Information Technology Implementation

The original discussion is here:

http://tinyurl.com/48hp7dq


I can agree with the reasons cited in the attached article. I will add a couple of my own:

1) Senior leadership: Regular (more than once a week) oversight and interaction by senior management is required to ensure both direction and buy-in from the top. The most succesful projects I have seen had almost daily involvement from management within two-levels of the CEO.

2) Put the best people on the project. You will live with this system for many years. If it is well done, it will be the source of actionable data and efficient proceessing. If it is poorly structuerd and implemented, the costs over several years cannot be calculated. Make the investment now.

3) In a system-wide project, do not let accounting lead. Yes, the accounting must work. But good accounting is meaningless absent a well run business supported by a good systems infrastructure. Accounting is a support function in any business.

4) Don't let perfect get in the way of going live. Even in legacy systems, changes and improvements are made regularly. The new system will be no different. Get it online, and this way have your whole team working in one environment instead of two. They will clean up the small problems much faster if they are focussed on the new system only.