The Best ERP Solutions Are Those Tailored to Your Company

The best ERP solution for a retailer is different from the best solution for a wholesaler—and still more different than the best solution for a manufacturer. There are similarities in industries, but each company is unique, so the solutions must be unique. Even your fiercest competitor’s best ERP solution wouldn’t be the right fit for your organization.

The high amount of customization required to successfully execute ERP projects should give you a heads-up: Your solution will not come with any blueprints for success or an instruction manual of how-tos. You cannot copy and paste some other organization’s ERP solution onto your business.

To find the best ERP solution for your organization, you will need some in-depth analysis of your business processes and regulatory requirements. You must pinpoint the exact functions and modules your operations demand. Further, most companies require additional solutions to cover mainline topics of global trade impact, corporate governance, risk management, and company-wide compliance. Retaining a partner will be especially critical if you are looking to add GRC or GTS functions to your final solution. The right partner will guide you to the best ERP solution for implementation success.

Taking control of your ERP project is going to be your first priority. The best way is to identify and engage an expertly qualified partner. Here are the qualifications you want:

• Not a generalist: Generalists can be great at implementing some of the best ERP solutions available. However, they often fall short when GRC or GTS functions enter the mix or project complexity goes beyond basic ERP projects.
• Industry specialization: Partners that have a high level of specialization in your industry will know exactly which GRC and GTS functionalities need to be in place. They will bring a deep understanding of the complex rules and regulations you have to navigate.
• Proven implementation track record: Look into any prospective partner to identify their ERP implementation history. Never take marketing or sales hype as gospel. Investigate the prospective partners. Good partners will welcome the questions and be forthcoming with studies and references.
• Being direct with guidance and input: The investment of time and money in your project deserves a partner that will use direct communication. That saves valuable resources while reducing the potential for misunderstandings and missed milestones. It is better to have a blunt partner that relays the situation as it is, so that appropriate measures can be taken.

Any partner you consider will have to know and understand your business processes as well, if not better, than your business stakeholders. Without this level of knowledge, a partner cannot recommend the modules or functionalities required to meet your specific demands. Armed with this information, they can provide valuable insight into the many business and trade regulations challenging your business, contributing precise information that can be utilized to adjust your project roadmap.

Enlisting the help of an experienced partner adds a crucial dynamic to your solution. Ideally, they will have an elevated level of experience thanks to other engagements in your industry. In some cases, industry is no the limiting factor, but rather other constraints such as compliance, corporate policy, costs, and trade restrictions, to name a few. An innovative and experienced partner can help facilitate the best decisions when balances these factors. Your partner will be in a position to evaluate your current state and identify where your gaps are, aligning these with GRC and GTS modules. The flexibility that these modules offers ensures that you can easily change your ERP system by adding or removing modules as required.

The benefit of having an experienced eye examining your current business processes and software is priceless. When they take the time to understand your business model, they can quickly and effectively pare away unneeded processes and proceduresthat are no longer optimal for business operations. This results in more than just an ERP system; this gives you a vastly improved process flow with a high ROI.

It is important to engage all business stakeholders, from the C-suite down to the end-user. Your project team can tap into their knowledge of business operations to understand the skills your employees natively bring into the implementation. That helps the project team develop appropriate software functionality, including which GRC components or GTS functionalities are required, to benefit both your specific line of business and processes.

The specifics of which software modules, GRC components, or GTS functionalities you will implement is based on an in-depth understanding of your current systems and processes and a clear vision of your future. Having an overall view of your organization helps determine your exact ERP needs. This reduces costs, project complexity, and overall project risk.

Selecting the modules needed, in particular GRC and GTS, will have a large impact on whether or not your ERP system meets all of your compliance and process needs. This is a great opportunity for your partner to step in and help define what GRC security should be in place for your solution, what compliance requirements are needed, and what GTS functionalities are required.. This is a cornerstone for architecting an ERP system that meets compliance and security concerns with room for growth. The modules, components, and functionalities selected should represent your roadmap for growth.

. Often implementations encountered have inherent issues, process limitations, performance inadequacies, and requirement deficiencies. It is understandable that a few nondescript items fly under the radar in large engagements. However, utilizing a conscientious and knowledgeable partner can remedy most if not all the glitchy minutiae during the implementation. . Unfortunately, many problems materialise after a project is too far along to reverse course, leaving the project misaligned. This imparts an intrinsic risk, subpar requirement delivery, and prevents optimal system performance. Other issues manifest when processes are limited by missing components and/or functionalities. For example, there is a typical underestimation of the GRC components required. n. Key SAP GRC components like Access Control for enhanced security compliance and GRC Process Control for OFEC auditing are not instituted when they would have facilitated tightening up compliance and regulatory processes. Also, in this arena it is noted that there is consistent lack of planning for data migration.

These are just but a few additional reasons why you must enlist the help of a valued partner. They provide the foresight to see the minute details of your specific implementation. In addition to matching key business objectives to their appropriate modules, components, and functionalities, they will point out opportunities for integration across your existing ERP software or other IT systems. Once this architecture is achieved, you will be well equipped to initiate your ERP solution implementation.

Devising and executing an ERP project plan is a complex, detailed necessity that will ultimately drive your project forward. A solid implementation plan will be detailed in terms of budget, timeline, and potential risks while being based on your partner’s assessment of current and upcoming regulatory, business, compliance, and global trade requirements. Your plan should include all areas of the business, even those that you think may not be impacted by your project, as this gives a clearer picture of how your business operates as a whole. It is here where you create the blueprint for what modules, if any, especially in regards to GRC and GTS components and functionalities that need to be executed as part of your project plan.

You will want to work closely with your internal resources; those from the C-Level and down to your core business end-users while staying engaged with your outside partner. This serves to encourage continuous, hands-on testing of processes and software to proactively locate and resolve issues before they go live. It is worth noting that this makes it easy to prioritize the installation of module components and functionalities that works best for your workflows.

The final core requirement for a brilliantly-executed ERP project plan is thorough design, transparent communication, comprehensive documentation, and effective training. We musterthese together because neither can stand alone without the other. Your documentation must be detailed and explanative in regards both architecture and functionalities. . Communication horizontally between module teams must open, inclusive, and engaging. Upon that, communication vertically must also be open, thorough, pertinent, and relatable. Further, communication between you and your partner implementer must be transparent, understandable, and elucidating. These final pieces give you a solid foundation from which to build effective training options for all job functions, from system administration to general business users. It is here that your business solidifies its hold on project success; by making sure all of your employees understand the rules and new business processes around the newly implemented modules and ERP functionalities.

Setting a foundation for a successful ERP implementation depends on the skills and experience of your SAP ERP GRC-Security and GTS implementation teams. Your teams must invest the time to fully understand your business requirements to gain the perspective required to best determine the best components and functionalities suited for you. Ultimately, your final ERP solution must prioritize and provide a comprehensive compliance undertaking appropriate to your business needs, while taking advantage of GRC Access and Process components while taking into asccount overall security, governance and policy. Further, your best ERP solution must also factor your compliance and global trade footprint via GTS.. Furthermore, the project teams must cultivate close relationships with directly and indirectly , divisions, and all other lines of business globally. Lastly,participant resources from teh executive level to the individual employees must be engaged to deliver the best compliance solution, specifically customized for your company.

Pinary brings a high level of specialized experience to your ERP implementation project. We review the best ERP solutions on the market to ensure the best solution for your business. We have 22 years of ERP project experience and a 100% record of successful ERP projects. Your solution will meet the most stringent of trade regulations. Contact us to learn more about how Pinary can be your valued SAP ERP partner.