Digital Transformation - For ERP Consultants
Admittedly the term Digital Transformation is overused, however it generally means using technology to improve efficiency and measurability of business activities and collaboration among parties that work together. Therefore, what we describe here for the ERP implementation and ongoing management process improvement fits this definition—so we’ll use it and it’s trendy.
We start with a question: What is the largest body of details that need to be managed in lifecycle management or ERP, especially during the initial implementation? The answer is the detail about the client's business within the domain of the ERP application. In other terms, they are the thousands of project details about business processes, metrics, integrations, and data held in:
- Existing ERP and other major commercial applications.
- Existing business process support tools—like spreadsheets, checklists, and other structures.
- Strategic visioning and business process planning conducted leading up to the ERP implementation.
- Ideas and objectives that team members have—much of it undocumented tribal knowledge.
- Existing data, its status, and migration details.
- Hundreds of issues and tasks that evolve during an implementation or ERP improvement project, many of which have explicit connections to other items in this list.
In the aggregate, this body of client information is massive. However, there's rarely any serious discipline or unified structure in place for organizing and managing the thousands of such project details, at least when compared to what is described in this document.
To meet this need and opportunity, Engleman Associates, Inc. (EAI) developed the Implementation Detail Library (IDL) and related methodology. Why did we do this? EAI mainly offers ERP selection services and over the years worked with clients so they could be more prepared and better capable to control their implementation projects. The IDL and related methods came from this origin, has been used in ERP implementation projects since 2017, and has benefited from all the lessons learned since its inception.
This diagram below underscores how the IDL seeks to fill the role described above while not competing with the other areas of ERP implementation project control and activity shown. The IDL and related methodology is explained in detail here.
ERP consulting firms are offered access to the IDL application and methodology based on the following achievable benefits:
Client coordination and empowerment with the IDL
- Greatly improve control of client project details affecting future-state business processes, metrics, data, interfaces, and integration design. Better results achieved.
- Make your consultants better—as their insight and observations are captured in a common brain and not individuals’ records. Consultants become more efficient, accountable, and coordinated.
- Empowers the client to do more for themselves—critical for real success and a contribution most clients will appreciate immediately.
- Generates and maintains a collaborative environment to drive momentum and alignment between the client and consultant teams.
- Systemized approach to record and leverage prior business process planning from a client—which demonstrates respect and which they will value.
Business development and revenue generation
- In sales, build trust with prospects by showing them how they have direct and comprehensive control of their ERP project details.
- There is no up-front cost risk to ERP consultants as we collect IDL usage and support fees for projects that are sold, and ERP consultants can markup EAI fees charged.
- The value of the IDL and the time it saves for all involved is intended to easily justify per project IDL usage fees. Meaning the added cost should never be the reason a new project was lost.
- The ILD makes clearly visible the post go-live ongoing work ERP consulting firms can provide to their clients.
- All points above help ERP consulting firms stand out and win more projects.
- Implementation firms may have a white label version of the IDL and methods.
IDL Support: The IDL and related methods are supported by EAI, usually behind the scenes, so ERP consultants can move more rapidly to the potential of the IDL application/methods and appear to bring this extreme discipline to the client project organically. This support is comprised of the following which can taper off as the ERP consulting firm becomes more experienced:
- A strategic consultant that overseas and monitors the big-picture usage of the IDL methods and tools.
- A technical consultant to conduct training, IDL configuration/support, and who executes quality control checklists.