Successful Implementation Strategies for a New Business System

Successful Implementation Framework

• Develop a Clear Implementation Plan
  • Collaborate with your implementation partner to create a realistic, weekly burndown chart for project hours. Review progress weekly to ensure the project remains on track. If delays occur, involve the steering committee to implement corrective actions and prevent further setbacks. Ensure the plan includes milestones to be achieved before moving to the next phase, such as completing development and loading clean data before starting end-user training.
• Data Migration Planning
  • During the onboarding and discovery phases, review and clean up data. This may include archiving outdated master records (customers, items, vendors), writing off expired inventory, or closing out uncollectible customer balances. Early data preparation can streamline the migration process.
• Change Management
  • Managing change is crucial in any organization. Work with your implementation partner to identify individuals who may need extra support early in the process, involve them in decision-making, and clearly explain the benefits of the new system. Highlight how small changes in their workflow can lead to significant long-term efficiencies. Personalized support can ease their transition and foster acceptance.
• Training
  • Adequate user training is essential to a successful implementation. Since some users may be unfamiliar with such changes, ensure comprehensive training is provided, including additional one-on-one sessions for those who need extra support. Partner-led training is often the most beneficial approach, as your partner's specialized knowledge and experience can effectively train users across all aspects of the system, reducing post-go-live support issues, minimizing data errors, and boosting overall user adoption.
• User Acceptance
  • The UAT phase is critical for testing the system under various scenarios. Collaborate with your partner to develop detailed scripts that capture realistic and nuanced business scenarios and have them signed off by the team to ensure thorough testing. Work closely with your implementation partner to document any setup changes or fixes, ensuring they are tracked and applied to the production environment to avoid post-go-live surprises.

Common Pitfalls to Avoid

• Are the Stakeholders at the Table?
  • Ensure the project team includes representatives from key areas and end users. While they may have other responsibilities, they have access to resources and deep knowledge of processes to make informed decisions. Maintain regular communication with the steering committee, ideally monthly during the project and weekly as go-live approaches.
• Underestimating the Complexity and Degree of Change Management
  • Modern business systems are complex and integrated across departments, so each department must understand data flow and the interconnected nature of the system. Anticipating potential issues and managing risks is essential for an on-time and on-budget deployment. Special attention must be given to change management, data cleanup, and end-user training, as neglecting these critical areas can derail the entire project.
• Inadequate User Training
  • While "train the trainer" methods can save on project costs, involving your partner in end-user training is crucial. Expecting a project lead to master the system quickly and effectively train others can be unrealistic.
• Poor Customization Decisions
  • Customizations increase long-term maintenance and testing requirements, creating technical debt. Whenever possible, adapt your business processes to the system instead of customizing the system unless there is a significant advantage. Evaluate each customization carefully, involving the steering committee for major changes to assess their short and long-term value.
• Ignoring Post-Implementation Support
  • Responsive post-implementation support is crucial. To manage support costs, consider a tiered approach where core team members handle tier-one support before escalating to your partner. This approach keeps the core team involved and helps control costs. Document issues and updates to the user guide to empower your team to handle similar problems independently in the future.
• Being Unprepared for Updates
  • Regularly test new software releases in a sandbox environment before deploying them to production. For cloud-based systems, staying current with releases is often mandatory, so plan for a testing cycle that focuses on new features and customizations.

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