How Long Do ERP Projects Take?

Simple and straightforward answers to the most common questions about ERP.

Although there is no standard answer to the question of how long ERP projects will take, the world average for ERP projects can vary between 6 months and 2 years.

In solutions with fast implementation and customization tools such as Workcube, this period can be reduced to 2-3 months.

How long an ERP project will take depends on the capabilities of the purchased application, the density of the modules to be implemented, the customizations that the customer wants or needs, the size of the company to be implemented, how defined the company's processes are before the project, the expected integrations with 3rd party systems, data transfer requirements and customer satisfaction. varies depending on how much time the project team will devote to this work.

Knowing all these variables, it is important to be patient for the success of the project, not rushing the project will be a profitable approach in the long run.

At the beginning of ERP projects, the software and service supplier company usually offers you a time plan that sets out the minimum requirements, in line with the analyzes made. However, in any case, this timetable is prepared depending on the information you provide during the sale and analysis and that all things go well. The most overlooked issue in this planning is that the customer project team does not plan the time we will devote to this project well. ERP projects are not one-sided projects. It is very important that you have a project manager and project team who will devote time to this project as much as the employees of the supplier company. In addition, in critical decisions to be taken during the project, how quickly the top management of the company will take the decisions and actions that must be taken also affects the duration of the project.

In cases where the ERP project is seen as an additional workload or where daily operations are allowed to get ahead of the project, ERP projects can be completed in a much longer time than originally planned. The figures show this in Panorama Consulting's 2018 ERP research. 79% of the companies surveyed said that the project took longer than planned

World averages show that at least 4-5 full-time employees take an active role in ERP projects on the customer side. This does not necessarily mean that 5 people allocate a full day, for example, 10 people from different units within the company may devote 50% of their daily shifts to the project during the ERP project.

At the beginning and throughout the project, the correct establishment of the relationship between the supplier and the customer has a great impact on the project's progress and success in the planned time. An open dialogue is important so that both parties understand the business requirements well and can implement the system to meet these requirements. Unless both parties are fully involved in the emergence of requirements, the probability of project failure becomes incredibly high. The correct training of system users is also a part of the project and it is a process that can take a significant amount of time depending on the depth of the required training and the technological competence of the users.

Therefore, although the timeline of any project cannot be estimated before the needs are fully defined, the client should have a realistic expectation of the duration of the ERP implementation.

The ERP implementation process can never be too fast or rushed. Such a project, which changes the way the organization does business, is a process that needs to be carefully guided and managed.

Project leaders on the software service provider and client-side can phase the project and set milestones by re-planning all the variables that affect the project duration, and even by making mutual commitments. For example, we, as Workcube, require all members of the customer project team to sign a commitment in which they undertake to work actively in the project and to do what is expected of them.

While the time it takes to complete the project can be unsettling at first, keep in mind that if the process is left without due diligence, future earnings will decrease accordingly.

To Summarize The Duration Of An ERP Project Answers To The Following Questions Determine:

• Is the system to be implemented a complex system?
• Which modules will be implemented for which units?
• What is the size of the company's operations?
• Has the customer defined their wishes, needs, and processes before the ERP project?
• What is the difference between what standard functions offer and customer needs and expectations? (Fit-Gap Analysis)
• What are the customization requirements?
• What are the integration requirements with 3rd party applications?
• How many full-time people will be allocated to the project on the Supplier and Customer sides?
• Is it possible to transfer data from the previously used solution?
• Is the data to be transferred in bulk available to the customer in a compiled state?
• How and by whom will manual data entry be provided?
• How many people will use the system?
• What are the user's familiarity, cultural predisposition, and competence with this type of system? (White-collar-Blue-collar distinction)
• How will end-user training be planned?