So you’ve taken the plunge and added a shiny new ERP system to your business or upgraded your existing platform to cope with the new demands on your business.
It’s been thoroughly tested and is all set to go. What do you do next? Among the next steps many companies take: Disband their ERP project team. After all, the firm’s top execs believe their job is done. Many will return to their own departments, while others will finish their contracts and go on to jobs elsewhere.
But disbanding your ERP project team can be a major mistake.
Single point of oversight
The reason is that the managers and operators of the new Enterprise Resource Planning platform, which manages the company’s main business processes and data, will be dispersed throughout the corporation.
The information tech unit will be tasked – as it should be – with the day-to-day running and maintenance of the system. Decision-making on ERP applications will often fall to department heads generating ideas about the needs and challenges facing the new technology.
Your company will then lack any single point of organic operational oversightOpens a new window of how the ERP technology is interacting with, and adding value to, your business as a whole.
A flurry of creativity powers the expensive and innovative process of an ERP upgrade as the company focuses hard on its requirements. That activity, in turn, can generate a framework for more ideas and further innovation. Why disband the team that was responsible for this improvement?
One argument is to keep your ERP project team in place post-implementation. Depending on the size of your business, this group could continue to function as a full-time creative-team-in-residence or could meet periodically while potentially communicating in real time on future innovations.
The value of keeping the team whole stems from the fact that your firm can maintain a unit that is already very familiar with the ERP project build. It is also well-versed with how the system was implemented and the business-wide demands it was set up to meet. And the team is well positioned to continue to deliver innovations around the new technology.
Helping deliver
In order to maintain the flow of future creativity, it’s also worth devising campaigns and targets to be achieved by the team in the future: What else can be done to ensure the ERP platform is delivering on its promise? How else can its value to the business be enhanced?
Such an approach avoids stagnation and smooths a natural transition toward a more reactive stance by the unit.
Datix advises building a road mapOpens a new window that can help your business cope with future challenges — especially important when relying on your ERP to process large amounts of data that could become compromised if operational errors creep in or the system is breached by hackers.
It’s also important to roll out a training program across all departments to ensure that the technology is being properly used and that reporting is effective.
Key takeaways:
- As a company, it can be tempting to rest on your laurels once your ERP installation or upgrade has been completed but that complacence can lead to serious problems if nobody is keeping an eye on the overall project.
- Companies can leverage additional value if they maintain the project team in place to oversee how the system is working and also to serve as a potential future pool of ideas for improvements.
- The team can help anticipate future challenges and oversee training programs for personnel across the company.