Lessons Learned from an ERP Implementation that went Sideways
Two minutes into a conversation with a good friend, who works for a major national insurance provider, our casual banter took a sharp turn into a series of rants about the technology industry, incompetent sales professionals, ignorant project managers and grossly inadequate deployment teams.
I had some time to spare so I just listened until finally she took a deep breath, blinked, looked up at me and said “Sorry about that.”
Two years ago her company decided to gut their technology infrastructure and start over with a major ERP software package. The plan was to completely integrate their organization in one mass of technology and human efficiency. Unfortunately, two years later it was still a work in progress, and missed milestones were being measured in quarters, not days or weeks.
I am certain the account management team thought they had struck gold landing this marquis account, and were already looking for ways to leverage this win into their next opportunity. In actuality, all they have really struck is one big fat nerve that has an entire organization throwing them under the bus at every opportunity.
So what turned a fantastic win for the sales team and the entire company into a life sucking vortex?
In a word, implementation.
When the implementation team began mapping the existing processes in the organization to mirror in the software they made one fundamental mistake that derailed the entire project on day 1.
They built their process map primarily from the information collected from executive and departmental management not the actual people doing the work. The only input from the front line users came by way of survey forms.
If they would have interviewed the front line team members and mapped their work processes then confirmed with management and integrated new efficiencies, moving to pilot phase and final implementation would have been a much simpler affair.
So what is the lesson? Account Managers, stay engaged until deployment is complete because you have a vested interest in things going well as a hunter or farmer. What should have been a great sales win leading to many more for this team is instead a disaster they cannot shovel dirt over fast enough. The next big mistake would be to bury this, you should parade this “loss” and the lessons learned, but that is a different post.
Sales Managers, the impact of this cluster will never show up directly on a forecast, but it can be an invisible force working against your team morale, your ability to leverage future sales, and your reputation. Watch for the signs as you performance manage your sales team, evaluate their forecasts and committed numbers for the next few quarters. I would advise pushing for bigger committed numbers over the next several quarters to counter any fallout or delays this black eye might introduce.
For the implementation side? Simple analogy. Design the new wrench based on what the guy who actually uses the wrench says he needs, not what his manager, a guy that will never use the wrench, says he needs.
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