Every company should evaluate their need to transition to or implement an ERP system, prior to taking the next step. The size of the company, as well as the industry, can make a difference. In regard to its functionalities, every ERP on the market offers different benefits. SAP Business ByDesign, for example, can be useful for companies with 50 or more employees, the optimal workforce size for realizing Business ByDesign’s full potential.

It also makes sense to take a look at the development of the company and existing problems with processes, which may occur repeatedly. In particular, companies that have been experiencing growth will eventually realize that the capabilities of their current solutions are limited, resulting in the need to change. A reasonable thought at this point, would be to focus on a complete ERP system.

Naturally, direct costs and time factors should be considered when implementing an ERP system. The consideration between individual requirements and the existing standards should be executed conscientiously.

If you are about to implement an ERP system, you should always check first if you can fit the criteria of the required resources. Since using the software will be an unfamiliar process,  you need to make sure that enough employees are assigned to the project to perform the processes of the company in a proper way and make sure people are getting involved with the software. Additionally, there is the implementation approach itself. While the coaching approach offers you a competent implementation partner, who transfers knowledge and hosts workshops, your employees are still required to gather as much know-how as possible on their own. The need for a company’s own staff deployment is high.

The other approach would be a complete implementation, which will save you time, since most of the tasks are on the side of your partner. Please note though, that if during the implementation process your employees do not achieve the needed knowledge on how to use the software, additional training provided by the implementation partner may be necessary. Your employees should be open to the new solution. To achieve that, you have to inform employees in a timely manner and define the processes that will be handled by the new software. If there will be procedural changes, employees have to be properly trained (Change Management). If processes are not running smoothly, the problem often lies with insufficiently trained employees, in which case they will need to reestablish their knowledge of the software.

Data migration is an important asset within ERP implementation. If the master data is well prepared, it can make the implementation a lot easier. When auditing the master data, it is often noticed that the quality is not sufficient enough and has to possibly be created again during the running process. Especially when migrating many isolated applications, the data quality or its structure is often not adequate enough and has to be approached quickly, in order to not be a nuisance to the time table.