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Project Management
Project
Management describes the activities involved in organizing and managing
the overall project, and especially the stage of the implementation that
the project is currently in. On-going, proactive project management is
essential to the successful completion of the project on time and within
budget.
Overall
finances, resources, tasks, schedules, and risks are managed. Project
Status reports are prepared and communicated on a periodic basis. Changes
to the schedule and scope are managed through Change Control Requests.
Strategy
and Planning Stage
The
Project Planning Stage is the starting point for an ERP implementation
project. This stage is concerned with organizing and structuring a
‘road-map’ for implementation and developing a step-by-step approach
to guide the team through the successful installation of the software.
Project
Planning starts with the Project Definition, which includes the Project
Planning Workshop. The workshop will establish a shared vision by customer
management, project management and project team members as to the
project’s objectives, scope, organization and the responsibilities of
all participants. In addition, project-wide policies for communication,
documentation and common standards are developed.
The
Project Definition step is critical to the successful implementation of an
ERP solution. Project
Definition is a learning process, where the customer discovers the issues
and complexities that should be considered when implementing the solution,
and Mantralogix Consultants ascertain the business problems and
opportunities that need to be addressed during implementation. Key
decisions are made, and expectations are set during this stage that will
guide the project team throughout the implementation. The result should be
a ‘road map’ through the initial start up of the project to production
use of the software.
The
remaining steps and tasks in this stage are aimed towards preparing the
application environments and educating the project team. The project is
then officially started with a ‘kick-off’ meeting, which is attended
by the project team and steering/advisory committee.
Objectives:
-
Set realistic expectations with all participants (shared vision)
-
Clearly define the project as to the relative time frame, phasing,
objectives, scope, resources and team organization
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Determine roles and responsibilities
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Develop approaches to manage project scope and issue-resolution
-
Develop preliminary approaches/guidelines/strategies for
customization, data conversion, project team and user training, and
cut-over to the production system
-
Begin building a strong customer relationship
Stage
Deliverables:
-
Project Definition document
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Finalize work plan, resource plan, project plan
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Establish project standards and project control procedures
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Architecture review and documentation
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Analysis
and Design Stage
The
Analysis and Design stage is a process of mapping business and end-user
requirements to the features of the ERP solution. The objective of this
stage is to develop and test a ‘Business Blueprint’ using the software
in an unmodified form. The blueprint represents how the customer desires
their organization to operate with the new applications.
The
foundation of the Analysis and Design stage is to configure a prototype
system followed by the Conference Room Pilot. The concept of the
Conference Room Pilot is to use standard solution software and actual
client transactions to model the normal business functions of the
customer. The Conference Room Pilot is series of steps and tasks that
consists of designing a ‘model’ company and emulating the day-to-day
transactions of the customer in a controlled environment. Real business
transactions and scenarios are used to validate the design of the system.
By emulating business transactions and processes through the ‘model’
company, the functional fit of the standard software is clearly seen as
well as any likely modifications.
Objectives:
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Basic system installation
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Project Team Training
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Configure Prototype System
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Perform Conference Room Pilot
Stage
Deliverables:
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Installed system architecture
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Knowledgeable Project Team
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Configured Prototype to client requirements
-
Conference Room Pilot Assessment
Implementation
Stage
The
Implementation stage is where the results of the design process come
together with the actual building of a production-ready system. A
production-ready system will include a completely configured installation,
customer specific financial reports, end-user procedures, backup and
recovery procedures, end-user support procedures, converted data,
customized interfaces, reports, and forms or processes. As important as
the fully defined system, final end-user training will also be conducted
at this time. With all the components together the ‘production’ ready
system can be thoroughly validated, by a complete system acceptance test
performed by the end-users. By conducting the system acceptance test, the
project team can ensure that the entire system operates as designed and
within user expectations, as well as re-enforcing the end-user training.
At
the conclusion of the system test, changes are made based on the
conversion and readiness assessment documentation, and then final
preparations and plans can be arranged for the live cut-over to the ERP
solution.
Objectives:
Stage
Deliverables:
-
Knowledgeable users
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User Procedures and administrative documentation
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Validation and approval (sign-off) of the Readiness Review
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Functional Production System
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Execution
Stage
The
Execution stage is initially focused at supporting the end-users through
the day-to-day use of the solution software and fine-tuning the
performance of the software. After a ‘break-in’ period, additional
requirements that were either deferred for later or reported through
supporting the users can be prioritized and planned for implementation.
The
final task is to conduct a Post Implementation Review. This serves as the
final debriefing for the project team, and allows the team to assess
overall usage and quality of the implementation as well as plan for
additional improvements.
Objectives:
Stage
Deliverables:
Quality Assurance
Similar
to Project Management, Quality Assurance and Control is a continuous
process. Quality Assurance
safeguards against potential issues that could impede the overall progress
of the implementation, and, potentially, the customer’s ability to use
the software for its intended purpose. The key to Quality Assurance is
ensuring that user expectations are met, or exceeded, and that the end
result adds value to support the business objectives of the project.
Mantralogix’s
Implementation Methodology includes Quality in two forms:
‘In-Process’
Quality
Templates
and sample deliverables provided with the methodology incorporate quality
into their design. Templates have been constructed to account for the
general requirements for a given task and the subsequent task(s) it may
drive (output à input). By doing so, they support reusability, from task to task, and
consistent manners to complete work and communicate requirements.
Periodic
Quality Assurance Checks and Systems Audits
Managing
quality is a course of monitoring and periodically assessing the value of
a process or end-product of the implementation, and making adjustments
where necessary. Quality Assurance Checks are scheduled throughout the
implementation to ensure that key milestones are completed, and completed
within user expectation.
Systems
Audits are scheduled post-implementation. The purpose of Systems Audits is
to verify that the customer is maximizing the use of the software. As
companies grow or their business changes, the software may require
additional tuning or additional features may be employed to support a
change in their business. The Systems Audit is designed to capture these
changes and make recommendations which will maximize the value of the
software.
This
section provides examples of Quality Assurance Checks that occur during
the implementation, and example checks for Post Conversion called a
Periodic Systems Audit.
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