Page 123 -

Chapter 4 • Development Life Cycle 99

approach, phased, is a gradual movement of the company from the existing legacy
system(s) to the ERP implementation. This approach can take a significant amount of
time, but can also be the least disruptive to the company. The second approach, pilot,
implements a small version of the final system. This pilot system is used to ensure that
the final system is appropriate. It is the equivalent of a test drive in that the system is
used, but only by select areas, and its impact can be managed more closely. The third
approach, parallel, has the most up-front cost because the ERP system is implemented
and used in conjunction with the legacy system. This approach is best used when risk
of ERP failure is of significant concern. The final approach, direct cutover or big bang,
is the highest-risk approach but the most straightforward and clean. The company
moves from the legacy system directly and immediately to ease the ERP system. This
approach has the least amount of up-front costs because systems are not duplicated or
run concurrently for any length of time. Training end users on how to use the new
system is another important activity. Training is generally part of the change manage-
ment strategy designed to ease the transition to the post-implementation environment.
Feedback received from system usage needs to be funneled to the post-implementation
team for ongoing system support, including upgrades and patches, as well as to make
adjustments to the change management strategy.
Stage 5. Operation stage. This is often managed by the operation team with assistance from
the implementation team. Knowledge transfer is the major activity as support for the
new system is migrated to the help desk and support staff. Some implementation
team members are very often hired as support staff. The other major activities are
ongoing training of new users to the system as ERP modules are released, as well as
to take a fresh look at the change management strategy. The team has to monitor user
feedback from training and actual system usage carefully and make the necessary
adjustments to the change management approach. Another key activity is manage-
ment of new releases of the software, installation of patches and upgrades to the
system, and managing the software contract with the ERP vendor.

A summary of ERP life cycle phases is shown in Figure 4-7.

ROLE OF CHANGE MANAGEMENT Change management (CM) plays an important role
throughout the ERP life cycle. System failures often occur when the attention is not devoted to
this from the beginning stages. A vision for CM needs to be articulated from the first stage and
then revised, monitored, and implemented on a constant basis. A major role of the SMEs and
other internal users working with the team is to guide the implementation team on all the activi-
ties of change management, including guidance on what processes need changing, customization
of business rules in ERP software, input screen design, report design, and training and communi-
cations plan for the end users affected by the new system. Support of the top management as well
as skills of the change management team are essential for successful implementation. Change
management strategy and activities are discussed in detail elsewhere in this book.

Rapid ERP Life Cycles
ERP implementations are usually very long. They usually start with a long requirements-gathering
phase, followed by designs, and implementations. That means that significant amounts of time
(months to years) could go by between the time the requirement is given and the time it is