From Chicken to Bacon: Why ERP Consultants’ Commitment Matters in Implementations
In Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) implementations, involvement is good; commitment is better.
What’s the difference between a chicken and a pig in a Bacon-and-eggs breakfast special?
One is involved and the other is committed.
Despite the chicken contributing an egg or two, the pig, who is under contract to bring bacon, is fully committed to ‘Project Breakfast’.
You’re free to insert your own punchline (about having “skin in the game”). We digress, the focus of our discussion is on the level of involvement required for an ERP implementation. Essentially saying, if you’ve hired an ERP consulting firm, you’re most likely getting the chicken.
The Importance of Commitment in ERP Implementations
It’s understandable why a business would want to hire an ERP consultant. ERP implementations are big financial investments and the technicalities involved in finding the right solution are important and often very complex.
But trust us when we say: you don’t want the chicken. The chicken/ERP consultant will treat that software as a commodity — the proverbial egg in the above fable — and it isn’t a commodity. The bacon is what you want, the complete commitment to the project and the entire relationship.
Software implementation must take into account all aspects of your business. Starting with the initial systems review to mentoring management and staff after going Live. This enables you to foster the sustainable behavioral change required for optimal productivity from the new system.
“They’ll be glad to take your money up front, define your business and create pretty graphs and workflow charts.”
The problem with ERP consultants — and we’ve written about them before — is that they “position themselves as unbiased. They’re not there for the follow-through,” says Jacques Decarie, Vice-President Sales and Marketing, IndustriOS.
Typically, the consulting firm prepares an inventory of your needs and issues a request for proposals to various large suppliers. The bids come in, with services being scaled down to ensure a winning price, without direct communication between the prospective providers and your company.
They then give you their “unbiased” (yes, those are sarcastic quotes) recommendation for who you should buy from, possibly — and this is where it gets really sketchy —even offer to lend money to your business so that you can allow yourself to make the investment.
“They’ll be glad to take your money up front, define your business and create pretty graphs and workflow charts,” says Decarie. “It’s putting in a lot of money at the front end, and in most cases, taking away from the budget needed after Go-Live.” Allocating the budget over the whole ERP implementation process is how to get more mileage out of your investment.
“We had been down that road and got burned.”
Scott Lovell, Operations Manager, SmithCo.
SmithCo, a manufacturer of side-dump trailers, was looking for an ERP system, but, more specifically, they were looking for a partnership. “We didn’t want a ‘software company,’” explained SmithCo Operations Manager Scott Lovell. “We had been down that road and got burned. We were looking for people who knew manufacturing, could help us identify our weaknesses, give us solutions, and were willing to put boots on the ground for the implementation to be successful.”
That was music to Decarie’s ears. “The minute we heard they were looking for a relationship, we realized they had their hearts in the right place, knowing that we were going to be spending a lot of time together.”
We’re your bacon
And yes, Decarie freely admits that IndustriOS is, after over 20 years in the ERP game, biased. “We’re a software vendor, and as such, we have an educated opinion about where you should spend your money. But, as a biased source of information, I can tell you one thing: We’re going to be with you in the trenches, through thick and thin, until you succeed. We don’t succeed until you do.”
Or in other words, we’re not skimping on the bacon.
