When implementing a new ERP system, most companies think about the software first. What functionality is needed, which integrations are required and what does the planning look like?

These are valid questions. But in practice, the success of an implementation is at least as often determined by something else: the availability of the right people, at the right time, within your own organisation.

An implementation is not a project you outsource and start using a few months later. It is a journey you go through together.

Where implementations come under pressure

In many projects, the involvement of the customer organisation only becomes concrete when it is already needed. As a result, the same people have to combine their daily work with the project, precisely during the busiest phases.

Sound familiar?

• Process choices are put on hold because it is unclear who is allowed to make the decision
• Operational knowledge sits with a few people who also keep day-to-day operations running
• Migration data becomes available later, or is less complete than expected
• Testing becomes a task that has to be squeezed in just before go-live
• Users are only involved at the very end, when the system is already largely in place

On their own, these look like planning issues. Together, they determine whether an implementation stays on course.

Why this has more impact than you think

When capacity is only requested at the last moment, the project falls behind. Decisions are postponed, testing is cut short and adjustments come later than intended.

But the biggest impact comes after go-live. A system that works technically, but in which the organisation does not recognise itself, will not be used properly. Employees fall back on spreadsheets and old ways of working, and the intended gains in efficiency and insight fail to materialise.

In short: an implementation does not succeed or fail on technology alone, but also on the people who will work with it.

From requesting capacity to planning capacity

A more effective approach makes the involvement of the customer organisation part of the plan from the very start. Not as an afterthought, but just as concrete as the technical work.

This involves a number of clearly defined roles:

• A sponsor from management, who takes ownership and makes the key decisions
• A project manager on the customer side, who oversees planning, dependencies and alignment
• Process owners, who make timely decisions on processes, exceptions and data
• Subject matter experts, who know how operations work in practice
• Key users, who validate scenarios, carry out testing and help write work instructions
• An owner for training and change, who prepares the wider organisation

How much effort this requires differs per project. An implementation for a single business unit is very different from a transition across multiple entities with data migration and several integrations. That is exactly why it is important to map this out together in advance.

Adoption is part of the solution

What makes an implementation successful is not just that the system works. It is that people want to work with it, and are able to.

That is why technical delivery and organisational readiness run in parallel. While the solution is being configured, processes are validated, data is prepared, work instructions are written and users are trained. Testing is done with realistic scenarios from your own operations, by the people who will be working with the system.

What this delivers in practice

When customer readiness is planned from the start, the course of an implementation changes noticeably.

• Decisions are made on time by the right people
• The workload for the organisation is clear in advance and easier to distribute
• Data and integrations are available on time
• Testing is thorough, with scenarios from your own practice
• Users are prepared for go-live and recognise their own processes

And perhaps most importantly: the organisation actually starts working differently after go-live.

Why this matters

At Ultimate Maritime Logistics, we translate the scope into a joint resource plan during the first phases of a project. It sets out the expected roles on the customer side, the activities, the timing and the dependencies. The principle is simple: customer capacity is planned before the work is committed, not requested at the last moment.

We bring our maritime knowledge and our experience with Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Flex Maritime Logistics. You bring the knowledge of your organisation, your priorities and your decisions. Together, we make sure the solution fits, and that it is actually used.

Curious what an implementation would ask of your organisation?

Are you considering a new system and would you like to know what it realistically requires from your organisation? Feel free to get in touch. We are happy to think along with you.