Implementing enterprise applications

Enterprise applications like ERP, CRM, SCM are looked upon as do-or-die apps for today's large enterprises. The promised benefits of increased operational efficiency, enhanced profitability and productivity are carrots that few IT managers can afford to ignore. In addition, competitive pressures and customer demands necessitate their adoption. Yet, many such initiatives fail miserably, leaving the enterprise saddled with an electronic white elephant and the IT manager with the task of justifying the failed initiative. A Nagarajan gives some useful pointers on what to look for when implementing enterprise applications

If this seems like a pessimistic outlook let me assure you that this does not mean enterprise applications cannot deliver the goods. Look closer and you will find that the failure of many enterprise implementations can be attributed to factors extraneous to the capability of the chosen solution. Many such projects are tackled wrongly from the word go. An arbitrary, limited approach to implementing enterprise applications serves little purpose.

Buy-in at all levels

As the name suggests, enterprise applications impact the entire organisation. As such, the decision is to espouse technology needs to acknowledge and address the all-pervasive changes that the implementation will warrant. This demands buy-in from various cross-sections of the organisation. Obviously, the starting point for such acknowledgement is top management. Obtaining top management buy-in and getting them to endorse and support the project effectively captures the interest and support of the rest of the organisation. Time and again it has been proven that top management initiative, drive, involvement and commitment directly impacts the success of an enterprise application implementation.

The implementation of an enterprise application spells a paradigm shift in the way the organisation and its various stakeholders conduct business. The core team would need to actively assess the organisation's preparedness to embark on such a transformation project. The timing of the project, readiness of resources, availability of resources, business and environmental imperatives can all impact the preparedness for an enterprise application implementation. This also has a direct bearing on overcoming resistance to change in the organisation. Considerable effort needs to go into changing the old ways of working and moving over to proven industry-specific best practices that an enterprise application brings to the organisation.

Choosing the right partner

The right IT partner can go a long way towards helping your organisation achieve many of the pre-requisites detailed above. One may well ask whether selecting the right package is more important. Ideally, this issue sorts itself out if you can locate a vendor-independent IT partner or a company that has experience in more than one brand of the application that your organisation requires. Here you get expert assistance in deciding which package best suits your organisation. Once you have zeroed in on the IT solution you need to ensure proper infrastructure availability (hardware, networking, etc,) for the project.

Through the rest of the implementation—planning, designing, implementing, training, sustenance—your choice of partner assumes great significance. Experience working on the technology / platform that your organisation uses, experience with a company like yours and from similar domains will stand your organisation in good stead.

Building your project team

Once you have signed on your IT solution provider and picked the package that you are going to implement, the stage is set to get down to the project. Here it is vital to crystallise the project charter and objectives in the beginning and set right the expectations of the employees and management. Implementations of solutions like ERP can definitely work wonders for an organisation. They also have organisation-wide impact that demands a sustained organisation-wide cohesive effort to make things work. A project team comprising representatives from various functions within the organisation can help disseminate the objectives, effects and benefits of the implementation across the organisation. In this regard your choice of the project team becomes critical—a judicious mix of people from technology and process backgrounds would also ensure that the implementation meets the requirements of users across the enterprise.

Twin challenges of integration & customisation

In an established organisation where information systems and infrastructure already exists, the challenge lies in integrating the enterprise application with legacy systems. An experienced IT partner with experience in integration can help a great deal in protecting your existing IT investments. It is also important to re-engineer your business processes where necessary so that you do not automate an inefficient or redundant process. This is perhaps the best time to take stock of existing systems and processes, and streamline them to create an agile and efficient organisation.

Once you have re-engineered business processes, it is time to match the functionality of the package with your business requirements. With most enterprise application implementations, a certain amount of customisation would be required to squeeze the maximum benefit out of the implementation. Here again the experience of your IT partner will help effect the workarounds and programming required for achieving seamless integration.

The IT provider’s experience with multiple platforms and legacy systems will come in handy in integrating the enterprise application with existing and legacy systems within your organisation. It follows that when you shortlist your IT provider an important consideration should be integration experience. Middleware and legacy systems integration experience are important to ensure that your organisation’s existing investments in IT are protected. This will ensure that work-around programs, data integration, code customisation, data preparation and migration are seamlessly done and an integrated system is delivered to users.

Managing change

As I had mentioned earlier, the implementation of an enterprise-wide application demands a sea of change—working styles, processes, modes of operations, time lines, responsibilities etc. The onus of managing such change lies with the department or project team. The key to managing change lies in ensuring that all constituents of the value chain are well informed and involved in the implementation of the enterprise application. Here again an experienced IT provider can help and advice the project team and facilitate the entire implementation. Effective training and appreciation programmes at various levels, overlap of new and existing systems, timing of project rollout are some of the factors that help in effecting a smooth transition.

Look to the future

Finally, when you are going in for an implementation that demands significant investments of time, money, effort and resources, don’t forget to plan for the future. In addition to meeting current needs, ensure that the implementation meets the short to mid-term needs of your organisation. You would also need to ensure that the implementation offers scalability and an upward migration path. This will ensure that your investments in the project deliver the critical returns that your management demands.

The author is general manager-Business Applications, Wipro Infotech. He can be reached at nagarajan.anantharaman@wipro.com