Where to from here
There is no doubt that ERP / CRM and related applications usually have little trouble with the business rules, policies and procedures for your business, but it's the user interface that will make or break the success of the implementation in the workplace.
If you're in the middle of implementation, there are a few things you can do:
- Check the current progress against the initial estimates. If you are in the early stages, then consider putting the project on hold. A month to take a breath and consider your options is nothing in the context of a multi-year implementation schedule.
- Examine the business processes you're embedding. Are they best practice? Are they what your customers value? Consider engaging business management or change management consultants to work with you to get the best efficiencies from your processes.
- Where is the user interface up to? Can people actually use it quickly, easily and without training? If you haven't progressed too far, engage usability and user interface design consultants to spend time getting the interfaces right, and then control ongoing development against the interfaces.
- What are your implementation strategies? If you have committed to months and months of training across all staff, then variance in performance is bound to be a problem. Training is just not an effective strategy -- if you have to train people to use the interface, then the interface is not helping people do their job. The interface should guide and constrain people's activities so they deliver best practice in a consistent manner.
If you're contemplating ERP / CRM for your business, consider the following:
- Get your requirements fully specified up front. This means all business requirements, all user requirements, and all user interface designs. These three components will then influence your system architecture. Armed with this 'Blueprint', you can then go to market and seek a vendor that can build to the blueprint. You may find that custom software is a better option than off-the-shelf software with hundreds of customisations.
- During requirements, work with change management consultants to ensure the business processes are the most effective and efficient they can be, and match customer expectations.
- Create a performance management framework that will demonstrate the required return on investment. This becomes the testing framework to control activities and ensure things are being done to contribute directly to the success of the business.
biography
Psychologist Craig Errey is managing director of PTG Global, which builds and tests online interfaces for intuitiveness and usability.
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Please sir my comments is to ask you that using a computer for long hours can cause brain or eye problem?