How to define success of an ERP project? & how important is it?

Here are my general success criteria: •    The project went live on the targeted date according to the original budget (which included contingency) without having to sacrifice the original scope. •    The selected package met the majority of business requirements with minimal customizations; provided easy integration into the organization’s technical infrastructure; and was built on a scalable platform for future growth and integration. •    The core users were trained and a support plan was in place to assist the users through an initial3 month transition period. •    There was no disruption to business operations (monthly close, payroll, etc) •    There was a manageable, prioritized list of post go-live tasks and a post go-live release schedule. •    The project team was tired, but not completely burned out. Key knowledge was transferred from consulting resources and the organization was self sufficient within three months of go-live. •    The implemented system continues to provide a platform for enhancements, integration with other corporate systems and has the proper transactional data structure to support corporate reporting and reporting applications. 

Defining success for an IT project seems to be inherently more difficult than defining successful financial expectations, or manufacturing objectives. Yet without an articulated set of post go-live expectations, the success of an ERP implementation becomes a matter of opinion – and in the worst case, a matter of infinite opinions. It is essential for the focus of the implementation team, for the health of the organization, and for appropriate allocation of resources that a set of measurable criteria be put into place prior to go-live which are the final arbiters of ERP success.

The litmus test of a sufficient definition is one that, no matter what else additional happens or is said, you will feel the implementation was well done. For example, a simple success statement could be “Convert to ERP with no significant business disruption and no ERP-related negative impacts on external customers.”

It is also perfectly acceptable if success criteria are time phased, and represent a sequentially higher bar over time. For instance, an end of week #1 objective might be to have no more late orders than the average over the past twelve weeks. (If you do not have success criteria which take history into account, then the historical20% late that you have always had will suddenly become20% late because of ERP). An end of week #2 objective might be to have a reduction in late orders, have received no customer complaints as a result of the ERP objective, and to be billing at historical weekly averages. An end of week #3 objective might be all of the week #2 objectives plus no raw material or intermediate shortages. An end of week #4 objective might be all of weeks one through three, plus initial distribution of daily business activity reports. And so on.

The critical point is, a successful organization will have consensus on what constitutes success. If an ERP team is allowed to be randomly criticized for failing to achieve unarticulated objectives, they will end up retreating to a metaphorical corner.

Tell the ERP team how to be successful, and then congratulate them when they are.