System Implementations Can Be Successful

Turning the car off and laying my head down on the steering wheel, I couldn’t help but feel the weight of the past three days. We had launched our new ERP system, and it was a disaster.

Determined to salvage the situation, I dedicated the rest of the weekend to reworking the project plan and addressing the pressing issues. By the end of the weekend, I had begun to see a glimmer of hope. Maybe, just maybe, things weren’t as dire as I had initially thought. Perhaps, as the project owner, I had taken on a bit more stress than my colleagues.

Monday morning arrived, and I stepped into the office to find a familiar sight—a colleague sitting at her desk, tears streaming down her face. She was struggling to use the system, and it was causing her immense frustration. According to research firm Gartner, seventy-four percent of ERP system implementations are considered failures.

The statistics didn’t bode well. Ninety percent of future implementations through 2018 were expected to fail. This begs the question: what were we doing wrong? To find answers, I delved into the world of Google ERP implementations, uncovering stories of some of America’s most successful companies and their own implementation failures. CFO’s were even fired for these mistakes. Shouldn’t we have learned from these failures and done better?

This realization fueled my determination to succeed in my second ERP implementation. While it wasn’t flawless, the results were astounding. Within three months, our efficiency soared, surpassing our pre-launch levels. Within a month, our accuracy improved significantly. Our team gained the tools they needed to enhance customer communication, boost sales, establish a robust website, and streamline operations. But perhaps the most important aspect was the team’s enthusiasm for the new system.

So, what changed? What lessons did I learn from my second attempt? Today, I want to share some simple yet powerful concepts that have proven instrumental in successful ERP implementations. These concepts are based on three key principles: lead, limit, and organize. By applying these principles, you can run an effective implementation and avoid the pitfalls that led to failure.