The role of IT before, during and after ERP implementation

An ERP system is a complex piece of business software. It is therefore easy to think that responsibility for ERP implementation should simply be transferred to the IT department. However, there is an error in thinking here: although an ERP solution is a technical product, ERP implementation is not a purely technical project. Rather, it is a change management process.

Remember: an ERP system supports people at work every day. This means that user acceptance and process modeling play a major role in ERP implementation. The focus must be on people, not technology.

This means that IT is not exactly the best choice for project management. However, it still plays an important role in the ERP implementation.

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Why IT should not be responsible for the ERP project

IT is considered a hygiene factor

The fact that IT specialists are not suitable as project managers has nothing to do with the cliché of the contact-shy technology nerd. Rather, it is about the position of IT within the organizational chart.

Most large and medium-sized companies work with a large number of individual software products that are tailored to the requirements of the various departments. Sometimes these are outdated legacy systems that require a lot of maintenance.

The task of IT is to look after this organically grown “patchwork quilt” and keep the systems running: The department provides the other areas with a technical infrastructure and offers support services in the event of problems. In most companies, IT is to a certain extent a hygiene factor: its job is simply to ensure that everything runs smoothly from a technical perspective.

IT lacks the process perspective

IT rarely comes into contact with the organization’s value creation processes in day-to-day business. In some cases, this even manifests itself physically: in customer projects, we often find that the department is physically separated from the other specialist departments. Naturally, the IT specialists then know very little about what is happening outside their premises.

As a result, IT generally has little insight into the work processes of its colleagues. It does not always know what the other departments are doing in detail, what challenges they have to overcome and how individual business processes are connected across departments.

However, it is precisely this perspective that is enormously important for the success of the ERP implementation. A good project team must have a precise understanding of the company’s process structure and be able to think outside the box. This is the only way to ensure that the ERP solution provides optimum support for all business processes and achieves a high level of acceptance among users. A department that has no contact with day-to-day business cannot do this so easily.

The role of IT before ERP implementation

Provision of the technical basis

Even if IT is not responsible for managing ERP projects, it is ideally still heavily involved in the ERP implementation. As a technical enabler, it is even indispensable for the success of the project. After all, regardless of all the change management aspects, an ERP system is still a digital product that needs to be implemented and later maintained.

IT takes care of the technology even before the ERP implementation:

• It ensures that the existing system landscape is fundamentally ERP-capable and meets the minimum technical requirements.
• It ensures that the necessary hardware is available, ready for use and correctly configured.
• It checks the entire infrastructure to ensure stable and high-performance ERP operation.
• It recommends the appropriate operating model – cloud, on-premise or hybrid – taking into account costs, security, scalability and compliance.
• It records existing interfaces and evaluates which systems need to be connected, replaced or technically reintegrated.

Co-design of the software

However, it is also important that the role of IT is not purely technical and administrative from the outset. This is because an ERP system is cross-departmental software that helps to improve processes throughout the company. Later on, your IT experts can only further develop and maintain this software if further develop and maintain itif they can understand its practical application.

IT should therefore be actively involved in the design of the software from the outset and gain an insight into the processes of their colleagues. Ideally, a member of the department should play a leading role in the ERP project from the outset.

However, in order for your IT specialists to act as drivers and implementers of holistic digitalization in the company, they need more than just technical skills. Soft skills such as moderation skills and strategic process thinking as well as business knowledge are also required. It is therefore not uncommon for business IT specialists to be best suited for the management of IT.

The role of IT during ERP implementation

Technical implementation and integration

During the ERP implementation, IT is primarily responsible for connecting the ERP system to the existing software landscape. There are two options for this:

• Data transfer: If the ERP system replaces an existing tool (e.g. with an equivalent process within the software), the IT department transfers the required data to the ERP database.
• Interface development: If an application is to be retained, IT provides a suitable interface to which the ERP system can connect.

Basically, the tasks of IT in the ERP project are the same as they are elsewhere: it is responsible for the technical infrastructure and supports its colleagues with IT issues.

Collaboration with project management and key users

However, the IT department does not work in complete isolation during ERP implementation. As part of the project team, it regularly coordinates with project management and the key users.

This ensures that misunderstandings are identified at an early stage and that the project is constantly moving in the right direction. In addition, it can always happen that requirements change during implementation and adjustments are necessary. IT should also always be aware of this.

Support for the change management process

If the IT department head is eloquent, they should also be involved in communication and training processes. At best, they can translate the technical changes into the employees’ working context in an understandable way and explain new functions in a practical way.

If employees are familiar with the changes, they are usually less suspicious. This is because they understand better why the changes are necessary and how they can work productively with the new system in the future.

Good change management can reduce uncertainty and resistance. This not only has a positive effect on acceptance, but also on the overall success of the project.

Markus Reichl, Asseco Solutions

The role of IT after the ERP implementation

Operational responsibility

After the go-live, the project team disbands and returns to its original tasks. However, the IT department is still responsible for operating the ERP system and monitoring system performance.

In order to guarantee the security and smooth functionality of the software, she ensures thatERP maintenance is continuous . In particular, employees ensure that updates and patches are installed promptly. In addition, IT processes support requests from users and, if necessary, carries out bug fixes or acts as an interface to the ERP provider.

Further development of the system

When new trends develop or your company grows, business processes can change at any time. Then it is possible that your once perfectly set up ERP system no longer meets the changed requirements of your organization. You need additional functions that optimally support your current strategy.

In this case, IT must reconfigure all affected processes and workflows in the ERP system. However, it can only do this if it can understand how the solution is used in practice. The more IT knows about the processes of the rest of the organization, the easier it will be to make the technical adjustments. And this is precisely why it should be involved in the project right from the scoping phase.

Strategic support

After the successful ERP implementation, IT should not fall back into a purely technical role, but position itself as a strategic partner in the company. As a driver of digitalization, it not only keeps the systems running, but also plays an active role in shaping them.

The prerequisite for this is the targeted development of internal ERP expertise, supplemented by continuous training programs. Modern role profiles must also be established in the IT team in order to gain more room for maneuver within the company. For example, the remit of a product owner or an IT process manager goes far beyond operational activities.

The role of IT in ERP implementation at a glance

Practical user example:
Sigma Surface Science

IT as a co-designer in the ERP project

At Sigma Surface Science, a modern IT department successfully helped shape the introduction of the APplus ERP system. Instead of limiting the responsibility of IT in the ERP project to the technical implementation, the Hessian special machine manufacturer placed great value on strategic integration from the outset. The IT experts got to know the processes of the specialist departments and translated the requirements into user-friendly solutions.

When introducing the mobility module, for example, IT focused closely on the day-to-day work of production, which led to a high level of user acceptance . Subsequent expansions were also designed by IT in such a well thought-out way that the system is still capable of growth and flexible today.

Read full case study

Conclusion: IT is not a basement child when it comes to ERP implementation

You should not make the mistake of viewing the ERP implementation as a purely technical project and entrusting IT with project management. However, they should at least be a fully-fledged member of the project team .

As a digital pioneer, she does not work in isolation in the basement, but is in constant contact with the other team members. She sits at the table when processes are discussed and the design of the software is being worked on.

This is the only way the IT department can understand the daily use of the ERP software and take care of the maintenance and further development of the system later on. In the best case scenario, it takes on the role of a strategic partner that actively drives digitization in your company even after the ERP implementation.