ERP Implementation

Methodology
Yashpal Jain, Project Manager-SAP

12/08/2021 1
Agenda
 Companies without ERP
 ERP Implementation
 Current Business situation & Expectation from ERP
 Reason behind project failures
 Overview of ASAP methodology & its drawback
 Theory of Constraints
 Protorative Methodology –
Assumption/Schedule/Advantage
 Q&A

12/08/2021 Protorative Methodology 2

Companies without ERP
 Moderate to high number of home grown systems.
 Business functions or Systems are not integrated or at
best loosely integrated.
 MIS reports are generally overdue.
 Management decision on market situation is often
reactive.
 Bird eye view of company’s status is not available to
management.

12/08/2021 Protorative Methodology 3

ERP Implementation
 Implementing ERP is always Top down decision.
 Decision to implement ERP is taken by watching market
trend and relying on different agencies reports.
 With Initial cost of implementation being high, ROI
cannot be calculated in short span of time. It is at best over
a period of 2-3 years.
 Success of system implementation has different meaning
to Client and Consulting partner.
 Implementation timeline is aggressive and schedule
slippage is very costly to business.
 ERP systems are sophisticated and not as user friendly as
legacy system.
12/08/2021 Protorative Methodology 4
 Current Business Situation
&
Expectation

12/08/2021 Protorative Methodology 5

 Current
Expectation

12/08/2021 Protorative Methodology 6

End Results??
Only two possible outcome

OR

SUCCESS FAILURE

12/08/2021 Protorative Methodology 7

Project Success Rate
“Studies by Standish Group and others for traditional
project management methods, only 44% of projects
typically finish on time, projects usually complete at
222% of the duration originally planned, 189% of the
original budgeted cost, 70% of projects fall short of their
planned scope (technical content delivered), and 30% are
cancelled before completion”.

“The success rate is even lower in case when companies

are going for ERP system for the first time”.

12/08/2021 Protorative Methodology 8

 Reasons behind project failures

12/08/2021 Protorative Methodology 9

Definition of Success

For Consulting Partner/System Integrator

• On time Go-Live
• In-Budget Go-Live
• All open issues are closed before end of stabilization phase

For Client
• On time Go-Live
• In-Budget Go-Live
• All open issues are closed before end of stabilization phase
• Use & leverage the system as intended

If we compare the meaning of success of both consulting partner

and client, the only difference is using and leverage the system as
intended. This is in fact the most ignored success criteria and
deciding factor between success or failure of the project.

12/08/2021 Protorative Methodology 10

Issue in Leveraging ERP System

Statistics shows that the top 2 reason behind companies not able to
leverage or realize full potential of ERP is

• Not all requirements were met during implementation of ERP.

• Users are not comfortable running the system because not all
desired functionalities are provided in system and lack of
sufficient time spent on the system is hindering them to work as
per management expectation.

12/08/2021 Protorative Methodology 11

Project Success

With all the discussion and explanation of project’s success or failure, it is

very easy to comprehend that on-time and in-budget go live are not the
only of the criteria of successful implementation.

It is User’s adoptability of ERP system which will decide

whether project is success or not.

12/08/2021 Protorative Methodology 12

 ASAP Methodology & Drawback

12/08/2021 Protorative Methodology 13

ASAP Methodology

12/08/2021 Protorative Methodology 14

During Project Execution
• How often requirements are captured inaccurately, insufficiently or
missed to be captured at all?
• How often changes in agreed business requirement/process are
requested by client?
• How often we run out of testing time when changes are requested
during later phase of the project?
• How often client feel inadequately trained at the end of the
project?
• How often client needs to have extended support to fix all
outstanding issues?

If most of the answers are in “Very Often” inspite of using ASAP

methodology, blaming the poor planning and execution does not
sound correct.
12/08/2021 Protorative Methodology 15
Why Do Requirements Change?
When we write the initial specification we document the low hanging
fruit. The specification will include the most obvious requirements,
those that have been discussed before the project started, those which are
already documented and those this people think of in the early stages. Yet
as the project proceeds, everyone involved will get a more detailed
understanding of what is happening both in the software and the
company, potentially revealing even greater value in a system.
Consequently, it is necessary to reprioritize our work as we go.

Requirements changes mainly due to one of the below factors:

External changes - changes required to meet some need from outside
the organization, say a changed legal requirement. 
Internal changes - changes required because of company changes such
as new products or restructuring. 
Technical changes - required to meet new technical demands.
 Learning - changes resulting from learning by individuals or groups.
12/08/2021 Protorative Methodology 16
Drawback of ASAP Methodology

What is the main drawback of using ASAP methodology or for that

matter any traditional project management methodology?

The answer is “it relies on completing all the activities of a particular

phase in that phase itself”. It does not permit us to go back in phase and
change something. If we try to go back to some phase and change
something, basically we are eating up time of current phase. This often
results in project delays.
12/08/2021 Protorative Methodology 17
 Theory of Constraints

12/08/2021 Protorative Methodology 18

The five focusing steps in TOC
• Identify the constraint (the resource or policy that prevents the
organization from obtaining more of the goal) .

• Decide how to exploit the constraint (make sure the constraint's time
is not wasted doing things that it should not do)

• Subordinate all other processes to above decision (align the whole

system or organization to support the decision made above)

• Elevate the constraint (if required or possible, permanently increase

capacity of the constraint; "buy more")

• If, as a result of these steps, the constraint has moved, return to Step 1.
Don't let inertia become the constraint.

12/08/2021 Protorative Methodology 19

3 Constraints of any Project

Scope

Cost Schedule

12/08/2021 Protorative Methodology 20

 Protorative Methodology
Prototype + Iterative

12/08/2021 Protorative Methodology 21

Protorative Methodology
Configure

Close
Configure Gather Test
&
Train

Prototype

12/08/2021 Protorative Methodology 22

Protorative Phases & Milestones

12/08/2021 Protorative Methodology 23

Differences
If most of the answers are in “Yes” inspite of using ASAP
ASAP Methodology
methodology, Protorative
blaming the poor planning Methodology
and execution does
not sound correct.
Phases are sequential Phases are Overlapping and Circular
Relationships of phases are No defined Relationships between
Finish –To-Start phases
Resource load is not evenly Resources load evenly distributed
distributed

Emphasis on task order and rigid Promote flexibility to quickly switch

scheduling
Emphasis on completing the Phase
and related tasks within the Phase.
Buffers are wasted due to rigid task
order and scheduling
Consulting team is responsible for any
failure
between tasks and task chains to
keep the whole project on schedule
Emphasis on completing the tasks .
Optimum use of buffers to make sure
timely completion of project
Both client & consulting team are
equally responsible for success

12/08/2021 Protorative Methodology 24

Assumptions
• Client will ensure the dedicated users are available during complete
life cycle of the project.
• List of would be SAP users are finalized with their respective roles
in Organization before project starts.
• All the hardware (At least Dev and Quality servers) are procured
and ready to be setup before project starts.
• Consulting Project team is finalized and ready to be deployed.
• Standard SAP user manuals are available to give it to the users.
• Consulting team is experienced and ready to work extra hours from
the day one of the project.
• End users to have good excel knowledge. If not, a 5 day workshop
will help the project in long run.

12/08/2021 Protorative Methodology 25

Activity Schedule
• Weekly Activity Schedule for Protorative Methodology

Protorative

12/08/2021 Protorative Methodology 26

Advantages
• 4-6 weeks of time saving (and cost) for both client and
Implementation partner.
• Testing of the system is done by user himself.
• Both client and implementation partner become equally
responsible for success of the system.
• Consultants will be working more during initial phase of the
project instead of later part. This way they can be more productive
when it matters most.
• Post Go Live issues will be very few as user has tested and approved
the system.
• Separate window for Training is not required as user get hands on
training from week 2.
• Data collection is almost error free and smooth.
• User adopts & use the system as per management
expectations.

12/08/2021 Protorative Methodology 27

 Thank you
Yashpal.v.Jain@gmail.com

12/08/2021 Protorative Methodology 28