Why ERP Software Implementation Takes So Much Time To Complete?

How many of you are familiar with ERP consultant jobs? You can define this software job as one of the most difficult jobs with great risk of failure. Coordination between team members plays a great role in improving the ERP implementation process. In many cases, implementation failure may happen. Why do most ERP implementations so long to complete? This is a common question asked by many of us. Lack of proper coordination is one of the main causes giving rise to long implementation duration. To complete an ERP implementation in a successive manner, there should be proper coordination between management team of both vendor side and customer side.

Duration of an ERP implementation will depend on many factors. Company size, coordination between management companies and complexity of operations are some of the main factors influencing the duration of ERP implementation process. In usual cases, an ERP implementation program may take from 6 months to 2 years to complete. Complexity of work is one of the main reasons responsible for such a long duration. An ERP implementation process will start with understanding the customer requirements. After understanding the specific needs of business, ERP consultant will map the customer requirements and work accordingly. Mapping work itself may take several days to complete. Actual duration vary according to the complexity of implementing ERP software.

After mapping the requirements of business, it is the role of an ERP consultant to do further job according to the needs. He should be capable to provide best solution as per the client requirements. Preparing the proof of concept is another main work done by an ERP consultant. For preparing this proof of work, it may take 15 days to 1 month duration. Implementation process of ERP software will start only after the approval of this proof of concept. Before implementing, documentation process is another important task done by ERP consultants. Documentation in ERP implementation is done according to the customer requirements and solution proposed.

Documents prepared as a part of ERP implementation process are reviewed by project heads and company owners. Changes in implementation process are done during GAP analysis. After GAP analysis, ERP consultants will do their further job by coordinating with ERP core team. Customization of modules is another procedure carried out in implementation process. Process of customization is usually done when the operations are too complex or difficult to perform. Coordination between team members is a main factor consuming time during an implementation process.

According to studies, it is found that each and every module of ERP system software is interrelated. Failure of any module will lead to the failure of whole process. This is one of the main answers for the question why do most ERP implements so long to complete. Hence you need to take great care while implementing ERP system software. Communication between vendor and customer plays a great role while implementing ERP software. Technical terms used in implementation field may cause difficulty in communication between vendor and customer. This can delay the progress of work to a limit. Creating user guide play a great role in implementing ERP project. This task is usually done by functional ERP consultant before signing off the project. It can also take some considerable amount of project time.