What makes up an ERP roadmap and why do I need one for my ERP system?
An ERP roadmap is a high-level plan that illustrates the future direction of the system from today forward over some time period. Creating a roadmap is very important as most software companies like SAP make many planned required and optional updates to their software over time. These updates help the software stay current and reflect marketplace requests.
A personalized ERP roadmap aligns an organization's ERP system plans with the software companies release plan. Creating and following a roadmap puts in place a well communicated plan to take advantage of these changes to improve business performance and efficiency and help identify areas that can block or make it difficult to reach important goals.
For example, SAP has released SAP S/4HANA their latest innovative ERP. Many organizations running SAP ERP ECC or other ERP's, would welcome the opportunity to capitalize on the many new features of SAP S/4HANA, but don't know where to start and how to proceed. A personalized roadmap can answer those questions and provide insight into how to get from here to there.
A roadmap for an ERP system should start at the current state and chart the path of the ERP system through time. It should highlight key attributes that are expected to change.
Common attributes include:
Landscape (Products, Versions)
Platform architecture (Hosted, Cloud, Hybrid)
Major functional components (Accounting, Human Resources, Payroll, Talent Acquisition, Manufacturing, Inventory, Security, etc.)
The most effective roadmaps can be drilled into to provide more detailed supplemental information on key attributes. These details can explain the roadmap journey to a reader.
Supplemental information can include:
Descriptions
Benefits
Strategic goals it meets
Expected organizational change
Features
High level costs
Resources required
How often should I update or review?
Once a baseline roadmap is created, it should be viewed as a living document that illustrates the path of the ERP system over time. At a minimum, it should be reviewed annually, and more frequently if you are in an industry that has a very short innovation cycle or is changing rapidly. We recommend a quarterly review and update with immediate review if there are significant industry changes.
Meridian has extensive experience and tools designed to help organizations create a personalized roadmap for their ERP journey, including the path to SAP S/4HANA.
Comments