Day Three Report from ERP Boot Camp
We closed out the 2010 ERP Boot Camp with a bang in Denver on Friday afternoon. We had a chance to tie together everything we had learned and start applying concepts to real world situations.
First, we had a session facilitated by one of Panorama’s ERP selection and implementation managers to discuss ERP gotchas and pitfalls, including an overview of ERP failures and top reasons for ERP failures. While the rest of ERP Boot Camp focused primarily on “offensive” implementation strategies, this session focused on how to handle the “defense” side of the ERP equation. We covered topics such as signs that your project may be in trouble and how to recover from missteps along the way.
The rest of the day was interactive and case study based. We used one of the participants’ draft ERP implementation project plans to critique their implementation plan and strategy from a number of different perspectives, including organizational change management, project management, implementation tasks and durations, and gotchas and pitfalls. Each group rotated through a “four corners” exercise to evaluate the plan from each of those perspectives while applying the concepts covered throughout Boot Camp.
We also included a third expert panel Q&A with representatives from Panorama and two former clients and implementation project managers. The discussion focused on key lessons and takeaways from their most recent implementations, including topics such as how to handle customizations, overcoming people’s fear of change, and how to embed strong project leadership during implementation.
Before breaking into one-on-one consulting sessions with Panorama’s ERP consultants, we closed out the day with a discussion of attendees’ biggest takeaways from Boot Camp. The most common lessons gleaned from participants included:
- Understanding the magnitude, scope, and importance of organizational change management (hands down the #1 response)
- Having a better handle on the magnitude and scope of overall implementation scopes and activities
- The need for up-front implementation planning and business blueprint activities
- Better clarity surrounding implementation resource and budgetary needs
Overall feedback from the three days was extremely positive and we seemed to highlight a number of valuable lessons for the boot camp participants. We already have multiple requests to take the ERP Boot Camp on the road to deliver to entire executive and project teams as they begin their ERP selection and implementation projects, so this was a good trial run for us. Just as importantly, the Panorama team learned a great deal from various attendees and participants and we appreciate the high engagement level of attendees.
Thanks to all that made this event a resounding success and, for those of you that missed it, watch for an announcement in coming weeks regarding our next ERP Boot Camp to take place in the March of 2011.
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About Eric Kimberling
After 15 years of ERP consulting at large firms including PricewaterhouseCoopers and SchlumbergerSema, Eric realized the need for an independent consulting firm that really understands ERP. He began his career as an ERP organizational change management consultant and eventually broadened his background to include implementation project management and software selection. Eric’s background includes extensive ERP software selection, ERP organizational change, and ERP implementation project management experience. Throughout his career, Eric has helped dozens of high-profile and global companies with their ERP initiatives, including Kodak, Samsonite, Coors, Duke Energy, and Lucent Technologies to name a few. In addition to extensive ERP experience, Eric has also helped clients with business process re-engineering, merger and acquisition integration, strategic planning, and six sigma. Eric holds an MBA from Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver.
