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Enterprise System Guide

Enterprise System Guide - Outline

Phase I - Committed Resources

No large project of this scope should begin without major buy-in from stakeholders and commitment of resources including money, time, and personnel. Here is a minimum checklist of required resources to begin an enterprise project.

Executive Level Sponsor
Management Level Buy-In
Selection Team
Selection Steering Committee
Initial Budget
Communications Team

Phase II - Current State Analysis

It is highly important to perform a needs analysis that starts with the current state of the organization’s business environment. This exercise will form the basis for calculating a Return On Investment (ROI) based on the differential between the current state and the desired future state of operational efficiency.

Current Business Pain Points
Business Process Reviews
Current Functionality
Current Data Resources
Current Decision Support Capabilities

Phase III - Future State Analysis

Based on the findings from the Current State Analysis, an organization should develop a desired future state that reflects the short and long-term strategic goals of the enterprise.

Business Process Reengineering
New Functionality Requirements
Centralized Data Resources
System/Application Consolidation
Modernization
Proactive/Prescriptive Data Capabilities
Integration/API Capabilities
ROI Analysis

Phase IV - Requirements Definitions/RFP Development

Using the Future State Analysis results, final requirements for the new enterprise system are created and a solicitation Request for Proposal (RFP) document is developed. This document will communicate the business and technical requirements that the organization is seeking for the ultimate solution.

Business Process Diagrams
Desired Functionality Requirements
Preferred Technology/Security
Desired Data and Decision Support Capabilities
Preferred System/Software Delivery
Desired Maintenance/Support Delivery
RFP Review

Phase V - Selection Process

The selection process requires significant due diligence, research and vendor interviews before moving forward with inviting vendors to present their products. Using the RFP developed in Phase IV, an organization will conduct a preliminary matching of known available products with the business, technical, and functional criteria described by the desired future state.

Available Systems
Vendor Capabilities
Vendor Solicitation
RFP Response Review
Customer Reviews/References
Vendor Short Listing
Vendor Presentations
Vendor Short Listing #2
Final Presentations
Initial Award
Contract Negotiation

Phase VI - Implementation

The Implementation Phase is the longest in duration and contains a majority of the risk to a successful outcome. Multiple factors can contribute to failure including misunderstandings concerning product deliverables, lack of executive and management buy-in, scope creep, project delays and budget overruns. It is essential to follow a proven method of phased execution in order to mitigate a majority of these risks.

Timeline and Deliverables
Budget/TCO
Executive Sponsor
Implementation Steering Committee
Internal Team
External Team
Sandbox Installation
Initial Training
Product Functionality Review
Process Mapping
Gap Analysis
Data Migration
Integration
Custom Reporting and Decision Support
User Acceptance Testing
Final Training
Business Continuity/Disaster Recovery Testing
Go-Live

Phase VII - Post Implementation

Once the implementation is complete and the system is up and running the life of the Enterprise System project is far from over. As an organization begins to experience the benefits of the new system, additional capabilities and feature possibilities become apparent. An enterprise system should be viewed as a continuously evolving tool that can change as the organization grows.

Lessons Learned
On-Going Training/Support
Adding Features
Project Close-Out and Continuous Improvement

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