Anyone who has experienced this process knows that the implementation of any IS brings a huge burden to the organization, while the financial costs are not the main problem. Very often, with the new IS, the years-old business processes that are optimized and adapted to the new conditions are changed.
We know from practice that practically no one welcomes the change with open arms, and if the implementation of IS does not directly cause REVOLUTION in the organization, then we can always talk about EVOLUTION. The key element of a successful implementation is always the employees, who during this change process, in addition to the normal work, have to work together with the contractor to implement the new system.
The new IS thus affects the entire organization, which is in one moment involved in one project, whose improper coordination can cause major damage across the entire organization. What was established is different from day to day, and everyone has to learn new things. It is not infrequent that something is left out in such a large project.
Allium has been working on a system of elimination of risks associated with IS implementation since the beginning of its work in this field. In recent years, we have been using a unique method of sequential implementation when implementing the new ERP on the Microsoft Dynamics platform.
The method of sequential implementation consists in not revolutionary, but evolutionary change of IS, which as a whole is implemented similarly to the conventional method, however, the whole project is divided into smaller parts and the implementation always takes place only in the part of the organization (department). The rest of the company is not affected by the implementation and can attend to the standard work. After the implementation of one part (e.g. sales department) is completed, the implementation moves to the next department and this process continues until the new system runs in the whole organization.
The main advantage of the method of sequential implementation is the reduction of the risk arising from the revolutionary change of the system, when the whole organization switches to the new system at the same time and the change of the system does not affect the running of the whole company, but only the partial department.
Another equally important element for the use of this method is the fact that both systems (existing and newly implemented) run online on a single data base, thus avoiding the need to integrate data exchange between systems that can increase project risks. All communication happens in real time, both systems use the same data and can read and modify each other's data.
Sequential implementation is more time consuming compared to conventional method, but it significantly reduces implementation risks. In particular, it reduces the burden on key users and project management, improves customer cash flow and last but not least brings a new, modern system in parts of the organisation significantly earlier than in conventional method, as it is not necessary to wait for all departments to be ready during implementation.
During the years 2020 to 2021, Allium successfully launched key customer departments on the Microsoft Dynamics platform within an organization with 90 users into production operation.