Implementing a CRM and/or an ERP solution can streamline and automate business processes, improve efficiency and provide valuable insights.
We rely on our proven 9 step methodolody for most projects:
1. Assessing your current processes and systems …….this list needs reformatting!
2. Defining project goals and objectives
3. Capture solution requirements
4. Solution design
– Where possible estimate/calculate cost of lost opportunity and/or likely ROI (Return on Investment)
5. Implementation
– Including testing
6. Data Migration
7. Train users
8. Go live
9. Continual Improvement
configuring systems, migrating and preparing data, testing, training employees, implementing and providing ongoing maintenance and support.
1. Assess Your Current Processes and Current Systems
The first step in ERP integration is to take a comprehensive look at your current systems and identify areas where improvements can be made. This assessment will help you understand the current state of your business operations and where there are inefficiencies or bottlenecks that can be addressed by an ERP system.
This step should include a review of your current systems and processes, including financial, manufacturing, inventory, sales and customer relationship management (CRM). During this assessment, you should also identify any gaps in functionality that an ERP system can fill, such as reporting and analysis, automation and data integration.
Areas to pay attention to include:
- Financial systems, including accounting and budgeting processes
- Manufacturing and production processes, including inventory management and supply chain logistics
- Sales and marketing systems, including CRM and sales forecasting
- Data management and reporting, including data accuracy, security and compliance
- Information technology (IT) infrastructure and software, including hardware, network and cloud systems
- Business processes, including workflow and automation
- User experience, including ease of use and user adoption
By taking stock of your current systems and identifying areas for improvement, you’ll be able to make informed decisions about the functionality and features that are important to your organization and will be able to choose an ERP solution that aligns with your business needs.
2. Define the Scope and Goals
Once you’ve assessed your current systems and identified areas for improvement, the next step is to define the scope and goals of your ERP implementation project. This involves determining what specific tasks and processes the ERP system will be responsible for, what data needs to be integrated and what specific business objectives the system needs to support.
To define the scope of your project, consider:
- Which business functions and processes will be automated by the ERP system?
- What are the specific data requirements for the system, including data migration and integration?
- What are the key performance indicators (KPIs) that need to be tracked and reported on?
- Who are the stakeholders and what are their specific needs and requirements?
By defining the scope and goals of your ERP implementation project, you’ll be able to create a clear roadmap for the implementation process, and you’ll be able to communicate the objectives and expected outcomes of the project to all stakeholders, which helps with employee buy-in. Additionally, by setting specific goals and objectives, you can measure the success of the project once it’s complete.and
