Most recently I joined the Brazilian Rollout GoLive of an SAP consolidation program. Because it was the pilot rollout for the SAP template built, it was a complex implementation, especially considering the utmost short project duration time of 3 months, and the complex Brazilian legal requirements.
But after the first 2 days of production with the new system it became clear, that the new SAP system was running well, with minor errors, which could be resolved quickly. The big challenge was to get the business departments expectation aligned with the project objectives and KPIs for the first weeks. There was a huge pressure of the Business to deliver even more than in the last months of the past year, from the first day on.
Business and IT alignment is well approved to be the key for successful Solution Architecture and Blueprinting. But it is also wise, to align the expectation of users, IT department and project team for the first time of production with a new ERP system.
This alignment has to include the definite agreement about key figures for the first weeks after GoLive.
- Delivery planning,
- how many products to be delivered a day,
- sales order items,
- or production orders
all have to be agreed. This agreement (in writing) has to
consider the learning curve, which you find in all IT implementation projects. Both, it enables the project team to measure the degree of implementation success, and provides trust of the business departments, that the new system supports business as requested or better.
