ERP IMPLEMENTATION & LIFE CYCLE

RELATION B/W MIS & ERP

ERP LIFE CYCLE

ERP implementation lifecycle focus on the

ERP project which is carried out to make ERP
up and running.
ERP project is likely to go through different
phases like any other project.
Most often these phases do not necessarily
depend on one another in a sequence, i.e.
one phase might start before previous phase
has finished

THE DIFFERENT PHASES OF ERP

IMPLEMENTATION ARE
Pre-evaluation

Screening
Package Evaluation
Project Planning Phase
Gap-Analysis
Reengineering
Configuration

Pre-evaluation Screening
When the company has decided to implement the ERP the search for
the convenient and suitable ERP package begins.

Package Evaluation
The objective of this phase is to find the package that is flexible enough to
meet the companys need or in other words, a software that could be
customised to obtain a good fit.
Once the packages to be evaluated are identified, the company needs to
develop a selection criteria that will permit the evaluation of all the
available packages on the same scale

PACKAGE EVALUATION
Flexibility

and scalability
Complexity
User friendliness
Quick implementation

It is better to have a selection committee

that will do the evaluation process.

PROJECT PLANNING PHASE

This is the phase that designs the

implementation process. Time schedules,
deadlines, etc. for the project are arrived at.
The project plan is developed in this phase.
In this phase the details of how to go about
the implementation are decided. The project
plan is developed, roles are identified and
responsibilities are assigned.

CONTD..

The organizational resources that will be

used for the implementation are decided and
the people who are supposed to head the
implementation are identified.
The implementation team members are
selected and task allocation is done.
The phase will decide when to begin the
project, how to do it and when the project is
supposed to be completed.

CONTD..

The phase will also plan the What to do in

case of contingencies; how to monitor the
progress of the implementation;
The phase will plan what control measures
should be installed and what corrective
actions should be taken when things get out
of control.
The project planning is usually done by a
committee constituted by the team leaders
of each implementation group headed by
CIO.

GAP ANALYSIS

This is the most crucial phase for the success

of the ERP implementation.
Simply it is the process through which
companies create a complete model of
where they are now, and in which direction
they want to head in the future.
The trick is to design a model which both
anticipates and covers any functional gaps

CONTD..

Some companies decide to live without a

particular function. Other solutions include:
Upgrade
Identify

the third party product that might fill

the gap
Design a custom program
Altering the ERP source code, (the most
expensive alternative; usually reserved for
mission-critical installation)

REENGINEERING

The second use of of the word

reengineering in the ERP field focus on the
Business Process Reengineering (BPR)
The BPR approach to an ERP implementation
implies that there are two separate, but
closely linked implementations on an ERP
site
Technical

Implementation
Business Process Implementation

CONTD..

The BPR approach emphasises the human

element of necessary change within
organisations.

This approach is more time consuming and

has received a lot of criticism for creating a
big budget and extended projects.

But those who support it argue that you

cannot ignore human element.

CONFIGURATION

Instead a prototype (a simulation of the

actual business processes of the company)
will be used.

The prototype allows for thorough testing of

the to be model in a controlled
environment.

Configuring the system reveals both the

strength and the weaknesses of the company
business processes.

IMPLEMENTATION & TESTING

Synchronously when the configuration is

taking place, the implementation team is
being trained.

This is the phase where the company trains

its employees to implement and later, run
the system.

TESTING

This is the point where you are testing a real

case scenarios.

The test cases must be designed to

specifically to find the weak links in the
system and these bugs should be fixed before
going live.

GOING LIVE

This is the phase where all technicalities are

over, and the system is officially declared
operational.

In this phase all data conversion must have

been done, and databases are up and
running; and the prototype is fully
configured and tested.

GOING LIVE

The implementation team must have tested

and run the system successfully for some
time.

Once the system is live the old system is

removed and the new system is used for
doing business.

END-USER TRAINING

This is the phase where the actual users of the

system will be trained on how to use the system.

The employees who are going to use the new

system are identified and their skills are noted.

Based on their skill levels are divided into groups.

END-USER TRAINING

Then each group is given training on the new

system.
This training is very useful as the success of
the ERP system is in the hands of end-users.
The end-user training is much more
important and much more difficult than
implementation team training since people
are always reluctant to change.

END-USER TRAINING

You can have the best technology in the

world, but if you dont have a community
who wants to use it and who are excited
about it, then it has no purpose. Chris
Hughes Co-Founder of FaceBook.

POST IMPLEMENTATION
(MAINTENANCE MODE)

This is the very critical phase when the

implementation phase is over.

There must be enough employees who are trained

to handle the problem that might occurred when
the system is running.

There must be technical people in the company

who have the ability to enhance the system when
required.

POST IMPLEMENTATION
(MAINTENANCE MODE)

Living with ERP systems will be different from

installing them.
Projects for implementing the ERP sysstems get a
lot of resources and attention.
However an organisation can only get the maximum
value of these inputs if it successfully adopts and
effectively uses the system.

ERP METHODOLOGY

THE BIG BANG

The Big bang approach promised to reduce the

integration cost
in the condition of thorough and careful execution.
This
method
dominated
early
ERP
implementations; it partially
contributed to the higher rate of failure of ERP
implementation.
This type implementation of a large scale
information
system,
which typically follows SDLC.

MODULAR IMPLEMENTATION
In this method focus one ERP module at a time. This limits the scope of
implementation usually to one functional department.
This approach suits companies the do not share many common process
across
department or business unit.
Modular implementation reduces the risk of installation, customization
and
operation of ERP system by reducing the scope of the implementation.
The successful implementation of one module can benefit the over all
success
of an ERP project.

PROCESS ORIENTATED
IMPLEMENTATION
Support one or few critical business processes,
Which involve a few business units.
In this limited to functionality closely related to
the intended business process.
Eventually grow into a full blown implementation
of the ERP system.
This approach is utilized by many small to mid-sized
companies which tend to have less complex internal
business process.