Maybe you’ve seen the movie Groundhog Day, where Bill Murray’s character is forced to re-live the same day over and over until he gets it right and can move on with his life. It may not seem clear how this relates to Microsoft D365 and my implementation, but please bear with me.
Like most things, I should start at the beginning. If you haven’t read the interview Sarah Morgan posted, titled “Empire Strikes Back with a New Inland California D365 User Group,” let me recap it for you here. I shared with her that the company I was working for decided they needed a more robust system to leverage growth and manage the business more efficiently. Up until then, they had been operating the business with paper systems, siloed programs, and developing in-house software to handle the demands of the business. Something had to change. Our company was stuck in an endless cycle of data entry, with little ability to analyze it and move on to the next task. Cue the groundhog.
Many of us wish that we could get a redo of just one day. This movie stood out to me when I was planning my blog. It also happens to be Groundhog Day here in the U.S. Starting with this post, I will be blogging about the ERP implementation experiences and lessons learned. Speaking from experience, I know there have been days on a project I wished I could get a do-over. Unfortunately, most companies don’t get a chance to reevaluate choices in an implementation that led them down a path. I hope to provide you with a dose of humor, along with some of my own experiences, so you can have a chance at successfully moving your implementation forward.
The company kicked off the implementation project with a Microsoft Partner. At that time, we had a different team, but the point is that the company wasn’t set up for a successful implementation. Sure, we knew it would be hard, but we were told we would be going live in January. We had to implement D365 Finance and Operations and CRM for approximately 150 users within a 9-month timeframe. For those of you who haven’t started your implementation, this alone was going to be a complicated timeline. Our groundhog saw his shadow, and winter persisted for 28 more weeks.
The selection of the implementation methodology and the team we chose weren’t the right fit for us. We didn’t know it at the time, but this is the most essential part of your implementation. Here are some of the lessons learned from a customer’s perspective.
- It’s about the people, not the technology. Implementing an ERP takes resilience in the face of adversity. Ensure you have the right team both internally and externally. The right internal people are those who genuinely understand your business processes, and externally, they grasp your business culture. Choosing the right external team, whether it is a partner, a team of independent consultants, or a combination of both, will significantly leverage your project’s success.
- Be bold and manage the risk. A bold schedule may not work for you. Remember that the definition of bold is risky. You need to be prepared to manage that risk. Every integration and transaction is a risk. The company was working in multiple siloed programs and outsourcing payroll. We didn’t fully understand the integration risk until we became deeply involved in the data migration.
- Plan for the worst. We planned for specific risks. We even wrote them down. We didn’t plan for all of them to happen at once. When facing a “Perfect Storm,” it is better to have a plan for it than to think everything can’t go wrong at once. It also gives a sense of calm that you have thought of a disaster and have a plan. Read my other blog post, “Perfect Storm,” if you want more information on how to do this the right way.
- If you have a short timeline, you need an efficient methodology. Initially, we were working at a snail’s pace because we were following a waterfall methodology. Using a waterfall approach was not right for our timeline. We ended up spending eight months discussing an implementation. We never got to modeling or data migration because we didn’t realize we were following the wrong methodology.
- Do your homework. Read, Connect, Verify.I started reading Implementation books written by Rahul Mohta, Yogesh Kasat, and JJ Yadev. Those books helped me understand what was necessary. I highly recommend attending user group conferences before selecting your implementation team. If that isn’t possible, check references and call other companies using Microsoft D365 for some feedback. Connecting and collaborating in the user group is a benefit that allows you to learn from and support one another. Don’t be afraid to reach out and ask questions. I know I am not the only one who is willing to spend some time talking to people who are going through something I have been through. Others also lend their time and expertise to the community. I read A LOT and enjoyed many books on this subject. Some other titles that are must-reads are “Our Iceberg is Melting”, “Extreme Ownership”, “Control Your ERP Destiny”, and anything by Murray Fife. Seriously, read, connect, and verify your understanding.
This implementation moved forward with the assistance of an adviser who helped us get back on track and a Partner who understood our culture. We hired a team that better understood what we needed to be successful. We went live 8 weeks after this blog was initially posted, having only a 14-week timeline. This timeline is unheard of in the Microsoft D365 community, with the average timeline being 18 months. I’m not recommending this 14-week timeline at all. It was extremely challenging and had numerous consequences. My point is that proper alignment gets results.
After taking the above steps, I could see a path forward and draw on the experiences of others who came before me. I encourage you not to keep having Groundhog Day! If you haven’t figured it out yet, my blog posts are all movie-themed; I spent 25 years living in California, after all! In future posts, I will go into more detail on my experiences with D365 implementations. You can connect with me here on LinkedIn.
I look forward to hearing about your morning after Groundhog Day!
