Aim for Transformation, Not Implementation!
10/5/2011 at 8:00 am by
There’s a bunch of debates on ERP systems and projects that never seem to go away. What percentage of ERP projects are failures? (Many, if they don’t align to your specific business needs). What’s better, a Big Bang or a Phased Approach? (Both, depending on the circumstances). And how important is change management to even small ERP implementations? (VERY important) - just to name a few.
What are you aiming for?
Pretty much everyone is in agreement that implementing an ERP system is a major undertaking. And no business starts a significant undertaking without looking for significant benefits. My goal today is to try to shift the discussion from the details of a strategy or one particular objective to a much more important and overarching point: You need to AIM HIGH. You need to aim for transformation of your business. Nothing less will do. Nothing less will make it worthwhile.
Don’t get scared.
Transformation doesn’t mean changing everything you do; it doesn’t mean years of upheaval. It does mean really taking a long, hard look at how you do business, how your competitors do business, what your customer and suppliers have to say about you -and make a commitment to a significant improvement that’s a real leap ahead.
It’s still a process.
Big changes are still the result of many small steps. Transformation, like a lot of important concepts, is a new way of looking at things. And it will help you focus on what’s really important as you consider your ERP project. Don’t get lost in the details. Ask for help and draw the big picture. And if your current or prospective system can’t deliver on a vision of business transformation, don’t give it your stamp of approval. It’s up to the real business leaders to remind all the engineers, managers, and consultants of what the end game is.
Consider the up side!
Before you dismiss aiming for transformation, remember that if you aim low, you’ll get low (if you’re lucky). If you aim high, you have a pretty good shot at getting medium high. And if you aim for transformation, you may just achieve a significant improvement! Plus, in the process of figuring out what that transformation looks like, you’ll get some additional insight into your business and your competition.
We’re betting on Sage ERP.
In our practice, we’re focusing on Sage ERP as the platform that can deliver transformation for the mid-market. And in coming posts we’ll be talking more about what that means and how to accomplish it.





