New System, less work.. No not really !!

The most common misconception of a new ERP  system implementation is that it reduces the amount of manual work involved and is going to mean less work for the users. This is not entirely true, though a system's role would be to make life easier for the user, over the years the primary role of a system is to help organize business processes, eliminate non-value adding activity, capture the information/data flowing through the business,  analyse and project this date to the management to provide better insight into identifying trends, highlight  business challenges and areas where management need to give special attention to.

In essence, once the system is up and running, the above would actually push the management and users to move onto the next level to make sure that the analytics performed are done on a sound basis to ensure the information used in decision making models is relevant.

A successful implementation of a new system will always bring to light new areas, processes and business challenges which the users didn't know before existed, this then gives them the opportunity to focus on improving these areas & processes in order to be to get the best out of them.

I've come across many users who have initially mentioned that their workload has gone down dramatically but in a couple of months time, they are running reports which have brought to light many areas in which the business can do better at and this leads to new work (opportunities) to get those areas improved as well. An ERP Implementation is a continuous improvement process,  there is always room for improvement which might highlight a critical piece of information that could take the business to the next level, and these improvement opportunities will not always be identified by an ERP system, most of the time it will be highlighted by a hard-working super computer, the "Human Brain".

So remember an ERP system is more than just making life easier it is about taking the business to the next level, if users expect an ERP system to do everything that they do, there wouldn't be a need for a user to come in to work at all.

Have a nice day.

Symptoms of an “Over engineered system”

Wikipedia: “Over engineering (or over-engineering) is the design of a product to be more robust or complicated than what is necessary for its application”


So there you go, the definition in Wikipedia for "Over engineering" is as simple as they come. As a consultant, having implemented many different ERP solutions across various project globally, I cannot say that I’ve not had firsthand experience working with an “Over-engineered system “and when I do, I think to myself who let this happen and why is it still in existence, but the reality is when a system that is more complicated than what is necessary for its application becomes a process in a chain of operations, it becomes the hardest process to replace!!

In this article, I’m going to list down the symptoms of an “Over-engineered System”, so if you see any of below symptoms in your organisation for a process...then “Voila” ...someone’s gone overboard with the design:

• Only 1 person clearly understands what the specific application area does.
• There is no one place to get all the documentations explaining this application area.
• No one wants to have anything to do with the application area.
• Other areas around the “application area” have changed overtime.
• All the other areas have been changed to suit the workings of this particular “application area”.
• Many external contractors have worked on different sections of the application area, all at various points in time.
•  The senior management hardly knows about this application area, though it feeds into the information system that is used solely by the senior management.
• This application area is not associated with routine tasks on a day to day basis in the business.
• Reports relating to this specific application area are done manually in “Excel sheets” rather than an integrated system report.

These are some of the clear symptoms of an “Over Engineered system”, if any application area satisfy most of the above bullet points, highlight it and make an effort to try and re-engineer it, and this time follow the KISS Principal – “Keep it simple, stupid” – as articulated by Kelly Johnson.

Hope you found this post informative and interesting.

Enjoy, have a nice day.

Human-centered Design (HCD) enabled ERP Solutions

The term human-centered design (HCD) seems to be used mainly across the development stage of a product which involves human interactions, in basic hindsight HCD is simply a designing approach keeping in mind how easily the end user, i.e. a human, would interact with it and for how long will he/she will be able to continue using it in its true form.

There are various technical jargon's associated with it that makes it sound far more complicated than it actually is.

Many companies struggle with problems caused by bad usability of their products although they have invested in human-centered design (HCD). Their product may still have not gone through a systematic approach, adequate knowledge and a clear definition of responsibilities in HCD.

In this article I thought I’ll share with you a few HCD principles that can incorporate into any ERP solution design.

Some of the HCD elements that could be used would be:

Usability – ability of the users to use the function with minimal supervision.

Maturity – ability of the user to understand the core function of the solution and being able to branch out into other related areas to understand the functionality in its entirety within the organization.

Participation – Assess the solution based on how much the user would be able to participate if a change is to be made to the core logic.

Piloting period – Assess how long is it likely to take a new user to take over the functionality from an existing user, the lower the better as it indicates user sustainability.

Most often than not, these are discussed in a project environment, but laying them down and assessing them during the development process will definitely help in delivering solution that is more human centered and more sustainable.

Hope you found this post informative. Feel free to contact me on ssurenlk@msn.com.

“Ways of work” in an ERP Project Environment !!

By Suren

 

Most often than not the ways of work listed below tends to take place in a general project context but more than often in a non-controlled manner, there are no straight forward guidelines to set this up or to be able to control this, but as a Project manager or PMO the environment to encourage this can be built. Below are some of the ways of work I have identified together with some recommendation to build the right project environment to encourage this behaviour or at least not discourage them!!

 

Invisible Work

 

Most of the time there is an amount of work undertaken in a project that is not recorded in any project document or process documents,  yet it adds to the overall process improvement / project implementation and most often than not this is a task the individual takes on not expecting any recognisition.  Underlying pre-requisite for this is to give members the ownership of the project, too many controls in the project environment and the positive effects of invisible work dies out and the negative effects spreads within i.e. lack of ownership, team disconnect, work to rule syndrome etc.

 

Impact groups

 

This occurs when individuals form a bond together on a particular problem within the project and then work together to solve it and then move away. This group tend to be very efficient than the groups that has been setup to solve an issue since Impact group’s main focus is to get the job done and move on to their routine, so by human nature they work to solving the problem sooner than later. PMO cannot identify these groups until they are formed, but when they do they need to make sure the individuals in them are allowed to move on to other areas once the issue is rectified, if not this group’s efficiency tends to fall if there are not moved around.

 

Influence teams

 

An influence team is created by combinations of business users who come in from different areas of the business and some external parties either directly or indirectly connected to the project. From a project point of view, the PMO needs to be able to identify these influence teams and make sure that either they or their ideas are brought in during project requirement gathering phases, more often than not the business users are the only ones involved, but it wouldn’t hurt to bring in the external parties as well, I’ve seen this happening in only a few projects.

 

Hope you found this quick post informative, I’ll be adding more of this as it hovers above me......

 

Have a nice day!!

A “Fail–Fast” approach in Project Management

By Suren

I’m sure you've heard of Fail fast systems and fail fast modules, where the system or module is designed to immediately report at its interface any failure or condition that is likely to lead to failure. Fail meaning to stop operation once there is a detected possibility of erroneous behavior and Fast means to report the failure as soon as possible.

Generally, in projects where there are delays the Project Manager steps in to identify bottlenecks and activities along the critical path, then undertakes activities that can be carried out faster either by putting in more resources or tweaking the outputs required in order to bring the project tasks back in line with the timeline. This kind of approach is in essence a variation of the fail-fast methodology.

Some of the Project management tasks that could be undertaken to build up a  “fail fast” model in the context of a project environment could be to:

1.Have regular meetings on Project tasks but with an emphasis on time of completion as per the critical path, rather than simply of menial tasks.

2.Nominate, one single responsible person to keep track of tasks and deliverables that fall into the critical path, someone other than the project manager.

3.Have regular submissions from project team on plans for forthcoming deliverables, especially those within the critical path.

4.Empower project members to take on tasks relating to future deliverables which fall along the critical path.

5.Clear out "noise" resulting from previous tasks delays that are not within the critical path, doing this will allow time for resources to focus more on project deliverables tasks that are more important.

6.Clear identification of risks associated with each deliverables and appropriate assignment responsibilities to project individuals to manage these.

7.Build up a flat structure for project teams in order to encourage issues being highlighted to the top. In a tall structure, the bottom-up information flow  takes longer which hampers the efficiency of an immediately reporting mechanism which is key to an effective “fail-fast” system.

8.Set up several checkpoints within tasks. Reporting could be encouraged at each checkpoint rather than tasks completion or progress.

9.Promote decision making at lower level meetings rather than escalating all decision making to higher ups.  Responsibilities need to be well documented for those decisions taken on critical path tasks.

10.Create an effective culture within the project team, to encourage individuals to be able to identify those critical path tasks that precede their actual task, in order  to be able plan for contingencies in their area in case of any delays.

A proper project methodology will tend to address the above, however following a structured approach in embedding these into project tasks will certainly help enhance the benefits of  a ”Fail-fast” approach. This would in turn prove very useful in avoiding delays in critical paths and budget overruns.

Hope you found this post insightful. Your comments, suggestions are welcome on ssurenlk@msn.com.

It's all in data - Predictive Analytic Solutions

By Suren

This article is intended to give you an idea what predictive analysis is and how it is beginning to come to the forefront of business decision making. It also lists some of the key criterias that a good predictive analytics solution must cater.

Everyone knows capturing data is important, but very few of them know the best way of slicing and dicing the data in such a way to give them insight into making more profit-effective decisions. Predictive Analysis is all about analyzing data, predicting the future and providing information to put into motion effective tasks in the present.

Predictive analysis takes an approach of understanding business data in a context that differs from the standard set of analysis you would do on a business. Nowadays, there are many IT vendors providing various types of predictive analytics, i.e. from the specialist service on predictive analysis to the packaged predictive analysis solution that comes along with a ERP suite.

A good predictive analysis solution should tick the following at least :

• Offer predictive modeling tools that can be used "out of the box" by  analysts
• Few process to follow when going from "anticipate to actioning"
• A proper warehouse appliance to cater to the demands of the "big data"
• A good offerings of analysis algorithms and modeling tools
• Simple-to-use interface for creating, exploring, and modifying outcomes from analysis.

From a business's point of view the following need to be addressed in order to make sure the predictive analysis solution would actually work in the business :

• Understand and design a strong business model for making predictions
• Collect the raw data and make it readable for Predictive analysis.
• Setup a team to understand the nature of the data gathered in order to eliminate noise.
• Implement the model
• Control and monitor the model, with the main aim of being able to relate the outcomes of the model to business goals.

For more information on prediction analytics solutions : 
http://www54.sap.com/solutions/analytics/business-intelligence/software/predictive-analysis/index.html

Big Data and it's 3Vs

Fact : Every day, we create 2.5 quintillion bytes of data — so much that 90% of the data in the world today has been created in the last two years alone.

In today's information age there is data maintained in all forms, shape and size, if a close look can be taken at this data and some research carried out, the next biggest thing could be in this data. It's all about sorting the data, identifying what you require and reporting the results in a comprehensive yet concise method.

 In order to do this, you need to make sure you target the 3Vs of big data management and use them in it's proper form to work for you :

Make the VELOCITY of data work towards your goal.

e.g. If you are a business introducing a new product in a 3 day tech exhibition, setup a process to capture and analyze every possible feedback, comments, news feed regarding the product during the day in order to maximize the value input in your go to market strategy.

Track large VOLUME of data for better analysis

e.g. If you are into marketing a particular product range you could be collecting terabytes of Tweets of similar ranges in other markets created each day to identify and improve product sentiment analysis for new launches.

Capture a VARIETY of data for better analysis

First collect all types of data relating to your particular industry, market, product, competitors, consumers and in all formats as well, i.e. texts, pics,  audio, video, click streams, log files etc. Once you've gained all this analyse all this data together in various different dimensions.

e.g.  if you are a boutique store in a large mall use video surveillance to capture number of people who cross the store, number of people who glance at the entrance, then  record  how many of them come into the shop and record what item they find on the inside of the shop appealing, analyse your sales to find out how many of those items were sold, if a lot was done, then you are now in position to make a connection and perhaps place more of those items next to the door in order to attract more passer by in the store !!

There is data everywhere and it always has been, its available in all forms, shapes and size, all we need to do is to capture it in a readable form and analyse it, that's basically what ticked off the information age and that's exactly whats going to take it to the next level as well.

Hope this was insightful. Have a nice day