If you answer NO to any of these questions, your ERP may be in need of a rescue
- Did you analyze the business, and develop a to-be vision which focuses upon gaps and quantify/qualify the benefits (of erp)?
- Did you develop requirements which address the specific gaps in your systems/business processes and focus on those as part of the ERP selection process?
- Are your objectives to embarking on ERP clearly defined and the benefits quantified?
- Did you develop a written RFP which contains questions about each software company, its product and its technology to which a warranty is attached?
- Did you consider specialized applications such as TMS, WMS, MES, Trade Fund/Promotions Management, DSD, Quality Management, Traceability (Food Safety), and Advanced Planning, plus other functions specific to your business as part of your process?
- Did you consider that the above specialized functions may not all be contained within a core ERP application?
- Did you develop a detailed script and require vendors to load your data as part of the demonstration process?
- Did you visit and call reference sites that are in the same business, similar in size and characteristics to your company without the presence of the software provider?
- Did your software agreement include warranties above the one which states that the software performs in accordance with the documentation?
- Are payments for the software tied to the successful completion of milestones within the implementation plan?
- Is it clear which party to the software sale will provide support and at what cost?
- Are there severity escalations in your service agreement?
- Did you agree to pay for an initial minimal number of users which escalates as the project progresses (as opposed to all up front)?
- Does your software and services agreement contain a detailed implementation plan with resource estimates, all in costs for hardware, software, integration (such as to a 3rd party payroll system), data conversion, and any modifications identified during the scripted demonstrations?
- Are the majority of implementation activities being performed primarily by your own internal folks?
- Have you carefully evaluated the cost, resources and disruption associated with a phased implementation versus big bang?
- Is your implementation proceeding on time and on budget?
- Has the software lived up to claims made during the sales cycle? (What recourse do you have?)
- Has the scope and related cost of the implementation escalated?
- Have benefits been assigned to functions and are they being monitored?
- Are you continuously monitoring costs vs. benefit?
- Is the project on track from a dollars spend and % complete perspective?
- Has the vendor/implementer taken responsibility for timing, resource and project estimates and made concessions where they missed?
- Have you stayed with the same implementer/reseller from the initiation of the project?
- Are you minimizing manual work-arounds which are required to go-live?
- Have you been able to maintain momentum throughout the course of the project?