In Avoiding Customization Regret – Part 1 covered the first three critical steps
Train. Justify.Validate.
In Part 2 we covered making them part of the process, having a realistic ROI, and making the user(s) own it.
Over the past two decades I have seen the good, the bad , and the ugly when it comes to customization.
However, if you implement those six steps, there will be much less ugly and much more good.
Now, Let’s venture into long term ownership of customization and a few things your should know!
Keeps Detailed Records
Super Users change jobs
Development staff will leave the company
When it comes times to enhance, upgrade, re-implement the last thing you want is a list of customization’s that no one on staff has a clue how they work.
Assign an owner.
Make them keep excellent records of what it does and what they have changed.
You will NOT regret this due diligence.
It is NOT going away…
Once the users have it, they are not going to give it up.
…at least not easily!
No upgrade, new software, or from scratch implementation is going to convince them…
You have given them efficiency and ease of use.
That is a good thing, do NOT try to take it away and put them back in the stone age.
“Buy Nice, Not Twice”
Do it correctly and robustly the first time.
If you only delivery half of what was needed it will cost you 4X as much trying to fix it when it is live.
…and the users will not like you 🙁
Rinse and Repeat
Once they have one, they will want more.
Make them follow the process for every request.
Especially the ‘small ones’
Those are the ones that add up over time
Suddenly you have 1000’s of them clogging up your system
In summary
Customizing your ERP has gotten a bad rap over the years.
But it is generally not customization that is the issue.
It is the lack of due diligence around the whole process.
Follow the steps I have laid out for you and will see the benefits customization can bring to your organization.
AND
Make sure to grab our FREE implementation guide below for more resource saving tips for your implementation.
