This is the third in our series of 6 blogs offering guidance to help you be better prepared for your ERP implementation. In this blog, we focus on project timescales . The purpose of this guidance Is to help you manage expectations of colleagues and members of your project team.
Some companies spend a lot of time - years in some cases - in system selection and evaluation. They develop their business case, agree requirements, evaluate suppliers, develop and approve a budget, and in doing so, they come to an expectation of when they would like to go live on the new solution. In some cases, this expectation becomes fixed. It becomes a requirement.
System selection can be time consuming and sometimes it takes longer than expected. In some cases, there is a temptation to allow timescales for the selection process to slip while the expected Go Live date remains fixed. And that can be a problem. Don't get me wrong, a target Go Live date is a good thing. Indeed, we work with you to plan for one in your project. The difference between this date and the expected date above is that it is jointly agreed and based on a full understanding of what needs to be delivered, by when, and by whom.
You should always set a realistic, achievable target Go Live date. This should take into consideration:
So, the answer to the question - when to go live - is best answered by the project team during planning and design of your new solution.
During system selection, we are usually asked how long the implementation project will take. Our answer is based on years of experience and countless projects. If you are looking for a simple rule of thumb, please download a copy of our Buyers Guide for SAP Business One or SunSystems Cloud. The guides include scenarios differentiated by project scope and against each scenario is an indication of the average length of a project of that type.
Another rule of thumb that you may find useful is that your project is likely to be divided into thirds. One third planning and design, one third build, and one third testing, training and Go-Live. We will discuss testing in the next of our series of blogs. I mention it here, simply to make you aware of the importance of devoting sufficient time to testing.
This may sound a bit obvious, but don't forget the day job. Unfortunately, many do. It's not that they forget to do their job, it's just that day to day activity is often prioritised over project work. General business operations put a significant constraint on the time that you and your team can realistically dedicate to a new ERP implementation.
The best time to address this problem is in planning. And if there are uncertainties, build flexibility into the plan.
In the next blog in this series, we highlight the importance of testing.
For detail on what to expect in each phase of your project, please download a copy of our Implementation Guide to SAP Business One or SunSystems Cloud.
by Ed Bentley
Blog updated 11th March 2025
