ERP Project Management Playbook — Stage 1 of 7

ERP Project Preparation & Kick Off

ERP Preparation & Kick Off showing Stage 1 of the seven-stage ERP Project Management Playbook, with project planning documents and a readiness gate checklist.

Good ERP project preparation creates the foundations for the entire implementation.

Before the project team starts studying the new system, the business needs to understand why the project is happening, what it needs to achieve, what is included, how it will be delivered and who is responsible for making it happen.

The objective of this first stage is to turn the decision to implement an ERP into a structured, deliverable business project.

Start with the Business Objective

Before discussing modules, configuration or technical requirements, establish why the business needs the ERP and what problem the implementation is expected to solve.

Typical drivers might include:

  • Business growth
  • Disconnected systems
  • Poor visibility of information
  • Inefficient processes
  • Duplicated work
  • Costly errors
  • Stock-management problems
  • Poor customer response times
  • Regulatory requirements
  • Business consolidation
  • An ageing or unsupported system
  • The need to standardise processes

The objective should ultimately be simple enough for everyone involved in the project to understand.

Create the ERP Project Brief

I use a concise Project Brief to establish a common understanding between the Project Sponsor, Steering Group, Core Project Team and other key stakeholders.

The Project Brief should define:

  • Why the project is required
  • The business objective
  • Expected outcomes
  • Project scope
  • Key deliverables
  • Implementation approach
  • Success measures
  • Key risks
  • Decision-making authority

Getting these points agreed early can expose different assumptions before they become expensive project problems.

Define the Project Scope

ERP projects can quickly expand unless the boundaries are understood.

The scope should establish what is included in the implementation, including:

  • Business units
  • Departments
  • Sites and locations
  • ERP modules
  • Business processes
  • Integrations
  • Data migration
  • Reporting
  • Modifications
  • Training

It is equally important to understand what is not included.

Define What Success Looks Like

“Implement the new ERP” is not a sufficient measure of project success.

The project should identify the business outcomes the ERP is expected to deliver.

For example:

  • Reduce customer-order processing time
  • Improve stock accuracy
  • Reduce manual administration
  • Improve management information
  • Standardise processes across locations
  • Improve customer response times
  • Reduce operating costs
  • Support future business growth

Where possible, establish a baseline before implementation so the organisation can measure whether those benefits were actually achieved.

Choose the ERP Implementation Approach

The implementation strategy needs to reflect the business rather than simply the preferred approach of the ERP supplier.

Three broad approaches are commonly considered.

Phased Implementation

Implement the ERP by module, department, business unit or location.

This can reduce the scale of each individual change and allow lessons from earlier phases to improve later ones. However, it can also create temporary interfaces, duplicated processes and a longer overall implementation.

Big-Bang Implementation

Move the relevant organisation to the new ERP at the same time.

This creates one major transition but concentrates testing, training, migration and operational risk around a single launch.

Accelerated Implementation

A faster implementation may reduce initial project cost and release resources sooner, but reducing study, testing or training can transfer significant risk into the post-launch period.

The right approach should balance time, cost, resource and risk.

Build the ERP Business Case

An ERP business case needs to consider the complete cost of implementation rather than focusing only on the software licence.

Potential costs include:

  • ERP software and licences
  • Additional applications
  • Infrastructure
  • Integrations
  • Data migration
  • Consultancy
  • Project management
  • Training
  • Modifications and development
  • Temporary staffing or backfill
  • Travel and facilities
  • Ongoing support and maintenance
  • Contingency

Identify the Expected Benefits

The business case should also identify what the organisation expects to gain from the implementation.

Benefits may include:

  • Increased revenue
  • Reduced costs
  • Improved productivity
  • Better customer service
  • Improved compliance
  • Reduced operational risk
  • Better management information
  • Improved employee experience

Where possible, financial benefits should be validated with Finance and used to establish an expected return on investment.

Build the ERP Project Team

The ERP supplier understands its software. Your employees understand your business.

A successful implementation needs to bring those two areas of expertise together.

Project Sponsor

The Project Sponsor provides senior business leadership, champions the project, supports the Project Manager and helps resolve decisions escalated by the Core Team.

ERP Project Manager

The Project Manager takes day-to-day responsibility for coordinating the implementation, maintaining the plan, managing risks and issues, coordinating suppliers and keeping stakeholders informed.

Steering Group

The Steering Group provides senior direction, reviews progress and resolves decisions that require authority beyond the Core Project Team.

Core Project Team

The Core Project Team represents the major functional areas of the organisation and jointly takes responsibility for developing a working business solution.

Subject Matter Experts

SMEs provide detailed knowledge of current business processes and help challenge whether proposed processes will work in practice.

Super Users

Super Users increasingly become important as the implementation progresses, helping build internal knowledge and ultimately supporting the transition into business-as-usual.

Protect the People Delivering the Project

The people you most need on an ERP project are often the same people the existing business can least afford to lose.

Core Team members may be expected to continue performing their normal roles while also learning the ERP, designing processes, preparing data, testing and supporting training.

Resource requirements therefore need to be realistic from the beginning.

Where necessary, consider temporary cover, backfill or redistribution of responsibilities rather than expecting key employees to absorb the entire project workload.

Build the Master ERP Project Plan

The project plan should describe what it will genuinely take to deliver the implementation rather than simply working backwards from a preferred go-live date.

It should include:

  • Project stages
  • Activities and deliverables
  • Dependencies
  • Milestones
  • Business resources
  • Supplier activities
  • Data migration
  • Integrations
  • Testing
  • Training
  • Go-live
  • Post-launch support

Plan Around the Real Business

The ERP implementation does not operate in isolation.

The project plan should consider:

  • Peak trading periods
  • Financial year-end
  • Public holidays
  • Employee holidays
  • Other major business projects
  • Supplier availability
  • Key employee availability

A technically achievable project plan can still fail if the business does not have the capacity to deliver it.

Establish ERP Project Governance

Governance should give everyone the information they need to understand the project and make decisions without creating unnecessary administration.

I typically establish project controls covering:

  • Project plan
  • Budget and costs
  • Risks
  • Issues
  • Actions
  • Decisions
  • Modifications
  • Integrations
  • Data migration
  • Testing
  • Training
  • Project warnings

Identify ERP Project Risks Early

Risk management starts during preparation, not when something goes wrong.

Typical ERP project risks can include:

  • Unrealistic timelines
  • Insufficient internal resources
  • Weak leadership
  • Poor communication
  • Inadequate training
  • Poor-quality consultancy
  • Unclear objectives
  • Excessive modifications
  • Data migration problems
  • Supplier performance
  • Competing projects
  • Business readiness

Significant risks should have an owner, an assessment of probability and impact, and an agreed mitigation.

Establish the Communication Plan

ERP projects affect people well beyond the Core Project Team.

The communication plan should identify:

  • Who needs information
  • What they need to know
  • When they need to know it
  • How information will be communicated
  • Who is responsible for communicating it

Different audiences need different levels of detail. The Board may need concise information about progress, cost and risk, while employees may need practical information about what is changing and when.

Kick Off the ERP Project

Once the foundations are in place, bring the project team together for a formal Kick Off.

The Kick Off should establish a shared understanding of:

  • Why the project is happening
  • What success looks like
  • The project scope
  • The implementation approach
  • The project stages and timeline
  • Roles and responsibilities
  • Project governance
  • Communication
  • Risks and constraints
  • How the team will work together

The objective is not simply to present the project plan. It is to make sure the people responsible for delivering the implementation understand the project and their part in it.

What Should Be Complete Before Moving to Study?

Before progressing into the Study stage, I would expect the project to have:

  • An agreed Project Brief
  • Clear objectives and expected outcomes
  • Defined scope
  • An agreed implementation approach
  • An approved budget or business case
  • A nominated Project Sponsor
  • A Project Manager
  • A Steering Group
  • A Core Project Team
  • An initial risk register
  • A master project plan
  • Project governance and reporting
  • A communication plan
  • A completed project Kick Off

With those foundations in place, the project team can begin learning the ERP and determining how the system can support and grow the business.

ERP Project Management Playbook

← ERP Project Management Playbook
Stage 1: Preparation & Kick Off
Stage 2: Study →

Need Help Preparing an ERP Project?

Getting the foundations right can prevent expensive problems later in the implementation.

I can help establish your ERP project, build the implementation plan, create the governance structure, coordinate the project team and provide independent project leadership through the complete implementation.

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