Any company implementing an ERP is concerned about the go-live date. Both as management and stakeholders push for getting the ERP up and running, it is important for company's to fully understand some common failure areas. Some points for consideration in an ERP implementation are listed below. Though the list is not comprehensive, it does give a broad overview.

1. Pin-pointed clarity as to why we are going in for an ERP. What are the synergies that we expect, how will the new system SAP / Oracle / JD Edwards change our present way of working. Clarity in this regard is the one most important factor.

2. What is the implementation strategy. Are we implementing in a phased manner or a big bang implementation. Big bang implementation where all modules of an ERP AP / AR/ GL/ etc are implemented all at once is bound to fail if not properly planned.

3. How much time have you allocated for testing your system. Testing will include testing the design as well as the performance of the system.

4. What investment have you made in your hardware infrastructure. When investing in hardware it is generally safe to go in for a higher configuration so as to take care of processing loads later on.

5. Have you involved all critical users in the process flow and business process design phase. If the users are not involved right from the start, it is a sureshot sign of a ERP failure. Without adeqaute user involvement, ownership of business processes in the new ERP can become a critical failure area, Understanding the users point of view POV is very important for successful ERP implementation.

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