If your enterprise is considering a new business management software solution, it's important to size up the tasks it will need to accomplish. An enterprise resource planning (ERP) platform is capable of managing a host of internal jobs, such as human resources, accounting and inventory management. One of the common problems researchers have found in unsuccessful ERP deployments is when the intended purposes don't align with the actual demonstrated needs of the enterprise. 

In a multinational study of ERP deployment, Severin V. Grabski, Stewart A. Leech and Bai Lu cited this lack of alignment as one of the primary risks of adopting a new system. 

"In summary, based on a review of the ERP literature, there are five major business risks associated with the implementation of ERP systems: the lack of alignment of the new information system and business processes; the possible loss of control due to decentralization of decision making; risks associated with project complexity; the potential lack of in house skills; and users' resistance," the authors wrote in the The International Journal of Digital Accounting Research. 

The best way to ensure that your ERP solution aligns with your actual needs is to work with a service provider with a comprehensive understanding of your business model. This entails assessing the needs your company has right now and the failures of legacy systems to keep up with their tasks. However, it also requires your vendor to anticipate future needs so that the platform will be fully scalable to evolutions in the future. 

At Accent Software, our team of experts prides itself on learning and understanding the specific constraints and needs your business must work to accommodate. Contact us today to learn more about how one of our business management software solutions can streamline tasks that currently take too much time and energy. 

When faced with the decision to deploy an enterprise resource planning (ERP) platform, some look for ways to reduce costs in other areas of IT infrastructure. According to a study called "Critical Failure Factors in ERP Implementation," this instinct can lead to deployment failures when other IT aren't capable of supporting the new system. 

"Due to top management's insufficient financial resources provided for the implementation budget, a low performance IT infrastructure hardware was proposed by the consultants and project manager so as to reduce the costs of ERP implementation," wrote four authors of the paper, published in Pacific Asia Journal of the Association for Information Systems. "The poor IT infrastructure contributed to the slow processing capability of the ERP system."

It's important for enterprise decision makers to look at an ERP platform as a solution that will provide savings in and of itself. This results from reducing dependence on legacy applications which cost considerably more time and money to operate. As such, setting new limitations on IT infrastructure at the time an ERP system is deployed can create a tech environment without the capacity to support ERP at its highest functioning level.

Rather than cutting corners with other investments, enterprise leaders should seek advice to determine which areas are critical to supporting the new management solution. This minimizes the risk that an ERP deployment will fail. 

The best way to determine whether your deployment strategy will support ERP is to work with experienced experts. At Accent, our team of specialists has helped a variety of enterprises implement new business management technology. Contact us today to learn more about the benefit of working with a supportive team of ERP experts. 

In the decades since enterprise resource planning (ERP) technology was first introduced, there have been many high-profile successes and failures. However, the failures often draw more attention than ERP triumphs. One memorable case of ERP deployment fraught with operational issues is Hershey's adoption of a system in 1999.

When the ERP platform was adopted poorly, Hershey's was unable to satisfy more than $100 million worth of orders for products they actually had in inventory. The price of Hershey's stock dipped and according to CIO Magazine, analysts didn't trust the company to properly deliver on promises again for nearly nine months. While your enterprise might not operate on that scale, you can imagine a comparable scenario based on your operating model. 

According to Geneco Consulting, these are some of the reasons why that integration went disastrously:

Executives rushed the process. While Hershey's was given 48 months as a suggested deployment period, leaders at the company insisted on 30 months. Due to the rushed deployment, issues appeared that might have been resolved with more time. 

Too many systems were deployed at once. Rather than focusing on a single centralized solution, Hershey attempted to launch three different resource planning technologies at the same time. This created conflict among the various operations. 

"With respect to the Hershey's case, many authors have criticized the company's decision to roll out all three systems concurrently, using a 'big bang' implementation approach," writes Jonathan Gross of Geneco. "In my view, Hershey's implementation would have failed regardless of the approach. Failure was rooted in shortcuts related to systems testing, data migration and training."

The company was too busy. In 1999, hysteria about the impact of "Y2K" motivated Hershey to insist on implementation before the new year. Unfortunately, this meant the transition of critical systems happened during the busiest sales and distribution period of the company's fiscal year. In addition to raising the stakes, this window of time also made it harder to provide sufficient attention to the new technology. 

"Back in 1999, of course, it was a terrifying new prospect for investors to consider: Could a failed computer project take down a Fortune 500 company?" writes Christopher Koch of CIO . "Hershey's stock price fell more than 8 percent on that September day, and the computer system mystery made the front page of The Wall Street Journal."

The benefit of working with experts to deploy a business management software solution is that we can help determine worst-case scenarios and establish ways to avoid them. Contact Accent Software today to learn more about how our technology can optimize operations at your enterprise. 

The point of deploying a new enterprise resource planning (ERP) platform is to reduce reliance on legacy systems so that they can be eliminated and enhanced functionality can be utilized. This can create friction when decision makers are too attached to systems that have served them for a long time. 

"If [organizations] do not actively work to decommission applications during the implementation, the end result is an ERP with all of the original legacy applications hanging off of it," John Picciotto, principal of application modernization at Accenture, told CIO Magazine. "The end result is another piece of software that [you] are paying maintenance and support on, paying for hardware and upgrades, and paying for interfaces back into the core ERP."

For that reason, executives should be prepared to scale back existing systems and applications to avoid confusion and congestion. If primitive, manual, offline, esoteric or irrelevant applications continue to be used after ERP implementation, the cost and time savings will be significantly reduced. 

In fact, the presence of an ERP platform working in conflict with legacy applications can increase waste through unnecessary redirections of energy. When enterprises adopt ERP systems, they should be ready to completely abandon the systems that have been rendered obsolete by their new platform. With the guidance of ERP implementation specialists, decision makers can determine the best time to decommission these applications, so that processes are not interrupted and the transition is bridged as smoothly as possible. 

At Accent Software, we've guided clients through the process of deploying and managing ERP platforms that support efficiency and optimize operations. Contact us today to learn more about how business management software can help take your enterprise to the next level. 

Once a company has implemented an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, one of the next steps is determining return on investment (ROI). According to a report by Pulp & Paper Magazine called "Executive Study Assesses Current State of ERP in Paper Industry," depending on the scale of their enterprise, most decision makers expect seven to nine figures worth of savings from a new EDI system. 

The 120 participants were executives at medium- and large-sized enterprises in the paper industry. One of the most popular ways to determine deployment success was to perform an internal and external review of operations after implementation. 

"To assess whether the expected financial benefits of ERP have been achieved, almost 60% of the respondents indicate they will use some formal method, such as formal audit, performance management method, user survey, or customer survey," found the study, indicating that these methods were subjective. "Many respondents will use more than one method to assess whether or not ERP has delivered the expected set of benefits."

These inquests might not deliver an exact dollar amount for ROI, but they give decision makers a view into how effectively an ERP system has improved operations for employees and partners alike. Feedback from these areas is critical to identifying problem spots and addressing them quickly, without disruption to business operations. 

At Accent Software, we've navigated countless clients through the process of deploying a new ERP platform, including Microsoft business software, to boost productivity and improve communications. Contact us today to learn more about the benefit of better resource planning at your enterprise.