place during the business process mapping phase. This is the phase during which the project teams plan their organization’s evolution from its current state to its future state. It therefore makes sense to, at the same time, plan how to get the end-users from their current states to their future states. (However, the course won’t be delivered until close to the end of the implementation project.)
Here are the key components of an end-user training plan:
| Training Strategy |
Under this umbrella, the teams determine the following (among other things):
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| Training Budget |
A fulsome budget must be established, including the costs of the following:
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| Selected end-user training | As you will recall from the organizational structure discussion above, certain end-users are on the core team. These users require early training to assist with the systems testing. This early training also gives the teams an opportunity to test and revise the end-user training courses and documentation before broader end-user training begins. |
| General end-user training |
The general end-user training plan should identify the participants, logistics, schedule, and location, among other things. It should provide a detailed course schedule and should include training course material preparation (documentation). Finally, the training plan should contain an effectiveness assessment component. Two purposes of the assessment component include determining: 1) whether the end-users were well trained, and 2) what follow-up training is required. |
As with each phase of the project, it’s critical that training be delivered on-time, on-budget and in accordance with performance expectations (in this case, training effectiveness). As discussed above, all of these elements are built into the training plan.
How Should You Plan for ERP Data Migration?
Effective data migration is another critical driver of ERP success (just as poor data migration is a common cause of ERP failure).
Consider the 2009 case of Canadian airline WestJet. The airline encountered significant challenges migrating roughly 840,000 files tied to customer transactions as it cut over to its new CRM and online reservation systems. Following the cutover, its online booking system repeatedly crashed upon launch and led to an unanticipated and unmanageable flooding of call centers. Four months after the cutover nightmare, call center wait times had still not been reduced to pre-cutover levels. Further, WestJet required six months to repair the damage caused by its poor data migration effort. The irony of the story is that the problems occurred in the context of a new system that was intended to improve its customer service and reservations processes.
To avoid problems like the ones suffered by WesJjet and many others, the implementing organization needs to execute an actionable data migration plan. Using Pemeco’s Milestone Deliverables ERP implementation methodology, we developed a comprehensive data migration plan that includes data location, quality control, timing, and testing.
Our data migration plans generally include the following four components:
Testing and Quality Control | In this phase, the company plans the various data testing and quality control of ERP environments. Each testing environment is represented by an instance of the company in which certain data, settings, and programs are tested. Generally, we plan for six different instances of the company. These different environments are virgin, sandbox, development, quality assurance, migration, and production. |
General Data Migration Strategies | The implementation team sets out the various strategies and methods for locating, cleansing, migrating, and maintaining correctness of data. |
Static and Dynamic Data Strategies | The team sets out a table that contains the key migration information for each category of migrate-able data. They should generally track the following for each data source: the relevant table, the original data source, the type of data (static or dynamic), the cleansing method, the migration method, and the “maintaining correctness” method. Learn more static and dynamic data here. |
Timing | Planning an appropriate data migration schedule is critical and should be based on a consideration of: 1) the burden on the implementation team, and 2) the validity of the data. We generally prioritize the following data categories from earliest to latest migration: static data, long-term dynamic data, and short-term dynamic data. |
Continue Exploring Pemeco’s ERP Implementation Methodology
In Part 3 of this introduction to Pemeco’s Milestone Deliverables, I cover organizational change management and Pemeco’s approach to planning, managing, and measuring change during an ERP implementation.
You can also revisit Part 1, where I cover project planning, business process mapping, and ERP systems testing and piloting.
Want to learn more about the Milestone Deliverables ERP implementation methodology?
We wrote the book. Read Milestone Deliverables: ERP Project Management Methodology.
Frequently Asked Questions
How should an ERP implementation project be structured?
An ERP implementation project should have clear levels of responsibility and decision-making authority. In Pemeco’s Milestone Deliverables methodology, the ERP steering committee handles executive-level strategic decisions, while the ERP core team manages functional and implementation responsibilities. End users sit below the core team and collectively represent the ultimate project “client.”
What is the difference between an ERP steering committee and an ERP core team, and do you need both?
The ERP steering committee provides executive-level oversight and strategic decision-making, while the ERP core team handles managerial and functional implementation responsibilities. Both play important but different roles. The key is to establish a governance structure that clearly assigns responsibilities, decision-making authority, and accountability so that everyone understands their role throughout the ERP implementation.
When should end-user training begin during an ERP implementation?
Planning for end-user training should begin during business process mapping, when the project team is defining the organization’s future state. Selected end users receive earlier training to support systems testing, while broader end-user training is delivered closer to the end of the implementation project.
How do you effectively migrate data to a new ERP system?
ERP data migration involves more than simply moving data from one system to another. The implementation team needs to locate, cleanse, test, and migrate the data while maintaining its correctness. The migration plan should also define testing environments, migration methods, and the timing for moving different categories of data.
