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An ERP Implementation is a multi-stage business process that organizations go through to digitalize and streamline core financial and other departmental operations to the maximum extent with the objective of making things easier, faster and more reliable.
The purpose of this post is to understand NetSuite ERP, and the NetSuite ERP Implementation methodology with a simplified approach. This approach will identify focus points which can help organizations plan and prioritize different NetSuite ERP implementation tasks, deploy resources effectively, and track progress to ensure a successful implementation.
The standard implementation project life-cycle can be divided into four distinct phases and it is very important to understand the purpose of the activities involved in each stage in order to ensure a fruitful experience.
Phases for a Seamless NetSuite ERP Implementation
1. Engage
The Engage phase includes initial activities required to begin with the project and is primarily focused on detailed requirement gathering from the customer. Including the initial kick-off sessions and briefings, the Engage phase is aimed at providing insights to the customer regarding the project life-cycle, the product features and key take-way from this phase is for the consultants to have an in-depth understanding of the customer’s business requirements and expectations from NetSuite.
It involves conducting process area wise Personalization Sessions to assess and gather the business requirements which will enable consultants to configure the system accordingly. It is very important that relevant resources are assigned to attend these sessions to ensure that the business requirements are communicated properly and completely, and a clear set of expectations can be defined.
Another aspect of these sessions is to identify if all the requirements can be fulfilled using the standard system functionalities or there is a need for customization to provide for certain required functions. To ensure success in this phase, it crucial to ensure that the process area wise business requirements are communicated clearly to the consultants by the resources most well equipped within the customer organization.
2. Drive
The Drive phase includes a detailed demonstration of the NetSuite processes referred to as Process Walkthrough Sessions. Based on the information and requirements gathered in the Engage phase, the consultants demonstrate a configured NetSuite Account in a Sandbox (Test) Environment using a sample set of data.
It is important to give due consideration to the sample data being used while conducting the process walkthroughs as the sample data should be relatable with the current business processes in order for the customer to properly understand and analyze the configured system and address any concerns. Based on the feedback provided by the customer organization during this phase, necessary actions are taken and required configurational and set up level modifications are performed to fine tune the system.
3. Enable
After completion of the Process Walkthroughs and required modifications, the Enable phase begins. This is where the most participation is required from the customer organization as it includes conducting process area wise User Acceptance Testing (UAT). This involves engaging the customer’s team in performing detailed test transactions based on real time scenarios and data in the configured Sandbox Environment.
The objective of this phase is to provide the customer with the ability to completely test a fully configured system and ensure that all the requirements have been mapped and the system behavior is as expected in all aspects including the recording of transactions and generating reports as well.
The enable phase is also where the customer’s team gets equipped with all the knowledge and trained to perform routine business transactions to facilitate a smooth Go-Live. It is recommended that all users participate in this activity as per their role which allows a more detailed testing and validates the configured system. As a result, any existing issues are highlighted and resolved before going live.
4. Convert
This is the final phase that includes making the Production Environment ready for Go-Live, importing complete legacy data in NetSuite, performing a system readiness check and providing Post Go-Live support to the customer. It is advisable to provide the complete legacy data in a timely manner to avoid any delays that may cause transaction backlog. Any issues discovered after the Go-Live are addressed as part of the Post-Go Live support as well as any assistance required in performing routine transactions is provided.
To summarize, each phase has its own set of objectives and the key is to deploy appropriate resources for each implementation task while tracking the progress efficiently to ensure a successful implementation.
