The common mistake in ERP implementation is that we tend to make the implemented process identical to the legacy process in form. Now this is not a question of best practices; rather, it is about defining the information flow which is very different when the process is on ERP. For in ERP, papers do not need to fly across departments. You would find many of the critical and important documents needless when the information is passed on real-time. For example, a shipment, which is recorded across many stages for the personnel in warehouse and transport to act in sync, may require only one stage as the same information is available to both simultaneously when on ERP. Yet, while gathering customer requirements, we still tend to replicate the legacy documents on the ERP. ERP is a discipline of simplification, not replication.
We need to inculcate the true difference between legacy and ERP. We also need to communicate with the customers, as they would not know the new integrated system perceiving it to be identical to what the processes were earlier.
This is what we call configuration knowledge – a step above the domain knowledge. One should not only know the processes followed, but also understand its purpose so that the customer’s processes are truly re-engineered for the new connected environment.
We need to educate customers as to why the new processes should look different. The subject knowledge is unique – most ERP consultants in this country have served large customers who would have some legacy IT systems in place. There the act of replication is then more important than the need to simplify. But for the SMEs, the bulk of legacy processes are manual – ornamented with religiously followed paper documents. To propose systems that make those old formats look needless requires a consulting practice of a different kind.
iON’s develops such knowledge and inculcates the skills among its managers through the iON Academy, which imparts training to managers in the art of simplification.
Author:
Venguswamy Ramaswamy (Swamy) – Global Head of iON, Tata Consultancy Services
TCS iON 