4 Common Myths / Misinformation before implementing an ERP System
Mismanaged expectations and misinformation shared during
sales cycles for ERP systems are
major reasons why so many implementations fail.
Unfortunately, buyers of new ERP systems often rely on
faulty information when making their purchasing decisions. Educated buyers that go into their ERP
implementations with their eyes wide open are much more
likely to succeed than those that don’t.
Here are 4 common myths that one should be aware of
before investing in the new ERP initiative:
ERP implementations can be quick and inexpensive
ERP
vendors and their
sales reps love to sell the concept of quick and easy implementations. We’re
all looking for that silver bullet or “easy button” that we can use to make our
implementations easy, but these myths don’t exist. The business transformation
portion of the implementation will always be the most difficult aspect of client’s
project, and no implementation tool can automate those activities.
No one is implementing on-premise ERP systems anymore
While SaaS & Cloud solutions are gaining traction, a
majority of new ERP implementations still leverage the on-premise model. This
could change as management executives become more educated and comfortable with
the perceived risks of the cloud, but for now, plenty of organizations are
still more comfortable with owning and managing their ERP systems within their
four walls.
ERP system will drive the business process improvements.
Too many organizations fall prey to the tendency to want
to believe that their new ERP system will tell them how to re-engineer and
define their new business processes. Today’s ERP systems are far too
sophisticated, robust and flexible to define the business processes for the
company. Hence, workflows still need to be defined by the business managers and
software needs to be configured in such a way that, ERP can be engaged in
critical business
process management activities.
ERP can be implemented without any customization.
Most executives are afraid to even think about
customization, and rightfully so. However, 91% of organizations end up doing
some sort of customization during implementation. Of the 9% that manage to
implement vanilla, out-of-the-box functionality, most are small upstart
organizations without much complexity or sophisticated business processes. So,
unless it is a very small organization with very little complexity, chances are
pretty high that there will be a need to customize the ERP system to meet the business
needs and competitive differentiators.
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