The ERP project team
When implementing new ERP software, organizations often take a lot of time to identify their requirements but inversely short time assembling the implementation despite the fact that the ERP project team is definitely the greatest success factor, one that can make the difference between on-target implementation and a project that goes off the rails. For a successful ERP implementation, you need the right people, with the right skills, therefore the project planning has to be in tandem with the team selection process.
The project team is the group responsible for planning and executing your ERP project. It consists of a project manager and a number of project team members who are brought in to deliver their tasks according to the project schedule. An ERP project implementation typically involves 2 teams, the ERP project team from your organization and the ERP vendor project team.
The project sponsor
The project / executive sponsor is a manager with demonstrable interest in the outcome of the project, who is ultimately responsible for securing spending authority and resources for the project. Ideally, the executive sponsor should be the highest ranking manager possible in proportion to the project’s size and scope. The executive sponsor acts as vocal and visible champion, legitimizes the project’s goals and objectives, keeps abreast of major project activities, and is the ultimate decision maker for the project.
The executive sponsor also provides support for the project sponsor and our project director and project manager and has final approval of all scope changes and signs off on approvals to proceed to each succeeding project phase. The executive sponsor may elect delegates some of the above responsibilities to the project sponsor and or project director.
The project manager
This is the person responsible for ensuring that the project team completes the project. The project manager develops the project plan with the team and manages the team’s performance of project tasks. It is also the responsibility of the project manager to secure acceptance and approval of deliverables from the project sponsor and stakeholders. The project manager is responsible for communication, including status reporting, risk management, escalation of issues that cannot be resolved in a team and in general making sure the project is delivered on budget, on schedule and within scope.
Project team members
The project team members are responsible for executing tasks and producing deliverables, as outlined in the project plan and directed by the project manager at whatever level of effort or participation has been defined for them. These are the people from your company who know the core business process and practices. They are expected to coordinate with the Functional experts from the ERP Software vendors team and actively participate in defining the business requirements, ensure availability for complete and correct data & information when required and take ownership of their module & see the activity through completion.
Change management team
The change management individual or team is responsible for liaising, obtaining consensus and ensuring the active participation of all internal and external stakeholders. They do this by communicating clearly and regularly to eliminate any doubts and fears about the changes. They are required to inform and educate employees, customers, vendors about upcoming changes with the implementation of the ERP. They must also set expectations about how data will be collected in the ERP and how the various reports can be seen. In addition , the help everyone to understand benefits of the ERP and advice on how to adjust to the new way of working.
Technical Consultants from ERP Software vendor
The technical consultants team members from the ERP Software Vendor Team are responsible for establishing industry best-practices and standard business processes and carrying out functional business process testing. They are responsible for conducting training for end-users and providing post-go-live support for an agreed period. In addition, the vendor team are expected to prepare the production environment and complete technical tasks during the run-up to production.
Summary
The team structure used for the deployment of your ERP system should reflect the specific needs of your organization. It is a good practice to define the scale of your project and if your organization has multiple sites, it is advisable to establish teams at each location.
Appoint a project manager to supervise the project, consider working with ERP implementation consultants if the process of selecting a team and implementing an ERP system seems too daunting.
