An ERP Implementation doesn’t just represent technical artifacts and antiquated processes being stuffed into a system. A modern ERP system demands organizational transformation that impacts the organizations holistically. With organization changes, it’s important to remember that companies are social tributes made up of stakeholders whose interests converge or diverge depending on their interests, KPIs, and ultimately, their values. For this reason, stakeholders are core in guiding these massive changes across a business, determining the benefits of the changes, and evaluating the change management needed to get others on board.
This blog post can be summarized in one simple sentence—project stakeholders hold the keys to the businesses’ key requirements, core processes, desired benefits, and sought-out KPIs. Thus, identifying the right stakeholders will ensure the success of your ERP implementation plan. At a high level, a stakeholder’s role starts with identifying current processes to turn them into requirements for the ERP system. It then continues down the line of turning those requirements into concrete deliverables and then driving accountability in team members, including partners, vendors, developers, and team members.
Knowing that a thorough discovery process is critical to a successful implementation project, we can immediately tie in the importance of a stakeholder. From the beginning of a stakeholder’s participation, they are setting the stage for the entire project—essentially laying down the groundwork for implementing a new ERP system.
No matter which industry or sector your business belongs to, identifying stakeholders and selecting your core team is key to a successful implementation project. In this blog post, we’ll be discussing the roles of different stakeholders throughout an ERP project, their relative importance, and the steps you can take to select the right ones.
A stakeholder is any person, group, or organization impacted by a project. For the purpose of this article, I mean impacted by a specific project- an ERP implementation. A stakeholder can be within the organization implementing the software or outside of it. In fact, one may be surprised by the variety of stakeholders that exist. They may be an end user of the application, a client impacted by the application, a leader in the organization, or simply an investor in the business. There are plenty more examples of stakeholders, but remember this: A stakeholder is impacted by the ERP software implementation. Because they are directly or indirectly impacted, gathering their input will help the company understand what features the ERP software needs, what problems these features will address, and how they will be addressed. In other words, the same stakeholders that dictate the future of the software will often be the ones measuring the impact and success of the application that’s been developed.
The implementation of cloud-based ERP or on-premises ERP systems includes many vital components, such as supply chain management, business units, and core business processes. Selecting the right implementation partner and ERP vendor is crucial. They must understand every business’s needs and configure the software solution accordingly, ensuring it includes essential ERP modules tailored for productivity and user acceptance.
The business owner is responsible for communicating reasons behind the transformation (value proposition) and how the implementation supports the overall mission and vision of the company. The CEO will often assume the role of project sponsor, especially in small or mid-size companies, emphasizing the benefits of an ERP to enhance the entire system.
Bringing members of your IT team in as project stakeholders is essential to ERP system evaluation, implementation, and post go-live support. Your IT team will bring a thorough understanding of your current systems to the table and will be able to dictate technical requirements for your new ERP system. For example, identifying which core integrations are vital to the ERP capability, which third-party systems are necessary, and perhaps even the security and compliance requirements that should be included in the selection process.
Super Users are designated users in each department who will receive early training on the system and are slated to be subject matter experts once the solution is deployed and the project has exited the hypercare phase. The following areas are directly impacted by super user participation:
Not involving the right stakeholders and relevant subject matter experts can be detrimental to your ERP implementation. Below, I outline several risks of not involving stakeholders in your ERP implementation:
Choosing the right project stakeholders holds the keys to a successful ERP implementation. Though identifying the right stakeholders in your organization can be an exuberant task, it is one worth the effort- and the return will show in at project go-live.
