Managing Change in an ERP Implementation: The Launch

And now… the moment we’ve all been waiting for… the drums beat…

Seriously, the moment of truth has arrived. That’s right: the launch. Or rather, your ERP implementation launch is a few days away and your company is in a state of alert as it prepares for the long-awaited go-live date. Hopefully, if you have followed the tips above on how to start your ERP implementation; manage the transition; And by hiring a qualified ERP consultant, you’re already well prepared for when your systems are up and running and you’re ready to flip the switch, figuratively speaking.

As you count down the days before your business undergoes what is likely to be the most significant change in its history since it was founded, here are some last-minute things to review before the official launch:

1. Are you sure you’re really ready go to live? Don’t make the mistake of skipping this seemingly obvious step, but you’d be surprised how tempting it can be to try to stick to a release date that was determined six months or more ago, but turned out to be unrealistic. Hopefully, after many months of planning, communication, training, and testing—not to mention producing and reviewing countless checklists—you’ll be able to answer that question with great confidence, but if there’s any question as to whether or not you and your staff are ready or that the system itself is ready for its close-up, there’s nothing wrong with pushing that date back just to make sure.
2. Training – Providing quality training to your customers is essential to the success of your launch. Before introducing any training program to your new users, you should spend time in one-on-one training sessions with department supervisors and team leaders. They will be able to give you final feedback before engaging the masses. If you can, you should always encourage department heads to participate as spectators. and attendees during the training process so they can help explain how the processes employees have been used to for so many years will play out in their new ERP system.
3. Having said this, remember that the post-launch period will always have some hiccups, regardless of how impeccable your pre-launch preparation has been. It is possible that, despite scrupulous cleaning, the data migration is not complete or still contains errors. You and your employees will inevitably forget how tightly integrated your system is now, so when someone makes a mistake during the processing of a customer order, the consequences spill over into the system much more quickly. No matter how well you plan for success, know that part of that plan should include contingencies for errors and unforeseen events.
4. Be slow in your communications. Perhaps at no other stage in the entire pre-launch period is communication between all stakeholders more important. Make sure all staff members receive regular information about the launch date, what to expect, who to contact with questions, and how to contact the help desk or support team. Make sure all staff members have help manuals at their fingertips, whether in print, CD, corporate intranet or even wiki format, and that they know how to use them to find the information they need.
5. Make a list and check it twice. Or more. ERP implementation checklists are ubiquitous in all systems and are especially critical in the weeks leading up to the launch date. Ideally, the checklist will have been created months before it’s needed, as it will no doubt have hundreds of details that need to be reviewed before the release date.
6. Reports and Forms – Regardless of the great benefits users will experience once they start growing on your systems, it is absolutely essential that the reports and forms they have depended on for years are available in your new software. This will be a testament to your “listening skills” during early implementation. The way your software conducts business and achieves results will surely be vastly different from how your old system worked, but your employees’ reports and forms will be the first chance to win them over to the go-live process and reduce some of their apprehension about the loss of family tools.
7. Testing, testing, 1-2-3, or however many times you need to get it right. Run “dress rehearsals” and simulations as often as necessary to get users used to the new system and how it works. Just as important, make sure each user can do their job using the system.
8. Authorizations. Make sure that all users can access the system through their individual logins. If they only learned and experimented with the system using “dummy” login credentials during training, or if they only tested it on computers in training rooms, make sure they can successfully log into their computers using their own login credentials. session before the start-up date.
9. Security. Thoroughly review the security configuration and administration of the entire system, from data security and the connections themselves to the data that is available to each individual user. Make sure users can review and/or edit everything they need to do their jobs, but that access to sensitive data is limited to authorized employees only.

Once the release date is reached, of course, the other half of the implementation begins: the post-release date review, which can include additional training, system changes, and the like. In my next post, I’ll go over some of the key points to consider after the release date and beyond.