Traps

A. Poor Planning

Planning covers several areas such as having a strong Business Case, to the availability of Users to make decisions on configuration, to the investing in a plan that captures all the issues associated with implementing

B. Underestimating IT skills

As most people are upgrading from old technology, the skills of the staff need to be upgraded as well. The upgrade is also going to place significant demands on a team who are geared to maintain an old but stable environment.  Usually this effort is underestimated.

C. Poor Project Management

Very few organisations have the experience in house to run such a complex project as implementing a large-scale integrated solution. It usually requires outside contractors to come in and manage such a major exercise.  It can be a fine line between abdicating responsibility and sharing responsibility.  Many consulting firms do a disservice to their clients by not sharing the responsibility.

D. Technology Trials

The effort to build interfaces, change reports, customize the software and convert the data is normally underestimated. To collect new data, and clean the data being converted, will also require an effort that is beyond what is normally expected.

E. Low Executive Buy-in

Implementation projects need Senior Executive involvement to ensure the right participation mix of Business and IT, and to resolve conflicts. 

F. Underestimating Resources

Most common budget blowouts are change management and user training, integration testing, process rework, report customisation and consulting fees.

G. Insufficient Software Evaluation

This involves the surprises that come out after the software is purchased.  Organisations usually do not do enough to understand what, and how the product works before they sign on the bottom line. The Bleeding Edge ERP is so massive and integrated that reporting and linking to other systems (either your own or your customers and suppliers) can be much more difficult than you expect. Companies looking at ERP need to examine how they accept online feeds from a customer, or a customers' customer, and examine the technological enablers as well as the implications of these technologies inside of the Business.