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This is a process whereby your requirements and needs are investigated in detail to establish as comprehensively as possible the existing business process and issues that need to be resolved in building your business system. The results of this study are documented and accepted as a comprehensive business requirement. This document becomes the basis of any solutions offering. The following is a list of steps to consider.


  1. Ensure management buy-in
    Decide who will make the decision, Communicate scope of project and get sign off at critical steps along the way. Management should develop or ratify the measurements of success.

  2. Get employee involvement
    Recognize the significant amount of employee knowledge and the potential contribution of the employees. Unfortunately, the knowledge is typically in the heads of the employees and care must be taken to include their input. At the same time, you are effectively including them in the process and securing their buy-in for the process.


  1. Start with an understanding of Critical Success Factors (CSFs) and Weaknesses

These are defined as those things that you do well in order to be successful, both short and long term. You can use CSFs as a way to determine whether a requirement is really critical. If a requirement can’t be mapped directly to a CSF, then it is not critical. Separate non-critical or weaknesses onto a list to remind you not to include them in the process. They may be reviewed at a later stage to check that perceptions have not changed.


  1. Define measurements of success.

Before starting any project, you should know how to measure success in terms of saving money by streamlining operations, increasing revenues, increasing market share, and so on. Measurements of success act as a motivator for staff during the implementation, help keep the project on track and focus efforts on attaining important business objectives.


Define the measurement limits in terms of your hardware and network infrastructure. Investing in a business solution on existing hardware may limit your  choice of ERP solutions. Investing in  the latest technology may stretch the budget beyond limits. These are critical decisions and also long term decisions.


  1. Understand existing business processes, seek improvements

Until you understand the existing business processes, you are not ready. Employees may not know that what they are doing is  atypical. Roll up your sleeves and talk to the people who do the work. Remember the devil is in the details. Along the way, your value-add may be in identifying ways to improve business processes.


  1. Don’t be ambiguous in defining requirements

The more detailed the definition, the less room for alternate interpretation. Vendors and consultants come from differing backgrounds. If they are to understand your needs and requirements, these need to be stated clearly and no assumptions should be made.


  1. Manage the risks
    Seek out potential risks, their impact, and their likelihood of occurring. Encourage all interested parties to develop strategies to mitigate the risks. Every organization has at least 1 naysayer, who can cause a lot of problems, but who is also very knowledgeable. The naysayers must be included in the risk management process. By getting their input early, you can avoid problems and you effectively limit their negativity.

  2. Don’t waste time on basic functionality

Don’t waste time on systems and processes that have matured to where the basics are well done. If there are no changes required or improvements to be made, just document them and move on.


  1. Prioritise

Not all requirements are created equally. Using a numbering system of say “1” to “5”, “1” being Not Applicable to “5” being Critical. If you have mostly “5”s then something is wrong or you are in a bad way.


  1. Document

Included in your findings should be sketches, sample documents, notes, spreadsheets, white papers, staff comments and any other document that illustrates the requirement clearly. If you are upgrading an existing system, document the failings of the old system.


  1. Manage scope, budget and timing
    Project management is the key factor in predicting success of any project. Project management includes management of scope, budget and timing. Rather than using the school of hard knocks, you should consider working with a structured methodology such as published by the Project Management Institute (PMI).
2. Detailed Needs Analysis
1. Get organised and plan

Failing to plan is planning to fail...


Selecting an ERP system is a process and it can become time consuming. So select an ERP Project manager to manage the selection process. He should have enough authority to move the process ahead and overcome delays (normally by people) and have enough knowledge of your business processes to cover all aspects of it. In a large organization he may have to select a team representing every area of the business.

You may decide to outsource this task to an ERP Consultant like Systemlink or engage a third party professional. You still need someone internally to manage the process, co-ordinate interviews and meetings with key users and managers and ensuring that each need is addressed. The project manager should also understand the future needs of the organization to cover what the long term needs are.

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Even a ZULU Dance needs planning