One of the most commonly cited statistics in ERP implementations is that about 75% of all ERP implementations fail to deliver the expected value. Though the high-profile, stock devaluing, complete failures only make up a small percentage of these implementations, they aren’t the only failures that can happen.

Failure in an ERP project simply means that the new system isn’t fully utilized, that the value delivered didn’t fully meet the expectation, and that the hassles outweighed the benefits.

The War of Attrition in ERP Implementations

This stems from a variety of reasons. Whether it’s in the form of a bad cultural fit, a bad product fit, or a bad data fit, failure often starts with the relationships and connections. Unnecessary over-customization can introduce unnecessary cost and extended timeframes, mismanaged expectations can lead you down the wrong path, and overpromised benefits can lead you down the wrong path.

But those aren’t the only reasons that a project might derail. One of the biggest reasons behind ERP failure is a lack of support from executives and lack of motivation from staff. Even with visionary leadership behind a project and a well-communicated plan, the longer an ERP project goes, the riskier it becomes.

Why? Because it’s a war of attrition. Projects could start out with a lot of support and even a little excitement—after all, if the decision was made with the input of your end users and well communicated from the start, people may see that a project is going to make their job easier.

But time passes. More time passes. Months go by—little progress, lots of meetings. People start to get tired. The annoyance grows. The excitement dissipates, and the risk edges higher with each passing week. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

Cloud ERP Allows for Rapid yet Thorough Implementation

One of the many things that the cloud has changed has been the speed with which implementations occur. While legacy ERP relied on labor intensive, time consuming, and morale draining implementations that were occasionally measured in years, cloud ERP can provide you both a rapid and thorough implementation process. In fact, leaders in this realm have created implementation methodologies that allow partners to get you up and running in less than 100 days.

SuiteSuccess: Zero to Cloud in 100 Days with NetSuite

One of the early adopters of this rapid methodology was NetSuite. With their SuiteSuccess methodology, partners can get you up and running in this solution quickly and easily. In turn, this helps you see faster time to value, increased business efficiency, flexibility and greater customer success.

SuiteSuccess takes a holistic approach to NetSuite deployment, taking into consideration best practices, key performance indicators, and product expertise to increase success rates and minimize risk. Designed to provide faster time to value and rapid yet thorough implementation, the NetSuite SuiteSuccess methodology can take companies from zero to cloud in 100 days.

Customized to provide the right solution for your specific business undertakings, SuiteSuccess is built around four key pillars—build, engage, consume, and optimize—to provide improved visibility, faster decision making, and smarter management of IT resources.

  • Build: A complete suite to support the modern business including ERP, CRM, PSA, omnichannel commerce, HR and Business Intelligence (BI) built on the NetSuite cloud platform, continually updated with leading edge capabilities and technologies to support all of our industries.
  • Engage: Leading practices for each industry and role including workflows, KPI reports, dashboards and metrics, with the flexibility to personalize on the NetSuite platform from the initial sales contact to on-going support. With these leading practices, value is added at each stage of the engagement.
  • Consume: Intelligent staged approach via NetSuite’s industry stairway allows companies to consume capabilities based on their business needs. A re-imagined consumption model drives faster time to value, better ROI and greater user adoption. Companies can now go from zero to cloud in 100 days.
  • Optimize: Customers benefit from continuous engagement, updated leading practices, new feature releases, value added SuiteCloud partners and movement up the stairway.

Go Live in 90 Days or Less with Acumatica FastTrack

Similarly, Acumatica has introduced their own way to get into the cloud rapidly. Announced in June 2020, Acumatica FastTrack Deployment, this methodology allows you and other midmarket growth businesses to go-live in 90 days or less.

Acumatica FastTrack is a phased, in-the-box (ITB) approach using best practices-based templates and configuration checklists. It also uses data migration tools to streamline the transfer of data to Acumatica.

The deployment framework consists of Initiation (Discovery and Scope); Adapt (Analyze, Design, Build, Stabilize); and Deploy (Go Live and Post Go Live). The final phase is Sustain, which involves continuous improvement and customer feedback.

A complete deployment (unlike an express model), this is currently available for General Business and Distribution (as well as Construction), and provides the same freedom to add on new modules on your schedule.

Fast Implementations, Honest Partner

If you are looking to put your system into action quickly, both the SuiteSuccess and FastTrack Models do just that. However, these models aren’t for everyone, and it pays to find an implementation partner you can trust.

Furthermore, just because it’s fast doesn’t mean that it’s easy or that anyone can do it. Even if these programs can get you up and running in roughly three months, the process is still going to take a lot of work and requires a partner with the skills to lead the project. At MIBAR, we’ve spent nearly three decades making ERP work for our clients and know what it takes to complete a project successfully. We pride ourselves on setting your expectations and exceeding them—not on making grandiose promises we can’t keep. Get to know more about how we work and get in contact with us for a free consultation.