It’s not really matter what ERP you are going to manage, as long as you implement it in a right way. Let’s assume you are going to implement a full scope implementation with “Big Bang” approach. In my opinion this is the worst case scenario you may have. BB approach is about having all modules go live at the same point in time. That mean a lot of things can go the wrong way and since timefame is already a constant you have to introduce a lot of effort on tracking all of the issues you can came along. Not just issues but also deliverables has to be made on time. They have to be delivered “First time right”. Breaching the timeframe almost always mean breaching your project budget. It not just a question of cost raising rapidly but also raise question on further availability of participants from business as same as the project partner. It’s getting worst if support partner (post go-live support) is not the same as project implementation partner. In that scenario project partner will already have scheduled another project and wont be able to commit same or all of it’s resources to your project extension.
As you can imagine, that does not look good at all. You will have to invest additional effort in explaining the reasons which will actually be a pitty excuses. It would be much better if you have invested that effort earlier in the project.
You can try to browse the web as the precausion measure in the search for guidelines for ultimate success. Let’s see what Google have to say about “Managing sucessful ERP projects”. You will find three academical articles, a books “Successful Sap R/3 Implementation: Practical Management of ERP Projects”, “Successful implementation of ERP projects: Evidence from two case studies” and “Risk factors in enterprise-wide/ERP projects”. I think the last one have more than 300 pages. First two does not sound thiner. If you start reading them at beginning of your implementation project you will finish reading just on time to start explaining why project is not on track anymore. I’m sure you will find a fine excuses in them. Next two links on Google list is not academical “ERP Project Management Is Key To A Successful Implementation” and “A guide to successful implementations“. Since they count less than 20 pages they are really focused and I would recommend reading them.
When you got youself familiar with all of those little things you need to trace to assure project success, the question is how to actually do that? You may reach for numbers of project management software systems (like Microsoft Project) or other web oriented systems. Here I would strongly recommend to choose a system will will require minimal training of participants because all of them have to use the same. If you keep this system just for youself it will mean a lot of administration for you in order to keep everything updated since only in that way you can use it for project monitoring. You can use an Excel file to track whole project but I’m strongly against it. Implementation of ERP is not project for you alone, everybody is involved, they need to do their parts. With access to project monitoring system they will fill more involved. Having the people one of the key component of implementation project this approach will help you to secure project success.
