Change Management

The key to Implementation Maturity and a successful implementation depends almost entirely on how well the changes are received by the company’s employees. People, not Technology, are the biggest challenge in any Enterprise Application implementation.

In order to recognize the business value from any Enterprise Application implementation the people in the organization need to buy into the changes and understand the full extent of what the true benefits will be.

Gartner Group reports that, “many of ERP projects have not delivered their expected benefits.” Furthermore, according to extensive research conducted by the business schools of M.I.T. and Harvard, “effective implementation of I.T. is, at its core, a task of managing change.” (Professors Robert B. McKersie and Richard E. Walton). The ERP projects that are successful have something in common; they’ve effectively dealt with the “people” and “organizational” issues that can sabotage an implementation.

The best way to accomplish that is not merely to communicate that change is on the way, but more importantly help the people facilitate the change so that true change is adopted.

Therefore Change Management is all about: Inspiring ownership, Inspiring performance, Constant and clear communication relating to the reasons and benefits of the change, constant progress reports, and effective education (not just training). The change needs to occur throughout the company and very often may even include customers and suppliers.