ERP implementation, Role of consultant, vendors and

users
Role of consultant, vendors and users
Initially, organizations were skeptical about ERP since they felt that
their businesses were unique and their cultures different. As time
passed and their business problems became more pressing, they
started looking at ERP as the panacea for their woes. In their
urgency, they were expecting miracles, Unfortunately this doesnt
happen most of the time, leaving users frustrated which in turn,
leads to poor participation and costly deIays. It is important to
understand that an ERP package cannot fit in complet ely with the
existing business practices of an organization.
The onus to appreciate this fact is on the users and they have to
work with the implementation consultants to adapt to the package.
In

Initially, organizations were skeptical about ERP since th ey felt that

their business were unique and their cultures different. As time
passed and their business problems became more pressing, they
started looking at ERP as the solution for their woes. In their urgency, they
were expecting miracles. Unfortunately, this doesnt happen most of the
time, leaving users frustrated which in turn, lead to poor participation and
costly delays. It is important to u n d e r s t a n d t h a t a n E R P
p a c k a g e c a n n o t f i t i n c o mp l e t e l y wi t h t h e e xi s t i n g
b u s i n e s s practices of an organization. Th e o n u s t o a p p r e c i a t e t h i s
f a c t i s o n t h e u s e r s a n d t h e y h a ve t o wo r k wi t h
t h e implementation consultants to adapt to the package. In order to
avoid setbacks in an EPR p r o j e c t , a c o n s u l t a n t p l a ys a u s e f u l
r o l e . T h e c o n s u l t a n t s b y vi r t u e o f t h e i r i n d u s t r y, e xp e r i e n c e
a n d p a c k a g e e xp e r t i s e s h o u l d p i t c h i n a n d s e t t h e
e xp e c t a t i o n s o f u s e r s a t various levels keeping in mind the overall
business objectives of the client. They can do so b y wo r k i n g c l o s e l y
wi t h k e y u s e r s , u n d e r s t a n d i n g t h e i r n e e d s , a n a l yz i n g t h e
b u s i n e s s realities and designing solutions that meet the basic
objectives of the company. At this point, it is also important to

understand the distinction between the roles of the consultants a n d t h e

u s e r s . I t i s t h e u s e r s wh o wi l l b e d r i vi n g t h e i m p l e m e n t a t i o n
a n d t h e i r a c t i ve involvement at all levels and across all business
functions is absolutely critical. An ERP package is expected to improve
the flow of information and formalize all the business processes and
workflow that exist in an organization. Many users expect
their workload to decrease after an ERP implementation, but this
may not always happen. The important thing to understand is that the
ERP package is an enabling tool to help the users do their job better, which
may call for additional efforts. If one has to have more information in a
system, it entails more work for some users, but the benefit is that this
information if properly stored, can fruitfully used by other users in making
better decisions. As the flow of information throughout the
organization improves, t h e c o m p a n y s t a r t s p e r f o r m i n g
better, and this in turn benefits the users who
h a v e collectively improved their way of working

Role of the Vendor

As soon as the company signs the contract, the vendors should supply the
product and its documentation. Once the software is delivered, the
company can develop the training and testing environment for the
implementation team. The roles of the vendors during and after
implementation of ERP are:
The vendor is responsible for fixing any problems in the software that the
implementation team encounters.
The vendor should have a liaison officer to constantly interact with the
implementation team.
The vendors provide initial training for the companys key users. These key
users are the ones who will define, together with the consultants, how the
software is to serve the company.
They are also called as in-house functional experts who decide how the
functionalities are implemented to adapt the product to suit the companys
unique requirements. It is very important to provide these in-house experts
a through training on the features of the package.
Vendors training should include showing the key users how the package
works, what are the major components, how the data and information flows
across the system, what is flexible and what is not, what can be configured

and what cannot, what can be customized and what should not, what are
the limitations, what are the strengths and weaknesses and so on.
The objective of the vendor training is to show how the system works, not
to show how it should be implemented. This means that the vendor
demonstrates the product as it exists and highlights what are the possible
options available.
The companys employees who are participating in the vendor training
should try to understand the characteristics of the package and the impact
of the system on their business processes. The trainees should use these
training sessions to question the vendor on all aspects of the system.
Now some of you might ask, we are hiring consultants who are experts in
the package so why cant we get training from the consultants?
This is true. Most of the consultants are capable of providing sound training
for the packages. But we are hiring the consultants for implementing the
system. However, the consultants also have a role to play during this
vendor training. They should participate in the training sessions to evaluate
how the users react to the reality that is starting to take shape from the
detailed presentations and demos. Consultants should also ask questions
that the vendors are trying to avoid and the users are unaware of. This is
the best way to present the real picture to the users and it will also prevent
the vendors from making false claims.
Vendors play an important role in project support function and exercise the
quality control with respect to how the product is implemented. It is the
vendor who understands the finer details and subtleties of the product and
can make valuable suggestions and improvements that could improve the
performance of the system. It is also in the best interests of the vendor that
this participation continues, because if the implementation fails, most of the
blame will fall on the vendor. Also a successful implementation means
another satisfied client, improved goodwill and good referrals and so on. So
the vendor will continue to participate in all the phases of the
implementation, mostly in an advisory capacity, addressing specific
technical questions about the product and technology.
Whether to customize or not?
Vendors help to fill gaps between the package and the actual business
processes. The software might have to be customized to suit the
companys needs. Here, customizing means altering the product so that it

is suited for the companys purposes. The choice of whether to customize

or not is the one that can have enormous impact on the project and it often
constitutes a point of conflict between the consultants and users. But if the
decision to customize has been taken, it is the vendors duty to carry out
the necessary modifications. This is because
only the vendor knows the product well enough to make the necessary
changes without affecting the other parts. Moreover, the company should
get a guarantee (in writing) from the vendor that despite the customization,
it will be able to benefit from the future software improvements introduced
by the vendor.
ERP integrates business process reporting for the different business
divisions. It creates transparent data exchange and facilitates timely and
informed decision making for senior managers. The successful
implementation of the enterprise resource planning software improves the
management and planning of a business corporation. It increases the
performance of the organization. This increasing trend has enhanced the
value of ERP vendors in the market.
ERP vendors are continuing to expand market presence by offering new
applications. The top three players namely SAP AG, Oracle, Baan
PeopleSoft account for 64 per cent of the ERP market revenue.

Post ERP implementation

After an ERP implementation, organization should not sit back and
relax. Depending on the scope of the ERP implementation exercises,
several options can be explored tom further maximize the gains.
The first thing that an organization should look forward to, after an ERP
implementation, is improved morale of the workforce. Needless to say, it
would have a cascade effect in terms of increased productivity and better
customer response.
On the monetary side, depending on the level of success, ROI should also
be on the way up. It is estimated that a well managed ERP project can
have up to 200percent return on investment within a short period of time
while a poorly managed ERP project can yield a return on investment as
low as 25 percent.
During the phase of minimization, organizations move closer to best
practices. Depending on the target environment design, which is governed
by the ability to change, this effort could be a natural extension of the ERP
implementation or it could be a separate project in itself. Process

optimizations, and thus performance improvement, are a continuous

exercise.
Vendor Security Certification
You should require the vendor to respond to these items in writing:
Must-Have Features

The ERP system requires strong passwords.

There is a low overhead and secure method to change passwords.

Stored passwords are encrypted.

There are no features of the ERP that require that users, no matter
what their role, be given access to the underlying database.

The ID is not the SSN.

Roles can be tied to position categories.

Default roles can be established.

Roles can be established that allow a user to process sensitive data

in the ERP but restrict that user from downloading the data.

All data fields that are required by federal law to be protected come
with encryption enabled.

All data fields that are required by federal law to be protected come
with auditing enabled.

Data fields can be encrypted at the database level as well as at the

form or table level.

Reports are generated that show who has requested data exports
that include sensitive data, such as SSNs, credit card numbers, and so
forth.
Desired Features

Critical processes (payroll, grades) can be run first in audit mode.

The institution can specify additional fields to have table lookups.

The institution can specify additional fields to be encrypted.

The institution can specify additional fields to have audit trails.

The system prevents the creation of duplicate records during batch

transactions.

Consultants
Business consultants are professional who specialise in developing
techniques and methodologies for dealing with the implementation .They
are the experts in the administration, management and control of various

problems that crop up during the implementation.. Each of them has many
man-years of implementation experience with various industries and would
have time-tested methodologies and business practices that ensure
successful implementation. They are good at all phases of the
implementation lifecycle, right from package evaluation to end-user
training. The only problem with these business consultants is that they are
very expensive. Many of the big consulting firms invest a great deal of
money in developing a range of consulting services and assign many of
their professionals to become specialists in the various aspects of ERP
packages and their implementation.
These firm develop an in-depth understanding of each products strengths
and weaknesses, work by the side of the ERP vendors to confirm that the
vendors package actually works, learn the tricks and techniques of the
trade, find out the pitfalls and mistakes that should be avoided and thus
create a pool of experts who could handle the ERP implementation without
failure.
Thus, consultants are people who have made the business of ERP
implementation their business and have invested huge amount, of money
and manpower for that purpose. So when you want to get the services of
these consultants, the first question that will be asked is-"Are they going to
be expensive?" The answer is a definite YES.
The consultants will be expensive, so the company will have to formulate a
plan regarding best optimum use of the money spent on consultants. If you
study the statistics, you can see that a well-selected, integrated system that
was successfully implemented and which is successfully working usually
pays for itself in a relatively short periodbetween 10 and 30 months. If you
analyse the cost break-up, you will find that the most expensive part of the
implementation was the consultation charges. For a typical ERP
implementation, the cost of consultants is 1.5 to 3 times for every rupee
invested in the software product. Sounds amazing; but it is true and it is
also true that the software will pay for itself the software cost, the
consultants charges and other expenses incurred during implementation
in the above mentioned period (10-30 months). But the catch is that the
product has to be the right one and the implementation has to be
successful. That is why the expertise of the consultants becomes
invaluable and the money spent on good consultation is never wasted. So
finding the right consultantspeople who have the necessary know-how,
who will work well with the company personnel, people who will transfer
their knowledge to the companys employees and people who are available
in case their services are required again is very important.

Role of the consultants

The role of the ERP consultants is known to all of us as we have seen
many of them in action. The company places its trust in the consultants,
that its business objectives will be achieved. The consultants ensure the
success of the project. This produces quantifiable results to the satisfaction
of the company management.
Consultants administer each of the phases of the implementation. This
ensure that the required activities occur at the scheduled time and at the
desired level of quality with effective participation of all those who must
participate. The consultants are responsible to convert the planned
methodology into task and allocate right resource to complete that task.
Consultants add value to the project. They bring the know-how about the
package and about the implementationthe know-how that is not included
in the standard documentation. This know-how (also know as practical
knowledge) is derived from their expertise which stems from practical
experience. Thus by eliminating the trial-and-error method of
implementation, and by doing it right the first time, the consultants help in
saving huge amounts of money, time and effort.
Consultants should remain impartial while questioning current company
processes in an effort to promote better businesses practices and better
implementation results. They should strive to improve the companys
business processes so that the software package can be used as it was
originally intended by its developers. Refining the companys processes
can only optimise the performance of the system and maximise future user
satisfaction. The consultants are also responsible for analysing and clearly
addressing the customisation issues.
ERP consultants show the advantages and drawbacks of each area to the
management and reach a consensus decision. Consultants need to
balance their loyalty to the client and the project with that of defending the
package vendor, when such defence is technically correct.
Consultant alerts the company management about actions and decisions to
be taken. This ensures that job will not be compromised and the
implementation will not be jeopardised. Once the project is complete,
consultants will leave the company. However, the knowledge of the project
should remain within the organisation. Hence, consultants should train
enough people in the organisation so that the work they have started is
continued.
There are other tasks performed by the ERP consultants. They:

 Maintain technical documents on the projects.

Analyse business requirements.
Prepare the functional specifications for ERP program development.
Perform Gap analysis and related studies.
Assess the competence level of the users of the ERP system.
Perform Product design and operations review.
Identify requirements of the users of the ERP system.
Interact with other modules consultants.

End-Users
ERP end-users are the people who will be using the ERP system once it is
implemented. Most of the functions that the end users used to perform are
being automated by the ERP system. ERP system brings drastic
transformation in the actual work process which leads to change in old job
descriptions.
It is human nature to resist change. Implementation of an ERP system
brings change in a very massive scale. Employees will fear that system will
replace existing jobs, as many functions will be automated. Also people will
be afraid of the amount of training they have to undergo and learning they
have to do to use the new system. Job profiles will change, job
responsibilities will undergo drastic alterations, and people will be forced to
develop new skill sets. If these fears are not addressed and alleviated well
in advance, it will cause trouble for the organisation.
The automation of the business processes, through technology, can
eliminate the jobs of many employees whose function it is to record,
control, calculate, analyze, file or prepare reports. Even though ERP
systems eliminate many existing jobs, it creates many new ones with more
responsibilities and value addition. Employees get away from the
monotonous clerical work and transform themselves into highly valued
individuals, in a new and challenging working environment using modern
technology. If the company succeeds in convincing its employees to accept
this fact and assist by giving them proper training, then the major obstacle
in the path of an ERP implementation is solved.
For example, the recent research on SAP end-user training suggested that
enterprises should allocate 17 percent of the total cost of an ERP project to
training. Gartner research recognized training as the top priority, and
suggested that companies that budget less than 13 percent of the
implementation costs for training are three times more likely than

companies that spend 17 percent or more to see their ERP projects run
over time and over budget.
The impact of application on ERP end-user productivity is a complex
undertaking because of the wide range of business functions and user
types who interact with such systems. The business productivity framework
is developed to measure how ERP end-users feel system affects their
personal productivity. This also develops an opportunity to create a
framework to evaluate new system.