{"id":14190,"date":"2023-09-18T00:36:41","date_gmt":"2023-09-18T00:36:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/leadership\/4-cautionary-thoughts-prior-to-working-with-an-implementation-partner\/"},"modified":"2023-09-18T00:36:43","modified_gmt":"2023-09-18T00:36:43","slug":"4-cautionary-thoughts-prior-to-working-with-an-implementation-partner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=14190","title":{"rendered":"4 Cautionary Thoughts Prior To Working With An Implementation Partner"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Much like a cybersecurity event, a massive, full-scale business solution modernization is always when<\/em>, not if<\/em>.<\/p>\n

If you are a technology leader that finds herself firmly rooted in the mindset of, \u201cI did not become a Chief Information Officer to implement an ERP system<\/em>,\u201d you might want to reconsider career paths.<\/p>\n

As more and more businesses need to embrace data to make the smartest strategic decisions for success, those sprawling data repositories, aging systems of record, and cobbled together archaic software solutions are at this very moment hiding in a corner, praying they continue to go unnoticed.<\/p>\n

Directly behind that shivering mass are the staff members who ground-up built those systems and have assumed for a long time that their specific expertise of understanding the structure of the onion-layered puzzle of finance and people systems surely results in a fortress of job security not even the Avengers could penetrate.<\/p>\n

And yet, here we are. Older systems cause risk. Poorly implemented or barely used solutions do just enough but not enough to drive success. Staff that have programmed today\u2019s entire tech stack are fearful of next steps and\/or simply nervous about learning something new.<\/p>\n

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Today\u2019s technology leaders are well-aware there is plenty of room at the table for those nervous team members – let\u2019s do this! Up-skilling is critical, one of the best investments a company can make and will continue to be of utmost importance in our ever-changing environment.<\/p>\n

So it\u2019s time to modernize. You find a solution. You need help implementing that solution in the cleanest way possible. Surprise! There\u2019s a partner for that! You find your partner.<\/p>\n

Now what?<\/p>\n

Lean into the partner\u2019s expertise<\/h2>\n

At its root, the goal of your big, scary project is improvement<\/em><\/strong> which has many meanings – decreasing customizations, increasing the ability to scale, setting up better mechanisms for accurate, real-time reporting, eliminating duplicative solutions, and more, or even all of the above plus some.<\/p>\n

If you walk into implementation meetings with ideas of doing things the way you\u2019ve always done them, demanding to adhere to processes of the past or breaking your newly-selected modern solution to rebuild it to mirror how your old one worked, you are setting yourself up for failure.<\/p>\n

Assuming you\u2019ve selected the right-fit-for-you implementation partner, download your current processes to them and request their proposal for best steps forward. They know these solutions, they know best business practice, and they know how they carried similar businesses where you need to be. They are also not weighed down by your businesses past processes and politics. They are fresh eyes – use them.<\/p>\n

Caveat: There might be certain instances where your implementation partner might need to know a non-negotiable business process – for example, if you support multiple businesses that have different fiscal year-ends for a legitimate reason, they will need to make sure the environment they create can accommodate multiple year-ends.<\/p>\n

Though you may have similar non-negotiable requirements, they are always a much smaller number than new ways of doing things that dramatically improves any business.<\/p>\n

The importance of the partner-side project manager<\/h2>\n

Think about the team you contract with to execute your large technology project. This work – implementations, integrations, project management – is their sole job. They are not consumed by the need to provide monthly budget updates to executives or negotiate benefits every year for thousands of employees. They implement technology solutions.<\/em><\/p>\n

Your assigned project manager wrangles the consultants that get that heavy lift from in progress<\/em> to complete<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Is your assigned project manager:<\/h3>\n