ERP Readiness Audit is the process used to find out the readiness level of the organization to execute the ERP project initiative and identify specific areas to focus on in its preparation process. It is the ideal first step for organization to take in its ERP project initiative. This would help organization to clearly understand its current readiness level and have an action plan to be fully ready to implement the ERP project successfully.
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ERP Readiness Audit Importance for ERP Project Success
1. ERP READINESS AUDIT
IMPORTANCE IN
ERP PROJECT SUCCESS
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2. ERP READINESS AUDIT - INTRODUCTION
ERP Readiness Audit is the process used to find out the readiness level of the
organization to execute the ERP project initiative and identify specific areas to focus on
in its preparation process.
It is the ideal first step for organization to take in its ERP project initiative
This would help organization to clearly understand its current readiness level and have
an action plan to be fully ready to implement the ERP project successfully.
The key business users should be involved in this audit phase, so that they assume
ownership of the ERP project initiative.
The purpose of the Readiness Audit is to
Evaluate the level of overall preparedness of the organization to carry out a
successful ERP implementation.
Assess effectively the readiness of the client employees to adapt a new ERP system
Develop employee buy-in to the project
Readiness Audit to gauge how prepared the organization is, has to be done with a
minimum target score, below which the ERP implementation has to be postponed.
The organization should then first concentrate on improving the business process,
systems and procedures before initiating the ERP Implementation.
Many ERP implementations fail not because of any technical defect in the software but
because the organization is not ready for it yet.
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3. ERP READINESS AUDIT
Organization structure, processes & culture impacts the ERP project success and it should
be frequently audited & improvements areas to be identified.
Audit should include how the enterprise is organized as well as the state of processes,
company direction, culture, and other factors.
Organizations make considerable investments in ERP projects and expect early stabilization
& benefits. While the benefits exist, normally the project timelines / budget exceed target,
as challenges / risks normally occur in any such initiative involving varied business users
and data sources.
This is primarily due to lack of basic preparation done prior to initiating such a crucial
initiative.
Organization normally under-estimate the operational groundwork that need to be done
before starting ERP project. At a high level these include:
What information is required?
How will the information be retrieved?
Who would have access to what information?
How should the Users be prepared for usage of the new erp system?
This is done before the ERP selection phase & so gives neutral view of the business
requirements & project readiness. Refers to requirements identification & should be
focused on requirement needed by business at different stages.
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4. ERP READINESS AUDIT
Could be advantageous to review the business processes for rationalization, which in
turn might refine the requirement. Some of the simple steps are:
Identify the business functions & start from the bottom up to determine the requirements of
the various stakeholders in each of these business functions.
Deliberate with business users to classify requirements as ‘Mandatory’ & ‘Nice to have’
Organizations build further on the preparation based on their business &IT maturity.
RA designed to help objectively evaluate business operations & point out problem areas
before implementing ERP. Audit effectively assess the client employees readiness to
adapt the new ERP system & to develop employee buy-in to the project.
Analyze & optimize employee acceptance and address resistance to the potential ERP
organizational changes. The audit activities are:
Conduct an executive survey / workshop to ensure that the project objectives are aligned with
the enterprise strategic direction
Facilitate formal / informal communications with the organization staff & Determine largest
areas of organizational resistance
Identify lessons learnt from previous relevant project initiatives & Assess employee
competencies relative to ERP skill requirements
Identify major organizational / job changes resulting from ERP implementation
Provide recommendation regarding organizational change management,
training & communications
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5. ERP READINESS AUDIT - PURPOSE
Help identify specific areas for the organization & Project team to focus on as they
prepare to select & implement the ERP solution.
RA is measurement of current processes status before starting the project. The results
will help ensure that an ERP implementation meets or exceeds the established goals that
have been set for the initiative.
Involves a wide range of discussions in the following areas:
Organizational Structure, Culture, Corporate Philosophy, Vision & Mission
ERP Business Goals / Objectives & Functional Breakdown
Process & Data Flows Documentation
Existing Technical & Data Infrastructure
RA impacts organization structure / process and the project implementation. Reasons for
RA are:
Better alignment between Management, Business & IT
ERP project costs are high and need justification.
Improve customer responsiveness
Meeting organization growth plans & restructuring
Enhanced process / system standardization
Challenges in realizing Project ROI
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6. ERP READINESS AUDIT
RA focuses on key processes / structures with higher priority. Strong justification is
required for the audit to get the required participation from the stakeholders.
Readiness audit also helps to:
Reduce significant proportion of the resource costs & project elapsed time
Achieve the projected benefits of ERP in a shorter timeframe
Following improvements areas are to be identified once the current level of readiness is
determined:
Assess educational requirements to improve the employees understanding level
regarding business practices
Executive management must focus on prioritized activities that need attention
Determine the root cause of existing challenges & Assign a realistic due date to
overcome them
Assign accountability & responsibility for determining the problem root cause and
resolve them
Monitor progress & frequently review the status
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