The Involvement of Top Management in a Successful ERP Implementation

The implementation of a new financial management solution, such as Microsoft Dynamics GP, is far from being only an IT project. As it will affect most (if not all) aspects of your business, top management involvement in ERP implementation is needed to ensure that the project meets your organization’s objectives. Doing so will secure a high user adoption rate for the solution, ensure that deadlines are met, and help with a smooth transition throughout the entire project.

Steps for Successful ERP Implementation

Adapt the solution to your business

A new financial management solution will impact business processes across your entire organization. Someone familiar with the organization’s current processes needs to be involved so that your implementation partner understands them properly. This way, you ensure that their vision is in alignment with yours and that the solution is adapted to the specific realities of your business and industry. By reviewing the progress of the project regularly and as needed, high management plays an essential role in ensuring that the provider and your organization are on the same wavelength and work towards the same goals.

Oversee the involvement of the various departments

Implementing a new business management solution is a large-scale project that involves resources from different teams across your organization, not to mention the supplier of the solution. As such, top management must oversee the entire project, ensure that the various departments and teams involved across the organization are available, and set priorities and realistic deadlines for the resources involved. They also need to validate end users’ feedback, requests and requirements, then communicate those to the solution provider to ensure that the solution meets their needs once implemented.

Ensure proper communication

As in many other things, communication is key. To avoid resistance to change and ensure a high adoption rate, resources must understand what changes are coming, why they are being implemented, and how the solution will benefit them in the end. Senior management must keep communication channels open and make sure that the team is aware of the progress of the project. By showing acceptance and leading by example, high managers can also ease fear of change to maximize the user adoption rate of the new solution.

In short, the successful ERP implementation of a new business management solution requires more than the involvement of your IT team and of the solution provider. It also needs the support of high management throughout the entire project for it to be successful and in alignment with their vision. Senior managers need to oversee deadlines and priorities, manage resources, ensure that end users can voice their concerns and suggestions and that those are communicated to the provider, and that end users understand why these changes are taking place to ensure a high user adoption rate.

For more information to ensure the successful implementation of a new financial management solution, read our articles about the role of the super user and the importance of the test environment.

By JOVACO Solutions, Microsoft Dynamics GP integration specialist in Quebec