Great expectations

Go back a few years and ERP was a very different animal. Chiefly bought by large manufacturers, it was often implemented by the consulting arms of the ERP vendors in question. Today's implementation model has moved on. To begin with, manufacturers are typically implementing ERP for the second, third, or fourth time – perhaps having been burned on at least one of those implementations. And typically, too, businesses these days buy ERP through an ecosystem of implementation partners and resellers endorsed by the vendor in question. The trouble is, it's a model that then places a huge reliance on the skills, implementation methodologies and integrity of those implementation partners and resellers, says Mary Hunter, managing director at Columbus, a global firm of consultants and implementation specialists. Specifically, she says, there can be a great deal of ambiguity over the respective roles of the implementation partner and their client – an ambiguity that, unless tackled head on, could lead to both increasing the risk and cost of a given implementation, while also increasing the risk of poor business solutions emerging. Lead the implementation or assignment "When talking to clients, we don't say: 'What do you want us to do?'" says Hunter. "Instead, we believe that the right thing to do is to lead the implementation or assignment. "After all, they are the experts in their business; we are the experts when it comes to implementing ERP and our solutions in their industry, and guiding their business through the change process." In short, says Hunter, both clients and implementation partners benefit from an honest appraisal of their relative positions, and relative strengths. For implementation partners to passively defer to their clients' wishes does neither party any favours. "Granted, it's not always comfortable," she concedes. "I can think of a couple of occasions when a client hasn't accepted our advice, gone their own way – and then come back to us, two or three years later, having spent a lot of money and achieved little of what they set out to do." That said, the vast majority of Columbus' customers are invariably pleased with the way that Columbus approaches their projects, stresses Hunter. "They simply wouldn't come back to us, year after year, if we didn't provide long-term value," she says. "So what we advise our new prospective customers is always the same: Go and talk to our existing customers; hear directly that we deliver what we set out to achieve, that we are a reputable partner, and that our reputation is sound. In fact, it's the biggest asset we have and we don't gamble with it." Indeed, says Hunter, warming to her theme, manufacturers assessing potential implementation partners and solution providers should be very clear as to what it is that underpins the reputations and capabilities of the firms that they're contemplating working with. Flashy gimmicks are all well and good, she says, but these don't help to deliver a better solution – or to deliver it on-time, on-budget and at low risk. "For that you need substance, not just style," stresses Hunter. "And you need a reputation built on solid assets and sound, proven capabilities." And Columbus, of course, can point to its proven methodologies, built up over 20 years of experience, and over 6,000 ERP implementations – many of them in manufacturing companies, embracing discrete manufacturing, process manufacturing, and food and beverage businesses. Plus, naturally, the deep bench of expertise that it possesses in the more than a thousand employees of the firm, working from offices all around the world. Using recommended best practice SureStep+, for instance, is a project management methodology, enhanced by being embedded with the insights and lessons learned over all those years of experience in implementing ERP. Aligned with Project Management Institute guidelines, it contains clearly defined roles and process ownership definitions, using recommended best practice. With comprehensive and disciplined documentation, it has a rigorous approach to change management and resource allocation, with everyone knowing what needs to be done, and who is responsible for doing it in what timeframe – both on the client side and Columbus'. RapidValue, meanwhile, is a business process modeling tool, embedded in Dynamics AX, and with added-value, industry specific content as templates, that helps businesses to define and adopt proven industry best practice in respect of the 200 or so separate business processes typically in place in the average manufacturer – order quotation, product design and development, purchase order quotation, manufacturing, and so on. "Having a detailed methodology in the form of SureStep+ makes an enormous difference to a project and helps to reduce risk while improving implementation quality," emphasises Hunter. "RapidValue, meanwhile, can save thousands of pounds in consulting fees and a reduction in the amount of related customer input, reducing implementation elapsed time." But an implementation specialist's strengths and assets aren't just its processes and procedures, she adds. Also important – nay, essential – are the people who work to apply those processes and procedures, adding their insights and experience to clients assignments as appropriate. And here, says Hunter, Columbus again stands out. Expertise is from first-hand experience Columbus' expertise in manufacturing – discrete manufacturing, process manufacturing, and food and beverage businesses – stems directly from first-hand experience, gained by people with 'hands-on' roles in the industries and jobs in question. "Our manufacturing people come from manufacturing industry," she stresses. "They're people who speak the language, understand the challenges, and know where the pain points are. "And that's something we don't compromise on: we believe that it's often better to train someone from manufacturing industry in the intricacies of business consulting, than trying to take a consultant and train them in manufacturing. There's no substitute for hands-on industry insight and experience." Indeed, adds Hunter, it's precisely that hands-on insight and experience which underlies a series of cutting-edge 'thought leadership' reports that Columbus has published, each containing invaluable advice and suggestions on a variety of topics. With titles such as Seven ways to avoid ERP implementation failure, Seven reasons to consider ERP in the cloud and Seven ways to help data migration during implementation, the reports showcase Columbus' expertise while providing genuinely helpful advice to any business caring to download them. Separately, Columbus publishes a number of other useful guides and reports – most recently a six-part 'Know How' and 'Field Notes' series for food and beverage manufacturers, each based around practical insights from seasoned executives within food and beverage businesses. "Take a look at 22 Ways To Improve Predicting Demand, where we asked food manufacturers around the world for any tips they'd like to pass on regarding improved demand forecasting in a volatile marketplace," says Hunter. "It's a rare business that won't be able to learn something from it – and it's freely downloadable." Going the extra mile to add value In short, then, it's difficult to quarrel with her assertion that Columbus goes the extra mile to add value to clients' projects and implementations. "We like to think of ourselves as business partners with a long-term interest in our clients' success, sharing our expertise and insights into proven best practice," she sums up. "Some firms passively ask what their clients would like them to do. Instead, at Columbus, we define the agenda differently: What is best practice – and what needs to be done to get you there?"