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Wednesday, July 10, 2019

Top 5 ERP News and articles: Week 2019-27: ERP on Cloud - 2

Checkout my book 'Selected Articles on ERP' on Amazon.com 

The Short URL for this post is http://bit.ly/ERP_Cloud_2

Introduction

The theme for this week is ERP On Cloud. I had covered Cloud ERP in other posts in this series, in THIS, THIS and THIS. The five articles covered in this post provide additional perspectives to those who are planning to go for Cloud ERP Implementations.

The first article talks about five steps to be considered while moving to Cloud Implementation. The points mentioned including Process Analysis or Data Cleansing are applicable to any ERP implementation. Second article talks about the 'skill shift' in the era of Cloud, where Organizations has to staff their IT Team with more business experts rather than technology experts as in the pre-ERP era. The third article talks about five strategies to be adopted for Cloud implementation. These include having a ERP Strategy, Business Case, Benefits Realization and Team Building. I felt that these are generic strategies.

The fourth article is from my blog. I had done an Oracle Cloud implementation and point out how it is different from EBS implementation. Integrations are different and more controlled in Cloud. I also tell that while report creation is simple, report flexibility is lesser in Oracle Cloud (at least in the version I worked on). The fifth article discusses Phased Versus Big Bang approach to Cloud Implementation. While phased approach is less risky, the filp side is the time taken in rollout of ERP, especially in big Organizations.

Good articles. Do check them out.

Top Five Articles 

1. How to prepare for your first Cloud ERP Implementation: Rick Carlton for ERPFocus.com

https://www.erpfocus.com/first-cloud-erp-implementation.html

In his article, Mr.Carlton identifies five steps to be taken prior to Cloud Implementation. I found that all these points are not specific to cloud implementation. The five steps are:
  1. Detailed Process Analysis: Review every process and modify / discard them as per the ERP requirements
  2. Setting up a reporting structure: Cloud ERP offers more flexibility in terms of reporting. Some of the legacy reports may not work and some some may need to be modified. Do not limit the focus to legacy reports. Explore the reporting potential of new ERP system. 
  3. Conduct a Security Needs Analysis: This has to be looked at from the perspective of completeness and compliance. Review the security features of the application for their completeness. Factor in the legacy applications also in this analysis. Ensure that all the new security features are compliant to the local rules. 
  4. Cleanse out unwanted data:
  5. Conduct an infrastructure analysis: While cloud ERP is hosted on its own infrastrucutre, there may be legacy applications that need to talk to the cloud ERP. Ensure infrastructure availability to ensure smooth transition 
2. ERP skills gap may open with move to the cloud: Beth Stackpole for searcherp

http://bit.ly/30hL2ZK

In the On-premise world, companies staffed their IT Team with technical expertise - DBAs, Network Administrators, Infrastructure Administrators and Developers. In the era of cloud, these tasks are being handled by the cloud vendor. So what should be the focus of external consultants and internal IT Team?

As per the article, the focus of third party consultants have shifted from technical knowledge to helping with Organizational Change Management and Business Process Improvement. As far as the internal IT team is concerned, they should focus on using ERP to add value to the business in the long-term.

Summarizing, in the age of the cloud,

ERP Vendors will handle technology
Consultants should focus on Change Management and Business Process Improvement
Internal Experts should focus on using ERP to add value to the business.

3. Strategies to implement your Oracle ERP Cloud faster, better and cheaper: Eric Kimberling for Third-stage Consulting Blog

https://www.thirdstage-consulting.com/strategies-to-implement-oracle-cloud-erp-better-faster-and-cheaper/

In this article, Mr.Kimberling documents five strategies to successfully implement Cloud Solutions. While the title talks about Oracle Cloud, the article is product agnostic. The strategies are:
  1. Develop a solid strategy: Oracle Cloud ERP Consultants are expensive. Have an implementation strategy ready before they turn up.
  2. Create and validate a reasonable ERP Cloud implementation plan: Expand the plan provided by the Implementation partner include important items like Data Migration and Organizational Change Management activities.
  3. Define your level two and level three business processes: Due to the rigidity of the Cloud Solutions (My words), some of the legacy processes will change. Review your business processes to the level two or level three level and plan for these changes.
  4. Develop a business case and a benefits realization plan: Identify key business metrics and drill down to a realization plan. This will also help during key decision points in the implementation
  5. Mobilize project resources: Clearly define your internal and external project team. Document the roles and responsibilities of each. Commit 100% of their time to the implementation project.
4. How to quickly implement Oracle Cloud Solution: ERP-Consultancy blog (This blog)

https://goo.gl/tGvqso

This article is from my blog and documents lessons I learned from an Oracle Cloud Implementation.

I discuss five points. They are:
  1. Point to point integration to Oracle Cloud is not possible: You cannot add custom validations once the data is pushed into Oracle
  2. PL/SQL is redundant: Hence the flexibility to customize application is not available. Be ready to change your processes in line with application requirements
  3. Template driven data conversion: This makes the data conversion much easier and owned by the business analyst. 
  4. Introduction of Data Sets: This is a paradigm shift from Oracle EBS to Oracle Cloud. This feature allows the organization to optimize the sub-master data like Payment Terms, Product Groups etc. This may call for a thorough review of existing legacy data.
  5. Reports generation is equally simple and complex: Simple because it is easier to create new reports. Complex because Parameter Level Validation is not available. You will have to rethink the design of the legacy reports.
Each of these points have Project Management and C-Level implications. For example, point one above will call the Organizations to put in place different integration standards.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/oracle/2019/04/29/big-bang-or-go-slowly-whats-the-best-way-to-install-cloud-based-applications/#532f448049dc

This article by John Scot looks at two different implementation approaches to Cloud ERP solutions, Big Bang and Phased.

Since the processes are hardwired with minimal customizations possible in Cloud, it is better to adopt a phased approach. Organizations has to adopt new business processes and Employees have to adapt to the new processes. It is better to implement Cloud ERP in one business unit and then transfer the learnings from that implementation to the rest of the Company

The advantage of Big Bang approach is that it will give more time for the Organization to stabilize post the implementation. Organizations must be ready to put in the excruciating workload required of a big bang implementation.

My take is to go for a 'Phased Big Bang' approach. If you have 10 Business Units, use Phased Approach to rollout ERP to the first two units and then use big bang approach to rollout the ERP to the remaining eight units.
 
Additional Readings

1. ERP Cloud Computing: A strategy for success:  Richard Barker for ERPfocus.com
https://www.erpfocus.com/erp-cloud-computing-strategy-1228.html

2. Five steps to a modern ERP Cloud: Christiane Solo for Oracle Blogs
https://blogs.oracle.com/modernfinance/5-steps-to-a-modern-erp-cloud

The five steps are:
  1. Assemble the selection team
  2. Understand the scope of your IT and business needs
  3. Build the business case
  4. Prove the investment’s worth
  5. Pick the right partner
 Not sure how this is specific to cloud.

3. How to ensure a successful Oracle ERP Cloud Implementation: Eric Kimberling for Third-stage consulting blog
https://www.thirdstage-consulting.com/how-to-ensure-a-successful-oracle-cloud-erp-implementation/

The Year at a Glance

The articles that we have so far covered in this series in Year 2019 are:

23. Week 2019-27: ERP On Cloud - 2
24. Week 2019-28: ERP for SMBs

Disclaimer:

The articles in this blog post are those that I found interesting and relevant to the topic of ERP and technology in general. I have no commercial association with any of the entities mentioned in this article. I may be following a few of these entities on LinkedIn and even some of these entities may be on my LinkedIn or Social Media network. These articles are selected purely based on their relevance to the objective of this blog, to promote ERP. Finally, the summary is mine. While I stay close to the points in the articles, I also elaborate a few of them based on my understanding.

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