Doing “IT” on the Cheap
A Clear And Present Danger
How often does it happen that an organization moves from an old legacy ERP type system to a new, up-to-date ERP system and it fails to meet expectations and to improve system and business process efficiency?
Too often!
One of the primary reasons is that the project is way underfunded for the scope and somehow management has decided that there is no need for the costs to be what other successful companies have spent and they set forth to “do it on the cheap.” Major strategic projects, such as a new ERP implementation or major ERP upgrade, which are underfunded, under staffed, and given an unrealistic time frame to complete, almost never work out.
Cutting corners and saving money on such strategic projects, which are a foundation for the company to support how they manage the business, may not be the best idea. The ROI is to be realized after a powerful system is implemented successfully and everyone’s expectations are met. Doing it right means:
- More cost upfront on the project, but also a maximized ROI for the long term, as in 10 to 15 years, every year.
- Significantly higher system performance and business process efficiency realized, every year.
- Smooth transition from the old to the new system.
- Easier Business User buy-in and happier end users from the get-go.
- Much less maintenance and support costs, every year.
- Minimizing the need for customizations and making future upgrades easier and cheaper.
Given that most organizations do have to deal with finite budget limits on such projects, the best strategy is to plan what scope you can do, within the limits, while “doing it right.”
A Best Practice would be not to take or introduce unnecessary risks, which seldom work out. Most often one cannot do all of the scope that one would like to do in Phase 1 due to the budget and time available. What you can do to is develop a long-term, phased-in roadmap, based on business priorities, where the key stakeholders will be able to see when their needs will be taken care of. OK, they may not get the new system functionality this year, but they will be happier to see that it is at least on the list to be done next year, or the year after.
With new technology, it is often said that “You don’t know what you don’t know.” If you choose to do it on the cheap, you are most likely going to find out what you don’t know the hard way — and sooner, rather than later. What you may save on the front end, you will likely pay the piper for many years to come.
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More links:
MIPRO Consulting main website.
