Introducing Mr. ERP – Russell Frost is also known as Mr. ERP because of his 30 years experience in evaluating and implementing ERP software. Frost founded Dataccount Inc. in 1992 to apply business best-practices with safe and reliable technology for small-to-mid-size organizations in the Tri-State area.

Some years ago the good folks at Inside Business Finance put together a Definitive Guide to Midmarket ERP Solutions. It was filled with invaluable information, and we at Dataccount keep a copy close at hand for reference.

The document also provides a checklist of several questions for potential midmarket buyers of ERP software as well as Entity Extraction solutions. Since this is still useful information, I thought I would share it with you:

Do your organization’s business leaders support the ERP implementation project? Are they involved in deciding which business processes are included in the ERP package, how to phase in the rollout and how to measure success with the implementation? For ERP to succeed, executives throughout the organization—especially those heading up the various departments that will use the ERP applications—must be a part of the rollout.

Who are the line-of-business professionals that can be responsible for measuring the business benefits relevant to their department’s ERP modules? Employees beyond the IT department need to own the success of the ERP deployment.

Who will be the ERP project manager? One person—an outside consultant or a current employee—should be in charge of managing the process to choose an ERP solution; coordinating demos and consultations with vendors; leading a team of representative from each area of the company, including finance, sales, human resources and manufacturing; and coordinating meetings between with key users of the new system.

What are the specific business problems you need to solve with ERP? For instance, do you need to shorten product lead times or improve communications with your suppliers? Are there industry regulations to which your company must adhere?

What are the goals and metrics that you will use to measure the business benefits of your organization’s new ERP solution? A good starting point for these metrics are the KPIs — such as inventory accuracy, cost reductions and month-end closing processes — that your company is already tracking.

What features and functions do you need from a new ERP solution that will help increase users’ productivity and provide access to the business data users most need?

Are there best practices you need to adopt with the ERP implementation?

If your organization operates around the world, are there foreign currencies and languages that your ERP solution must support?

With which modules will you begin rolling out your ERP package? Midmarket ERP systems are modular enough to allow you to implement them in phases, first rolling out the features that will meet your organization’s most dire needs. Taking the implementation in prioritized steps gives IT managers and ERP users a chance to learn new processes.

Is the prospective ERP solution built with SOA capabilities? Called by many the next big thing in enterprise technology, SOA allows for a more agile and flexible IT environment, connecting systems and automating manual business processes — which is exactly what you want your ERP system to do.

Which users across your organization will need to be trained on the new system? As with any new system, the success of your ERP implementation will largely depend on end-users’ ability — and willingness — to adopt it.

Will the ERP package be able to adapt to changes in your business as your company grows?

At Dataccount, we know that the selection and implementation of your ERP solution can be one of the most important decisions your organization can make. We sit down with you and help walk you through these questions even before we prepare our SYSPRO demonstration.

If you are considering ERP software, feel free to call me at 212.595.1044, ext. 106 so I can walk you through the process.

A recent study by Panorama Consulting revealed that many ERP installations ended up in lawsuits – most often because of implementation failures. And these failures were most often the result of attempting to lay new software on top of existing business practices, rather than streamlining these practices to maximize the use of the new software.

SYSPRO developed its STARS (Structured Technique to Achieve a Rapid Solution) more than a decade ago based on the observed needs of companies migrating from more simplistic software solutions, such as Quickbooks, to more complex Enterprise Resource Planning software. SYSPRO observed that a majority of ERP implementation failures resulted from migrating organizations trying to “lay” the new ERP software on top of existing business processes. The STARS plan provides a structure to maximize business processes prior to the implementation of SYSPRO ERP software.

A recent SYSPRO study of the needs of organizations migrating to ERP software determined that a pre-configured ERP software solution would be applicable to more than 80% of the organizations moving-up to an ERP solution. Following this study, SYSPRO developed STARS FastTrack, a pre-configured ERP solution that delivers the greatest value to SYSPRO customers for their money. SYSPRO FastTrack not only produces a rapid Return on Investment and access to SYSPRO training, but accomplishes implementation in as little as three weeks, as opposed to three-to-six months. SYSPRO FastTrack even encompasses SYSPRO Business Modeling, whereby the company’s business processes are revised to maximize utilization of the SYSPRO ERP solution.

All-in-all, SYSPRO continues to drive best practices and create real value for customers.

A successful ERP implementation should reduce costs in three primary categories:

• Inventory costs
• Manufacturing operating costs
• Administrative costs

A survey by the Aberdeen Group, 2007 ERP in the Midmarket, found best-in-class respondents reported a 21 percent decrease in inventory costs, a 17 percent decrease in manufacturing operating costs and a 16 percent decrease in administrative costs. The average respondents’ reductions were 11 percent, 8 percent and 9 percent, respectively.

But the overall business savings delivered by a successful ERP implementation go beyond mere cost reductions. Effective ERP should improve an organization’s customer service and response time when solving issues. It can solve issues of interoperability among multiple manufacturing locations. It provides standardization and increases speed of manufacturing process at all manufacturing sties. ERP can streamline order fulfillment processes and facilitate communications between partners and suppliers. ERP can even keep an organization within compliance with government regulations.

Dataccount can help identify both hard and soft cost savings that would result from a successful ERP implementation. Often, clients are surprised at all of the “hidden savings” that can be accrued once the new ERP system is in place.

If you are interested in learning where SYSPRO ERP software can save you money, call me at 212.595.1044, ext. 106.