©2010 Lionshare Software, Inc. All rights reserved. http://www.lionsharesoftware.com

1 Undisputed Way Companies Can Maximize Their ERP or CRM

Investment

Recently I polled several dozen industry professionals, ERP/CRM customers and industry

analysts and I asked them one simple open-ended question:

What can a mid-market company do to maximize the value of their ERP or CRM system?

Below are excerpts from their comments:

• “Enterprise systems tend to lose their effectiveness as the result of normal turnover among

users.”

• ” A lack of broad training in how the system is integrated causes silo’s of information that is

often extracted to external systems such as Access or Excel.”

• “A Train-the-Trainer approach reinforces the separation of knowledge of how the system works

overall.”

• “Companies that train to implement, then use the Core Team to train the end-users, end up

with lower overall satisfaction with the system and slower adoption rates.”

So, unanimously, the responses were centered around “Training”. But I would take this one step

further and propose that it’s deeper than “training”, its more about effective Knowledge

Management as well as new employee training.

One of the steps we take is to educate the Core Team, AND develop a global training program

that resembles a funnel – starting with broad, system inter-relatedness understanding, down

through the inputs and outputs of each functional area and finally, down to the exact processes

each person needs to understand in order to complete their daily tasks.

Our differentiating factor is that we provide several training tools that can be integrated into a

company’s long-term Knowledge Management strategy: high-level system overview diagrams

(its true that a picture is worth a thousand words!), functional input-output process diagrams,

system configuration documents by function, individual module training, specific work

instructions and sometimes even flip-charts or 3×5 card step-by-step instructions for each

function. One tool that has gotten a lot of praise is screencast video’s that can be viewed at will,

and as part of a new hire orientation process.

Of course, during the sales cycle, this is an area where the decision-team is willing to cut costs,

but, along with data migration and reporting as a distant third, training and Knowledge transfer is

paramount to maximizing the value of an ERP or CRM system.

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About Lionshare Software

Lionshare Software Inc., was launched by ERP and CRM selection consultants

and project managers with extensive experience in a variety of applications,

businesses and industry verticals. This allows us to identify common pitfalls

to avoid and best practices to employ when selecting and implementing

enterprise software applications.

By hiring Lionshare Software consultants to assist in the software-selection

process, our customers have reduced total project costs, had better results,

and have had a more satisfying experience than previous projects

Lionshare Software is a truly independent consulting firm with no

partnerships, relationships or affinity with any particular software product

or implementation vendor. This independence assures you get a truly

independent evaluation and recommendation that meets your specific

business requirements.

Contact us today and start your ERP or CRM project on the right track.

Lionshare Software, Inc.

148 East St. Suite 104

Pittsboro, NC 27312

919-542-8401

888-741-0262

www.lionsharesoftware.com

info@lionsharesoftware.com