You just implemented a new ERP. How do you avoid a disappointing return on your investment?
- After you implement a new ERP, you risk a weaker return on your initial investment if you don’t keep working to deeply integrate your ERP’s capabilities into core functions and processes.
- One key is finding an ERP support provider that can offer ongoing guidance on both your ERP’s technical capabilities and how to make it work better for your organization.
- You should also keep up with how your ERP’s features evolve over time, take full advantage of its AI, automation and integration tools, and reconsider your talent strategy.
You’ve just implemented a new enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. You’re excited about how your new system will help you work faster and more effectively, and proud of your team for making it through the months-long implementation process.
But are you aware that you still risk a weak return (or even an outright, expensive failure) on your ERP investment? A new ERP works best when it’s deeply integrated into your daily operations, so if you just pop champagne on your go-live date and move on, you’ll never take full advantage of its capabilities.
Instead, embrace a thoughtful, ongoing post-implementation process to adapt your processes, leverage automation and keep up with new technical developments. Keep reading to learn more.
1. Find an effective ERP support provider
Working with an advisor or outsourcing provider during the ERP implementation process can make that journey much less painful. But after go-live, ongoing help from a support provider can help ensure you make the most of your new ERP: Integrating it with the other systems you use, rethinking how you operate and keeping up with the ever-evolving ERP software itself.
Depending on your needs, ERP support could range from check-ins to go over new features to working with an outsourced CFO to deeply integrate your new ERP into every aspect of how you work and leverage the data gleaned from those integrations to provide strategic financial leadership.
As you evaluate potential support providers, you should consider steps like:
- Start early: Start planning for post-implementation while you’re still in the implementation phase. This will help you avoid having to choose between a last-minute scramble to find a support provider or losing momentum after go-live.
- Clarify what different providers offer: An effective support provider will understand not just the technical aspects of your ERP, but how you can use it to make your team more efficient and effective. But not every provider can do that, so make sure you clarify a potential provider’s capabilities before signing a contract.
- Focus on evolving over time: Look at post-implementation as less of a discrete period and more of an ongoing journey to keep improving how you operate. The right ERP support provider will contribute to this journey by regularly looking at your KPIs, systems and processes to find areas where you can get more value from your ERP.
- Understand your total costs: When comparing different ERP support providers, think about the total cost of ownership (including implementation and post-implementation support costs). Some providers may offer you a lower quote by removing one or more of these elements, so be aware that you get what you pay for.
2. Grow into your new ERP
You will almost certainly not be fully utilizing your new ERP right away. There’s just too much going on: Too many features, functions and integrations for any organization to possibly use to full advantage without the time to get to know how everything works.
An ERP is also an evolving system that regularly receives new updates. These can often make a meaningful difference to your team — but only if you know how to make the most of them.
To grow into and alongside your ERP, you should make an ongoing effort to:
- Keep improving results over time: The more you learn to use new or underutilized features, the more ROI you’ll see from your ERP subscription. This typically includes a steady upward trend for your operational gains.
- Stay current with free updates: ERP developers often release free updates, but many end-users ignore them. By staying current, you’ll have access to the latest version of your system and a gradually expanding set of capabilities.
- Name an ERP champion: Someone inside your organization should serve as your post-implementation point person, taking the lead on continuing to evolve your ERP usage and working with your support partner on an ongoing basis.
3. Take advantage of your ERP’s AI tools, automation and integrations
Your ERP almost certainly has powerful AI and automation capabilities, as well as the ability to integrate with other systems to share data. Each of these, if used effectively, can deliver significant operational impacts.
For example, CFOs should prioritize connecting a new ERP with other core operational and financial systems. Additional ways to find value include:
- Automate slow manual tasks: Your finance team may currently be spending a great deal of time simply gathering data from different systems. Using automation and integration tools built into your ERP, you can speed up that process exponentially, which allows your team to turn their attention to higher-level work like financial modeling, analysis and strategy.
- Integrate non-financial as well as financial data: Your new ERP will make it much easier to access up-to-date financial information on your organization. But integrate data from non-financial systems too, whenever possible, to both add context to your financial numbers and give you a deeper understanding of how your organization is functioning.
4. Adjust your talent strategy to account for your ERP
After you implement a new ERP, your talent strategy will likely need to change if you want to fully reap the benefits of your new system. This is because your ERP will allow you to spend less time on rote tasks that can be automated and more time on more creative, higher-value work.
- Account for automation: On an ongoing basis, think about how automation will affect your talent needs. For example, you may no longer need to hire for data entry, but have new opportunities for financial analysts.
- Evaluate your onboarding: As you begin hiring for new roles you didn’t need in the past, you’ll need to develop an onboarding process for these roles. You’ll also have to add ERP training to your onboarding for roles you’ve already been hiring for.
- Appeal to new candidate types: As you begin recruiting for different role types to fully take advantage of your new ERP’s capabilities, you may need to change your talent strategy. Assess the market to make sure that the compensations and benefits you’re offering are in line with what’s expected.
How Wipfli can help
We help you implement and maximize your ongoing return on a new ERP system. Let’s talk about how you can get the most out of an ERP and avoid common missteps that hurt the business value of your investment. Start a conversation.
