Five (More) 'Most Important Things' in ERP Implementation

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In his book 'The Most Important Thing' published in 2011, the legendary investor Howard Marks discusses 19 'Most Important Things' in investing. He says that during his discussions with customers, he has heard himself mentioning different 'things' as the 'most important things'

In an earlier article, I had identified the following as five 'Most Important Things' in an ERP Implementation. 

1. Risk Identification:
2. Accounting Configuration:
3. Having the Right Consultant
4. Data Migration
5. User Training 

In this article I discuss five MORE 'Most Important Things'. These are: 

1. Naming Convention is the most important thing: This is the most under-stressed and the most important aspect especially in a big implementation. A good naming convention can improve the system performance and increase user satisfaction. The areas where naming convention should be focused are the masters - Item Master, Customer Master, Vendor Master, Category Master etc. Without a proper naming convention, a lot of transaction errors could happen. For example, in many projects 'John Smith', 'Smith, John' and 'Mr.John Smith' are three separate customers, and an invoice against 'John Smith' is received against 'Mr.John Smith' leading to period end reconciliation and reporting challenges. When you are naming inventory, it is important to use Alpha Numeric Codes to improve indexing in the database. It is important that Naming Convention should be decided by the customer.
2. Documentation is the most important thing: Documentation is always a challenge in ERP implementation since consultants are interested in starting the work rather than documenting. Project Managers encourage task completion rather than documentation (as if they are different things). I have seen that all the troubled projects are thin on documentation. There could be many challenges relating to documentation. One, it would not have been prepared at all, two, it may have been prepared casually, three, it may not have been shared with the customer, four, it may have been shared with the customer but not accepted at all and five, the initial documentation may not have been updated based on any changes. The effect of documentation impacts the project when a critical resource leaves. Without documentation, part of the knowledge walks out with the resource. Documentation helps in convergence of ideas between two teams Finally, ERP implementation is a process of delivering one task after another and handing the same over to the customer for acceptance. A proper documentation ensures seamless transfer of ownership to the customer team. Documentation is the most important thing in ERP Implementation
3. Closure is the most important thing: It is very easy to complete 85% of any task. Last 15% is very difficult. Hence consultant must insist on closure. What is closure? Closure is formal acceptance by customer of the point of view of consultant. I will say that the most frequent sentence in an ERP implementation is consultant complaining, 'I send it to customer. I have completed my work'. Closure is the most important thing. Without it, the project will go from one issue to another, ending up as an 'average' implementation. And that is the best case scenario.
4. Focus on Business is the most important thing: One of the projects that I was a part of, was technologically complex. Project meetings ended up discussing technology rather than business. There were many new technologies involved and the customer did not understand most of the things discussed in the meeting. Project meetings must discuss business issues and challenges. Focus on business is the most important thing. If your project is discussing mostly technology, flag it as a project risk.
5. ERP Adaptation is the most important thing: Many customers view ERP as an expensive 'mirror' of their existing business processes and they adapt ERP (customize) to the processes. of the company. This is called Process Adaptation. This is not desirable. What is most important is a mindset in all levels of Organization to change their business processes to meet the process requirements of ERP.  ERP will simplify complex processes, be ready to adapt to ERP (ERP Adaptation). I will say that ERP Adaptation and a mindset to re-look at the current processes is the most important thing in an ERP implementation. 

So here we are: My list of Ten 'Most Important Things' in an ERP Implementation. What is your view.?