Process Implementation
Process Implementation: A Quest for the Right DirectionLike the dawn of a new civilization, the SMBs have woken up in an entire new world, which was earlier considered to be the empire of the ruling Fortune 500 companies only. Thanks to the unyielding market competition and the vendors of ERP and CRM software packages. The SMBs are now compelled to contemplate on how to improve their organizational processes and how to implement the industry best practices.
In pursuit of the right system that would help identify the risks and make good business case, many SMBs have had to become a part of the tales of lost millions and withdrawals after implementation. These SMBs have made significant investments in increasingly complex IT infrastructure and application services, but never lived to enjoy the success. And ignorance is perhaps the term that best defines the reason for such failures.
Ignorance in terms of cost incurred, in terms of time required, in terms of changes required… whatever, all are equally responsible for those lost millions. Moreover, the vendors themselves are not helping the cause and why should they? After all, they need to sell their products, isn’t it? These vendors do highlight the benefits of their software but seldom do they tell you about the actual costs to be incurred or the impacts that the implementation process would make on your business.
Nevertheless, each SMB must anticipate that the implementation process will be bigger than what was imagined and the existing environmental mix between manual and automated processes will swing dramatically after the implementation. The degree of automation would increase and would cause a significant change in the corporate culture.
This change will not only affect the employees but also the way the organization works. For example, a CRM implementation would require each employee to understand the basic CRM process and visualize the goal that needs to be achieved through the CRM implementation. Similarly, an ERM implementation will require the employees to shift their focus from their own job to the whole organization. Likewise, the implementation process might change the organizational behavior from being flexible to being obsessed with details and would almost always try to change the business processes.
Bottom line is that the process of implementation is no doubt a complex one because it is composed of a number of processes, technology, and people. It is basically a transformation process that touches every part of your business, including the supply chain, the front-end systems, and the back-end reporting. Therefore, it is important to organize and shape the implementation process right from the scratch and establish information links among the front office, back office, and other departments long before the implementation process starts.
To be more specific, a software implementation process will reach its destination through the right direction only when the following tasks are performed in an appropriate manner:
· Confirmation of business needs: Involves understanding the exact business needs by applying cumulative experience from relevant industry sectors.
· Design and specification: Involves tailoring the solution to the precise business needs.
· Application installation: Involves installing the application using the existing organizational database.
· Application training: Involves knowledge transfer related to managing and maintaining the application.
· Implementation testing: Involves ensuring that the solution addresses the business needs.
· Report design: Involves designing and building dynamic reports.
· Technical support: Involves providing help desk support from a single point of contact.
Notwithstanding all the problems associated with implementation processes, the speed with which today’s businesses have to adapt to ever-changing circumstances does demand for automation of the business processes. And for that matter, the preceding task list actually serves as a carefully planned change programme that facilitates the quest for the right direction when it comes to process implementation.
posted by navneet biet @ 4:04 AM
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