Role of consultant, vendors and users
Initially, organizations were skeptical about ERP since they felt that their businesses were unique and their cultures different. As time passed and their business problems became more pressing, they started looking at ERP as the panacea for their woes. In their urgency, they were expecting miracles, Unfortunately this doesn’t happen most of the time, leaving users frustrated which in turn, leads to poor participation and costly deIays. It is important to understand that an ERP package cannot fit in completely with the existing business practices of an organization.
The onus to appreciate this fact is on the users and they have to work with the implementation consultants to adapt to the package. In
Initially, organizations were skeptical about ERP since they felt that their business were unique and their cultures different. As time passed and their business problems became more pressing, they started looking at ERP as the solution for their woes. In their urgency, they were expecting miracles. Unfortunately, this doesn’t happen most of the time, leaving users frustrated which in turn, lead to poor participation and costly delays. It is important to understand that an ERP package cannot fit in completely with the existing business practices of an organization. The onus to appreciate this fact is on the users and they have to work with the implementation consultants to adapt to the package. In order to avoid setbacks in an EPR project, a consultant plays a useful role. The consultants by virtue of their industry, experience and package expertise should pitch in and set the expectations of users at various levels keeping in mind the overall business objectives of the client. They can do so by working closely with key users, understanding their needs, analyzing the business realities and designing solutions that meet the basic objectives of the company. At this point, it is also important to understand the distinction between the roles of the consultants and the users. It is the users who will be driving the implementation and their active involvement at all levels and across all business functions is absolutely critical. An ERP package is expected to improve the flow of information and formalize all the business processes and workflow that exist in an organization. Many users expect their workload to decrease after an ERP implementation, but this may not always happen. The important thing to understand is that the ERP package is an enabling tool to help the users do their job better, which may call for additional efforts. If one has to have more information in a system, it entails more work for some users, but the benefit is that this information if properly stored, can fruitfully used by other users in making better decisions. As the flow of information throughout the organization improves, the company starts performing better, and this in turn benefits the users who have collectively improved their way of working
Role of the Vendor
As soon as the company signs the contract, the vendors should supply the product and its documentation. Once the software is delivered, the company can develop the training and testing environment for the implementation team. The roles of the vendors during and after implementation of ERP are:
· The vendor is responsible for fixing any problems in the software that the implementation team encounters.
· The vendor should have a liaison officer to constantly interact with the implementation team.
· The vendors provide initial training for the company’s key users. These key users are the ones who will define, together with the consultants, how the software is to serve the company.
· They are also called as in-house functional experts who decide how the functionalities are implemented to adapt the product to suit the company’s unique requirements. It is very important to provide these in-house experts a through training on the features of the package.
· Vendor’s training should include showing the key users how the package works, what are the major components, how the data and information flows across the system, what is flexible and what is not, what can be configured and what cannot, what can be customized and what should not, what are the limitations, what are the strengths and weaknesses and so on.
· The objective of the vendor training is to show how the system works, not to show how it should be implemented. This means that the vendor demonstrates the product as it exists and highlights what are the possible options available.
· The company’s employees who are participating in the vendor training should try to understand the characteristics of the package and the impact of the system on their business processes. The trainees should use these training sessions to question the vendor on all aspects of the system.
Now some of you might ask, we are hiring consultants who are experts in the package so why can’t we get training from the consultants?
This is true. Most of the consultants are capable of providing sound training for the packages. But we are hiring the consultants for implementing the system. However, the consultants also have a role to play during this vendor training. They should participate in the training sessions to evaluate how the users react to the reality that is starting to take shape from the detailed presentations and demos. Consultants should also ask questions that the vendors are trying to avoid and the users are unaware of. This is the best way to present the real picture to the users and it will also prevent the vendors from making false claims.
Vendors play an important role in project support function and exercise the quality control with respect to how the product is implemented. It is the vendor who understands the finer details and subtleties of the product and can make valuable suggestions and improvements that could improve the performance of the system. It is also in the best interests of the vendor that this participation continues, because if the implementation fails, most of the blame will fall on the vendor. Also a successful implementation means another satisfied client, improved goodwill and good referrals and so on. So the vendor will continue to participate in all the phases of the implementation, mostly in an advisory capacity, addressing specific technical questions about the product and technology.
Whether to customize or not?
Vendors help to fill gaps between the package and the actual business processes. The software might have to be customized to suit the company’s needs. Here, customizing means altering the product so that it is suited for the company’s purposes. The choice of whether to customize or not is the one that can have enormous impact on the project and it often constitutes a point of conflict between the consultants and users. But if the decision to customize has been taken, it is the vendor’s duty to carry out the necessary modifications. This is because
only the vendor knows the product well enough to make the necessary changes without affecting the other parts. Moreover, the company should get a guarantee (in writing) from the vendor that despite the customization, it will be able to benefit from the future software improvements introduced by the vendor.
ERP integrates business process reporting for the different business divisions. It creates transparent data exchange and facilitates timely and informed decision making for senior managers. The successful implementation of the enterprise resource planning software improves the management and planning of a business corporation. It increases the performance of the organization. This increasing trend has enhanced the value of ERP vendors in the market.
ERP vendors are continuing to expand market presence by offering new applications. The top three players namely SAP AG, Oracle, Baan PeopleSoft account for 64 per cent of the ERP market revenue.
Post ERP implementation
After an ERP implementation, organization should not sit back and relax. Depending on the scope of the ERP implementation exercises, several options can be explored tom further maximize the gains.
The first thing that an organization should look forward to, after an ERP implementation, is improved morale of the workforce. Needless to say, it would have a cascade effect in terms of increased productivity and better customer response.
On the monetary side, depending on the level of success, ROI should also be on the way up. It is estimated that a well managed ERP project can have up to 200percent return on investment within a short period of time while a poorly managed ERP project can yield a return on investment as low as 25 percent.
During the phase of minimization, organizations move closer to best practices. Depending on the target environment design, which is governed by the ability to change, this effort could be a natural extension of the ERP implementation or it could be a separate project in itself. Process optimizations, and thus performance improvement, are a continuous exercise.
Vendor Security Certification
You should require the vendor to respond to these items in writing:
Must-Have Features
- The ERP system requires strong passwords.
- There is a low overhead and secure method to change passwords.
- Stored passwords are encrypted.
- There are no features of the ERP that require that users, no matter what their role, be given access to the underlying database.
- The ID is not the SSN.
- Roles can be tied to position categories.
- Default roles can be established.
- Roles can be established that allow a user to process sensitive data in the ERP but restrict that user from downloading the data.
- All data fields that are required by federal law to be protected come with encryption enabled.
- All data fields that are required by federal law to be protected come with auditing enabled.
- Data fields can be encrypted at the database level as well as at the form or table level.
- Reports are generated that show who has requested data exports that include sensitive data, such as SSNs, credit card numbers, and so forth.
Desired Features
- Critical processes (payroll, grades) can be run first in audit mode.
- The institution can specify additional fields to have table lookups.
- The institution can specify additional fields to be encrypted.
- The institution can specify additional fields to have audit trails.
- The system prevents the creation of duplicate records during batch transactions.
Consultants
Business consultants are professional who specialise in developing techniques and methodologies for dealing with the implementation .They are the experts in the administration, management and control of various problems that crop up during the implementation.. Each of them has many man-years of implementation experience with various industries and would have time-tested methodologies and business practices that ensure successful implementation. They are good at all phases of the implementation lifecycle, right from package evaluation to end-user training. The only problem with these business consultants is that they are very expensive. Many of the big consulting firms invest a great deal of money in developing a range of consulting services and assign many of their professionals to become specialists in the various aspects of ERP packages and their implementation.
These firm develop an in-depth understanding of each product’s strengths and weaknesses, work by the side of the ERP vendors to confirm that the vendor’s package actually works, learn the tricks and techniques of the trade, find out the pitfalls and mistakes that should be avoided and thus create a pool of experts who could handle the ERP implementation without failure.
Thus, consultants are people who have made the business of ERP implementation their business and have invested huge amount, of money and manpower for that purpose. So when you want to get the services of these consultants, the first question that will be asked is-"Are they going to be expensive?" The answer is a definite YES.
The consultants will be expensive, so the company will have to formulate a plan regarding best optimum use of the money spent on consultants. If you study the statistics, you can see that a well-selected, integrated system that was successfully implemented and which is successfully working usually pays for itself in a relatively short period–between 10 and 30 months. If you analyse the cost break-up, you will find that the most expensive part of the implementation was the consultation charges. For a typical ERP implementation, the cost of consultants is 1.5 to 3 times for every rupee invested in the software product. Sounds amazing; but it is true and it is also true that the software will pay for itself– the software cost, the consultant’s charges and other expenses incurred during implementation–in the above mentioned period (10-30 months). But the catch is that the product has to be the right one and the implementation has to be successful. That is why the expertise of the consultants becomes invaluable and the money spent on good consultation is never wasted. So finding the right consultants–people who have the necessary know-how, who will work well with the company personnel, people who will transfer their knowledge to the company’s employees and people who are available in case their services are required again is very important.
Role of the consultants
The role of the ERP consultants is known to all of us as we have seen many of them in action. The company places its trust in the consultants, that its business objectives will be achieved. The consultants ensure the success of the project. This produces quantifiable results to the satisfaction of the company management.
Consultants administer each of the phases of the implementation. This ensure that the required activities occur at the scheduled time and at the desired level of quality with effective participation of all those who must participate. The consultants are responsible to convert the planned methodology into task and allocate right resource to complete that task.
Consultants add value to the project. They bring the know-how about the package and about the implementation–the know-how that is not included in the standard documentation. This know-how (also know as practical knowledge) is derived from their expertise which stems from practical experience. Thus by eliminating the trial-and-error method of implementation, and by doing it right the first time, the consultants help in saving huge amounts of money, time and effort.
Consultants should remain impartial while questioning current company processes in an effort to promote better businesses practices and better implementation results. They should strive to improve the company’s business processes so that the software package can be used as it was originally intended by its developers. Refining the company’s processes can only optimise the performance of the system and maximise future user satisfaction. The consultants are also responsible for analysing and clearly addressing the customisation issues.
ERP consultants show the advantages and drawbacks of each area to the management and reach a consensus decision. Consultants need to balance their loyalty to the client and the project with that of defending the package vendor, when such defence is technically correct.
Consultant alerts the company management about actions and decisions to be taken. This ensures that job will not be compromised and the implementation will not be jeopardised. Once the project is complete, consultants will leave the company. However, the knowledge of the project should remain within the organisation. Hence, consultants should train enough people in the organisation so that the work they have started is continued.
There are other tasks performed by the ERP consultants. They:
· Maintain technical documents on the projects.
· Analyse business requirements.
· Prepare the functional specifications for ERP program development.
· Perform Gap analysis and related studies.
· Assess the competence level of the users of the ERP system.
· Perform Product design and operations review.
· Identify requirements of the users of the ERP system.
· Interact with other modules consultants.
End-Users
ERP end-users are the people who will be using the ERP system once it is implemented. Most of the functions that the end users used to perform are being automated by the ERP system. ERP system brings drastic transformation in the actual work process which leads to change in old job descriptions.
It is human nature to resist change. Implementation of an ERP system brings change in a very massive scale. Employees will fear that system will replace existing jobs, as many functions will be automated. Also people will be afraid of the amount of training they have to undergo and learning they have to do to use the new system. Job profiles will change, job responsibilities will undergo drastic alterations, and people will be forced to develop new skill sets. If these fears are not addressed and alleviated well in advance, it will cause trouble for the organisation.
The automation of the business processes, through technology, can eliminate the jobs of many employees whose function it is to record, control, calculate, analyze, file or prepare reports. Even though ERP systems eliminate many existing jobs, it creates many new ones with more responsibilities and value addition. Employees get away from the monotonous clerical work and transform themselves into highly valued individuals, in a new and challenging working environment using modern technology. If the company succeeds in convincing its employees to accept this fact and assist by giving them proper training, then the major obstacle in the path of an ERP implementation is solved.
For example, the recent research on SAP end-user training suggested that enterprises should allocate 17 percent of the total cost of an ERP project to training. Gartner research recognized training as the top priority, and suggested that companies that budget less than 13 percent of the implementation costs for training are three times more likely than companies that spend 17 percent or more to see their ERP projects run over time and over budget.
The impact of application on ERP end-user productivity is a complex undertaking because of the wide range of business functions and user types who interact with such systems. The business productivity framework is developed to measure how ERP end-users feel system affects their personal productivity. This also develops an opportunity to create a framework to evaluate new system.
