10 mistakes to avoid when launching an ERP system 

10. Specialists from different teams

To save money, clients often hire specialists who have never worked together as a team. (We are not even talking about those who try to implement 1C:ERP with a single specialist; we describe how that ends in our case study Productivity up 4x, downtime down 5x: PIK-Element.) Even if the specialists are technically competent, in 99% of cases it takes them a long time to find common ground.  

High-quality project delivery requires a strong architect–analyst–developer team. Only a well-coordinated team can deliver results on a tight schedule.

9. Implementation and support are different jobs

Do not burden implementation specialists with support tasks for the old system. Hand that work over to a dedicated consulting or technical support line. Otherwise, implementation starts to stall.

It is better to choose a contractor that provides technical support from the start, so you do not have to look for another one for this area of work. As system modules go live, we hand them over to support. This way, implementation goes faster.

8. Signing without reading

Sometimes the client signs the business analysis report without reading it carefully. Yet the project cost estimate is based precisely on the results of this analysis (we cover this in detail in our article “How to estimate the cost of an enterprise automation project”). The report may hide an unreasonable price or miss important details. This inevitably leads to conflicts during the project.  

Be sure to review the report together with your own specialists and partners. Make sure all important requirements are included, and look for savings only in optional items.

7. Slow acceptance of work

If the client does not devote enough time to the 1C:ERP implementation project and delays acceptance of work, the project will become significantly more expensive and take longer. Every day of delayed acceptance means idle specialist time and lost profits for the client.

6. Project management methodology

We work with modern agile methods such as Kanban and Scrum. They put the company’s business processes and current tasks first. Unnecessary activities are cut to a minimum, and only work that is valuable to the client gets done. Documentation and bureaucracy are kept to a minimum, hence the fast results. However, these methods have their drawbacks too. Learn more about agile project management methods in our dedicated video.

5. An accountable manager on the client side

There must be one, period. And the more deeply this person is involved, the better. Ideally, the client has its own project manager (PM) and an owner for each business process. These responsible users will spot errors in time and ask for them to be fixed or for changes to be made to how processes are modeled in the system.

4. Unrealistic timelines

“We launched ERP at a large enterprise in 2 months!” claims one well-known systems integrator. Do not fall for this kind of advertising. Launching 1C:ERP at a mid-sized company takes 8 to 18 months. No matter how strong the contractor is, there are ALWAYS unforeseen delays, and the larger the company, the more of them there are. We explain how to shorten project timelines in our article “3 tips to keep your 1C:ERP implementation from dragging on for years”.

3. Choosing the contractor with the lowest price

State-owned companies often suffer from this because of flaws in the public procurement law. But commercial businesses also frequently fall into the cost-saving trap. If the project price is below market, you will most likely get only basic functionality and inexperienced trainee consultants, or corners will be cut on other important aspects of the project. For what to watch out for to avoid this, see the article mentioned above, “How to estimate the cost of an enterprise automation project.”

2. Who will actually do the work?

The best specialists and managers attended the negotiations, but trainees showed up to do the implementation. To avoid this, ALWAYS name the key team members in the contract. Specifying the project manager, 1–2 lead analysts, the architect, and the lead developer is usually enough.

1. No project management, no final result

Yes, the client will have to set up project management within its own company. We will cover what this means and how to do it in upcoming posts.