Remote Cloud ERP implementations : pragmatism , communication and preparedness

I count myself and my enterprise extremely lucky.

In 2020 the pandemic has thrown a giant spanner in the works, several spanners actually. But am proud to state that with a good mix of focus , agility , adaptability and tenacity , we have overcome. In fact , from the second half of 2020 onwards, the silver lining of cloud technologies that we saw shine through the dark clouds of the global economic downturn became our new reality.

In January this year we had the opportunity to start an SAP ByD implementation with an international company. The client, a start-up and a technology disrupter in its own market, chose to use the best ERP cloud technology on offer.

Here are a few notes of mine in this unique context.

"When the going gets tough , the tough get going" is exactly what this client thinks. Notwithstanding the economic uncertainty , and COVID-19 worries, the investment is being made. And we are bringing the best of our tools and skills to the table for an implementation in the new reality : with a remote implementation team, we plan, prepare, configure , upload data and test with the support of the remote users of the new system.

Save for user training, which for some part is still delivered in a suitable and safe venue, we deliver across multiple time zones online. What we are conscious about however is that once employees will start using the new system, it will be more difficult for them to learn from each other. Being remote doesn't allow for a quick check by the colleague in the next cubicle. The Country Super Users' role is therefore even more important. They can be supported with top notch documentation and training videos or recordings. And Zoom , Google Meet or Teams of course.

On the same topic of documentation : in order to be prepared for the worst-case scenario, with infections triggering sudden illness , employees (the newly trained users) will need to document their work and update their status on a more regular basis. This will help make a transition easier if work needs to be passed from one employee to another on short notice. Preparedness is key to continuity.

When it comes to working remote, with schools and day cares closed, most of us now have additional responsibilities, such as organizing remote learning e.g. In addition, we may also be providing care to older relatives. This is a new reality for us all that is out of our control. We need to understand the challenges and find out how we can help so that everyone can continue contributing to the project.

So far, so good. We are on track with the implementation as we speak (as I write in fact ;-) Both the clients' team and ours are doing well. Looks like the project management "checks and balances" that we put in place are helping too. The rest is communication, more communication and pragmatism.

Stay safe y'all !