If you choose to have your ERP system on premise, it is important to have development, testing, staging and production environments in place. With the amount of hardware involved, selection will be critical for reliability and resiliency. It will also be important to work with a hardware vendor that has on staff experience in specking out the proper hardware requirements. Even with all of the available cloud offerings in today’s world, it is typically more cost effective to go with a hosted solution to reduce your server footprint and the need to maintain and upgrade hardware on a regular basis.

Word of Advice when Implementing ERP System

My advice to anyone implementing an ERP system would be: Do not rush the project. You wouldn’t run your first marathon without a proper plan and training in place or you would burn out half way through. Implementing an ERP system can be the same way since it will be one of the biggest IT projects you can take on for your company. The proper setup, configuration and development of workflows can make or break your investment. If and when you run into an unforeseen incident, reevaluate the situation and adjust the schedule as necessary.

“If you don’t have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over,”? John Wooden. It is so much smarter to take smaller steps to ensure proper functionality through out each part of the setup phase rather than dealing with a lingering issue after the implementation. With participation from all levels of the management team, there will be a better understanding and sensitivity to the schedule and project plan. No roll out will ever go without problems, but with proper planning and always having a fall back option, you will minimize these mistakes.