Selecting and implementing the right enterprise technology is crucial for realizing business transformation. ERP systems are a foundation technology for many businesses, and play a big role in transformation.

If you're a company considering a new ERP system, it's easy to get overwhelmed by the technology landscape. You might be tempted to only implement a portion of the functionality you purchased. However, this can lead to problems down the road. It's important to evaluate all the features of a potential system to see if it's the right fit for your business.

There are a few reasons that true ERP business transformation is difficult to achieve. 

In our experience, we see a variety of reasons for this approach

• Resource Constraints: The manufacturer or distributor may not have the resources to fully digitize their business. They may have budget, time, and staffing constraints that prevent them from making this a priority.

• Technology Overload: Many teams we speak to are overwhelmed by the "bells and whistles" of today's ERP systems. These teams call us in at this point to help make sense of the available solutions, features, functions, and technology platforms.

• Resistance to Change: Many organizations are not ready for drastic changes in processes because their staff are not experienced enough or the organization itself is not mature enough. Functional teams might be hesitant to change because they see it as risky and a lot of work. In this case, organizational change management is necessary in order to set up processes and systems that will help counter user resistance.

It's common for teams to focus on short-term results instead of achieving ERP business transformation for sustained improvements. The mission is usually to get the new technology live and running with a new system, and achieve stability right away. However, this often falls short of the real goal, which is to have a minimal impact on the business.

After the initial excitement or success of an event, does the organization continue to be pleased with the outcome?

After surviving the implementation process, many teams are disappointed to realize that they have essentially just created a new system that does many of the same things as their old one, with only some improvements and additional functionality.

A Better Approach To Driving Transformation

What is being transformed when an organization adds new technology on top of existing processes? If the focus is on transforming business process improvement, then the transformation will be more significant.

At Flits, we focus on business process transformation when implementing enterprise technology, in order to get the most value out of each engagement. This is how we achieve ERP business transformation: by taking the time to define the right processes and then making sure they are used effectively throughout the project. We avoid the common mistakes that occur during ERP selections, evaluations, and implementations.

When you want to improve your business processes, you need to first establish a vision of the future state and then identify the value that the project will bring.  Proper planning will help ensure that everyone is on the same page, the project runs smoothly, and the benefits are seen quickly.

The team should review the current state process maps to identify wasteful practices and understand the potential offered by modern ERP systems. They should also discuss what processes are currently done outside the formal system and what types of value-adding activities could be brought in-house.

The "secret" to success is in documenting the future state process and communicating the newly designed process to the organization in formal sessions.

Learn more about Flits.ai!