Choosing the Right Date for your ERP Go-Live

 

Alternatively, there are several risks to targeting a January 1^st go-live that could hinder an organization’s ability to achieve success. The most glaring concern is the already chaotic nature of December. Many businesses have regular year-end deadlines that require significant resources and attention. Adding an implementation to the mix could result is spreading your resources too thin.

In the same vein, the end of the year is packed with holidays. Many of your best people will be using PTO and taking vacations that could impact your implementation. It is critical to keep resources engaged during that time to complete essential tasks like user acceptance testing, data rehearsals, and cutover. If no one is there to actually work in the system and get a feel for new processes, the implementation won’t be successful or will inevitably be pushed back until those tasks can be completed.

Additionally, the feasibility of a January 1^st go live depends on when you start. If you’ll need to shave months off your implementation to meet a compressed timeline, the added stress and risks most likely won’t be worth the benefits of a clean start to the fiscal year. In other words, the headache caused by chaotic and an overly-ambitious implementation is often much worse than the little bit of extra accounting work associated with a mid-year go live. We have had many, many clients opt for mid-year go-lives and were very happy they did. 

Ultimately, there is no single date that works best for specific industries or businesses to go live. Every organization is unique and their capacity for executing a successful ERP implementation will depend on factors like requirements, processes, and schedules.
Before starting the implementation phase, the project team must identify the busy periods for the business and other times when the fewest resources are available. These times are not ideal for scheduling a go live. Most businesses will want to focus first on the availability of their accounting team since they will likely be leading project efforts, although teams from supply chain, production, HR, etc, may be equally important depending on the scope of software being implemented. Scheduling a go live during a deadline period such as quarter or year-end financial reporting could result in an overload of resources to satisfy all of the business expectations including Boards, SEC filings, etc.

Scope will also play a significant role in determining your go-live date as it aligns with the start of your project. You should work closely with your implementation partner to evaluate a realistic timeline based on goals and available resources. A larger scope will mean a longer project timeline, and vice versa, so accurately capturing those requirements and working with your partner to document milestones will help develop a tentative schedule. You may need to take a phased approach, rolling out one module, region, business unit, etc., at a time. An independent ERP consultant like ERP Advisors Group can help you draft an implementation roadmap that makes sense for your unique needs. 

Regardless, it is important to be flexible and patient during the implementation process. Even a solidified plan has the potential to be affected by internal and external factors, especially when it comes to complex ERP efforts. By having contingency plans and scheduling extra time, businesses can help ensure their implementations stay on track.

There is an art to selecting the right go-live date for your business. Many factors must fall into place to not only determine your go-live date but stick to that schedule over the course of the entire project. An independent client-side implementation consultant, like the experts at ERP Advisors Group, can help shoulder this burden and keep your efforts on track. If you need guidance in selecting the right go-live date, schedule a free consultation today!