you are not alone: enterprise resource planning (erp ... · no vendor will meet 100% of your needs,...

Copyright 2016 by Sciens LLC. All right reserved. 1Copyright 2016 by Sciens LLC. All right reserved.

You Are Not AloneEnterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Faces a New EraWednesday, May 4th 1:30 – 2:30 PM

Copyright 2016 by Sciens LLC. All right reserved. 2

Presenters

Sid Hudson• Director of Information Technology, City of Allen

• 30+ years of technology experience ranging from large mainframe systems for bank processing to medium- and small-size networks

• Managed the growth of Allen’s network from one server to more than 100 servers

• His team supports all City Departments, plus Police and Fire Departments, and the Allen Event Center

Stephen Gousie• Partner, Sciens Consulting

• 25+ years working with Public Sector technologies as a customer, vendor and consultant

• Published author and nationally recognized expert in public sector systems, including Municipal ERP systems

• Certified Project Management Professional (PMP)

Copyright 2016 by Sciens LLC. All right reserved. 3Copyright 2016 by Sciens LLC. All right reserved. 3

What is a Municipal Enterprise Resource Planning System?

• Core modules bridge the administrative and operational sides of an organization’s business

• Centralized database shares information with other systems or databases

• Common systems include document management, GIS, reporting/analytics, dashboards, portals

• Goal is to minimize data entry points to improve efficiency, minimize errors


Sound familiar…? You are not alone.

• Current systems architected in the 1990s or earlier.

• City staff tries to cover gaps with Access databases, Excel spreadsheets, manual workarounds.

• Lots of data re-entry across the system – seems to inhibit productivity, not enhance it.

• One-off requests from Council or open records requests are met with laughing, crying and long hours.

• Best-of-breed mini-applications that Band-Aid the current system.

• Support for this mess – as well as blame for failures – falls on IT Department.


So, why don’t we change?

• Money.

• Council and City Management operate at a high level and may not understand the problems that systems create for day-to-day operations.

• Departments want the best-of-breed systems.

• Money.

• Replacing an ERP system is like replacing a car engine…while it is being driven 65 m.p.h.

• COTS systems seem to only meet some of the needs.

• The people making the decision to change are close to retirement.

• Money!!!

Copyright 2016 by Sciens LLC. All right reserved. 6Copyright 2016 by Sciens LLC. All right reserved. 6

So then, why do cities change?

• Hardware and/or platform is near its end-of-life.

• Ownership or finances of vendor questionable.

• Investments in product development have ceased.

• Staff members who created fix-it workaround processes are retiring.

• New employees don’t want to work on green screens.

• Managers need just-in-time information to make critical decisions.

• Field workers need to do their jobs in the field.

• Citizens are expecting an “Amazon-like” experience working with the City.

• Cities need to be transparent.


The Promise of ERP Splendor

• Citizen access to City for transactional purposes wherever, whenever

• Provide transparency to City information

• Improve responsiveness to Citizen request

• Improve communications and transparency to Citizens

• Can get answers to questions themselves through self-service

• Enhance credibility with real-time information

• Enable managers to make the right decision at the right time with real-time information

• Enable workers to get their work done wherever, whenever

Citizens City Council City Staff


How do we get this done?

• Systematic process to minimize surprises

• Objective selection

• Criterion-based, instead of opinion-based

• Presents a defensible position for the City

• Engages users throughout the process – critical to change management

Justify Plan Select Implement


JUSTIFY – Making the case for change

• Build a business case

• Establish a shared, strategic vision of the future

• Expose the current risks to the organization

• Examine the potential value of a new system

• Present a business argument for the investment with only a few technical elements

• IT manages the project with key departments actively supporting the change

Key

Ele

men

ts

ERP Business

Case



Importance of effective planning


PLAN – Jumpstart the project for success

• Prepare an honest assessment of the current environment, including GIS, identifying potential risks and how deal with them.

• Perform a market analysis to understand strengths and weaknesses of available systems.

• Develop a detailed plan for system acquisition, cost containment, risk mitigation, change management, governance.

• Establish an estimated budget and timeline.

• Communicate, communicate, communicate.

Key

Ele

men

ts


Environmental Readiness

Assessment

ERP Plan


SELECT – Choose a long-term partner

• Be wary of vendors under constant change of acquisitions, consolidation and integration.

• No Vendor will meet 100% of your needs, requirements.

• Choose a vendor based on the potential for a long-term relationship

– Demonstrated investment history and product roadmap

– Ability to meet most of your needs right now

– Ability to satisfy customers during and after implementation

– Stability as a company

Key

Ele

men

ts


Request for Proposal

-5.00% 5.00% 15.00% 25.00% 35.00% 45.00% 55.00% 65.00% 75.00% 85.00% 95.00%

Vendor 5

Vendor 4

Vendor 3

Vendor 2

Vendor 1

Qualifications

Functional Requirements

Hardware/Network

Service & Maintenance

Performance

Implementation

Contractual

Price

Data Migration

Demo

Evaluation Matrix


SELECT – Choose a long-term partner

• Key activities for selection– Engage users in determining the specifications – critical for change management

– Prepare a Request for Proposal (RFP)

– Develop a defensible evaluation methodology that is updated throughout the process

– Evaluate proposals, demonstrations, references, site visits

– Negotiate with a long-term relationship outlook

Key

Ele

men

ts


Request for Proposal

-5.00% 5.00% 15.00% 25.00% 35.00% 45.00% 55.00% 65.00% 75.00% 85.00% 95.00%

Vendor 5

Vendor 4

Vendor 3

Vendor 2

Vendor 1

Qualifications

Functional Requirements

Hardware/Network

Service & Maintenance

Performance

Implementation

Contractual

Price

Data Migration

Demo

Evaluation Matrix


IMPLEMENT – The marathon to success

• Full ERP implementations can take 24-36 months or longer

• Large IT projects are 20 times more likely to fail than large projects in other sectors (e.g., construction)

• Typical results of large IT projects

– 27% over budget

– 55% longer to complete than planned

– Only 16% likelihood of coming in on-time and on-budget*

* Oxford’s Said Business School BT Center for Major Programme Management, 2012

Key

Ele

men

ts


Project Charter

Acceptance Test Plan

Vendor’s Statement of

Work

Project Plan & GANTT



• Potential Causes of Project Failure– Lack of User Involvement– Lack of Knowledge by IT Department– Poor or No Requirements…leading to Scope Creep– Experts Overscheduled, Get Re-assigned Mid-Project– Bad Change Management– Inadequate Training of Users– Inadequate Support During Transition After Go-Live

Key

Ele

men

ts


Project Charter



Work




• Recommendations

– Get a Project Manager to oversee the plan, the vendor, acceptance

– Prevent Implementation Fatigue

• Manage 4-6 separate projects, not 1

• Focus on communications, team motivation

– Right Team and Right Training

– Celebrate successes. Can be as simple as a “Thank you!”

Key

Ele

men

ts


Project Charter



Work



Jumpstart the Project Team for Success

Jumpstart the Project for Success

Keys to a successful implementation

ERP Project Success

Sponsorship & Governance

Professional Project

Management

Risk Management

Strong Project Team

Training

Change Management &

Communications


ERP project implementation organization

StakeholdersProject Sponsor

(Executive)

Project Steering Committee

Core Project Team

Departments

Finance

Utility Billing

Purchasing

Human Resources

Public Works

Community Development

Information Technology

City Manager’s Office

• Make policy decisions• Review budget, timeline

• Subject Matter Experts (SMEs)

• Supports policy decisions

• Timeline review• Day-to-day

implementation

• Provide additional SME support

Project Management

• Manage, report on budget, timeline

• Coordinate resource needs with resource managers

• Drive plan, task completion


City of Allen’s ERP project timeline

ImplementSelectPlanJustify

December 2011 August 2017

December 20112011 IT Strategic Plan

June 2012ERP Assessment & Plan

November 2012RFP Released

February 2013Vendor Demos

July 2013Intent to Award

December 2013Contract Negotiations Concluded

June 2014Project Start

August 2015Phase 1

Finance & Doc Mgmt Go-Live

January 2016Phase 2

HR/Payroll Go-Live

November 2016Phase 4

Community Development Go-Live

August 2017Phase 5

Utility Billing Go-Live

January 2017Phase 3

Work Order/Asset Mgmt Go-Live


What have we learned so far?

• Establishing an effective Steering Committee with the correct people is important. Rank and personalities should be considered.

• Create an equal playing field.

• Don’t bite off more than you can chew. Consider the degree of complexity being undertaken while “cleaning up” perceived problems.

• Evaluate your staff carefully – are the SME’s the best people to represent each project area.

• Carefully consider your project timeline in the contract. Think clearly about the amount of staff needed to complete the project. Don’t let the vendor set the timeline for you.


What have we learned so far?

• Study software cost for field employees who don’t need access to applications, and only need access to an email account for electronic timesheet notifications. This can have a major impact to EA agreements.

• Don’t rely on the vendor to create test scripts for module sign off. Vendor test scripts are very basic tests of minor functionality that always work. Instead create difficult test scripts to push the limits of the system.

• Carefully review the database connections documentation to verify there are no problems from not configuring your database connections correctly. Both your ERP vendor documents and your SAN vendor documents need to be considered.


• Operational and financial applications integration

Integrated Mini-AppsWeb-based

What the future holds…maybe….

Mainframe Client-Server

• Enhanced user experience with PCs and GUI • Non-integrated operational applications• Enhanced reporting

• Dashboards/portals• Easy, intuitive reporting – SRSS• Shopping cart-style for citizens• Self-service for staff

• Citizen transparency• Big Data analytics• Leveraging the IoT

environment


Questions?Sid Hudson: [email protected]

Stephen Gousie: [email protected]

you are not alone: enterprise resource planning (erp ... · no vendor will meet 100% of your needs,...

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