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Key No. 5 – Maximising The Business Benefits And Return On Your IT Investments

It goes without saying that, despite the best planning and implementation processes, the proof of an ERP project is in the business benefits and the return on investment achieved. A well-executed project is less than successful if there are no benefits or returns. This should be obvious to all, and this should be the primary focus of every project, in any field.

But judging by the number of ‘failed’ projects – whether this means never being completed or simply not living up to expectations – one would be forgiven for wondering if this overriding priority is forgotten in many cases. The attitude that “the operation was successful but the patient died” must be avoided at all costs, and it is an attitude that must be avoided throughout the project lifecycle.

Realising the benefits of your ERP implementation is determined by the actions taken in the initial planning stages of a project, as well as the result of how well the system is used once it is up and running. Poor planning can mean limited or even zero benefits or, at worst, a highly negative impact on the organisation. There are cases where organisations have suffered terminal effects of a poor implementation.

Companies focus on the process of selecting and installing ERP software systems but once the initial project is complete, it often happens that both the original team and the business focus move on, whether or not all the original goals have been achieved. The end result is something of an instant legacy system, with no budget or plan for further training or realisation of business objectives.

It cannot be emphasised enough that business benefits come after the project is complete. This is often a difficult issue to manage during the implementation phase, as those involved require faith in the project that the benefits will be achieved, but often see little evidence of this during the implementation itself.

A good example of this is in the consideration of modifications. It is often easier for project teams to request a modification to maintain the status quo and appease business users rather than try and introduce an improved process. For this reason any modification must be endorsed by the business leader most affected by the modification and reviewed by his peers.

Where possible the benefits should be built into operational plans budgets to ensure they are realised. This will encourage business managers not directly involved with the project to maintain an interest as they know they will be measured once it is in operation.

Joe Peppard et al referred to this in an article in MIS Quarterly Executive (called MIS1 from here on): “With the information technology investments, most organisations focus on implementing the technology rather than on realising the expected business benefits. Consequently, benefits are not forthcoming, despite a project’s technical success.”

They go on to say: “When considering return on investment calculations, organisations are so pre-occupied with manipulating the denominator – reducing spend – that they do not focus on the numerator – how IT can generate significant benefits. Equally worrying is the traditional investment appraisal process, which is often seen as a ritual that must be overcome before a project can begin. Many benefits are overstated to get the project through this process.

“No wonder few companies engage in post-implementation reviews. They already know that many of the benefits described in the business case are unlikely to be achieved.”

As cynical as this last judgement is, there is an element of truth in it. But it needn’t be so. There are ways to ensure – or, at least, to maximise – the business benefits that your ERP implementation can achieve.

Peppard et al, in another article (MIS Quarterly Executive, March 2008 - called MIS2 from here on), say “There is an important difference between investment objectives and benefits. Objectives are overall goals or aims on the investment, which are agreed on by all relevant stakeholders. In contrast, benefits are advantages provided to specific groups or individuals as a result of meeting the overall objectives.”

They suggest (in MIS1) that, underlying an ERP project proposal, there should be five principles adhered with in order to realise value through IT.

Principle #1 is that IT has no inherent value. “Just having technology does not confer any benefit or create value. The value of technology is not in its possession. In fact, IT spending only incurs costs. Benefits result from effective use of IT assets.”

Principle #2 is that benefits arise when IT enables people to do things differently. “Benefits emerge only when individuals or groups within an organisation, or its customers or suppliers, perform their roles in more efficient or effective ways. Generally, these new ways of working require improving how information is used.”

Principle #3 says that only business managers and users can release business benefits. “Benefits result from changes and innovations in ways of working, so only business managers, users, and possibly customers and suppliers, can make these changes. Therefore, IT and project staff cannot be held accountable for realising the business benefits of IT investments. Business staff must take on this responsibility. Getting business staff to acknowledge this principle is a key way to ensure that they become involved in so-called IT projects.”

Principle #4 reminds us that all IT projects have outcomes, but not all outcomes are benefits. “Many IT projects produce negative outcomes, sometimes even affecting the very survival of the organisation. The challenges for management are to avoid such negative outcomes and to ensure that the positive outcomes deliver explicit business benefits.

Principle #5 says that benefits must be actively managed to be obtained. “Benefits are not outcomes that automatically occur. Furthermore, the accumulation of benefits lags implementation; there can be a time gap between initial investment and payoff. Therefore, managing for the benefits does not stop when the technical implementation is completed. Benefits management needs to continue until all the expected benefits have either been achieved, or it is clear they will not materialise.”

To implement an ERP project based on their five principles, Peppard et al recommend that seven key questions should be asked, the answers to which “are used to develop both a robust business case for the investment and a viable change management plan to deliver the benefits”.

These questions are:

• Why must we improve?

• What improvements are necessary or possible?

• What benefits will be realised by each stakeholder if the investment objectives are achieved?

• Who owns each benefit and will be accountable for its delivery?

• What changes are needed to achieve each benefit?

• Who will be responsible for ensuring that each change is successfully made?

• How and when can the identified changes be made?

They do warn (MIS2) that “Some benefits can only be measured by opinion or judgement. … Quantifiable benefits are ones where an existing measure is in place or can be put in place relatively easily. Since quantifying benefits inevitably involves forecasting the future, the challenge is to find ways of doing this as accurately and robustly as possible.”

But an ERP system does not stand alone, and realising benefits often relies on other, external inputs. ERP software systems are largely data dependent and data driven and the key to realising the full benefits is integration. If information is incomplete or inconsistent it becomes very difficult to integrate reliably and the results can lead to a loss of business confidence in the system and increased non-productive work load for support personnel.

Often day-to-day operation of systems falls to staff who weren’t involved during the initial implementation and who have not received the same levels of training and handover as the original team. As a result effective system usage tends to deteriorate over time.

Your approach, then, to realising benefits of an ERP implementation (or any IT project, for that matter) relies on taking an holistic approach, which means not just all participants and stakeholders, but also all inputs. And this also means across the entire spread of a project – from the very first inkling of a suggestion or realisation of a need, to the end project and, importantly, beyond – to the ultimate users and how they will react to and live with the system that has, hopefully, been fully implemented. An implementation is not successful until anticipated benefits are achieved – largely after implementation – or a good reason established for why they won’t be. Responsibility, therefore, for doing this rests with many players, at many stages.

Complex? Yes.

Difficult? Maybe.

Essential? Absolutely.

References

• Clarke, P., “How to maximise your investment in ERP technology”, June 2008, IBS Australia

• Peppard, J., Ward, J., and Daniel, E., “Managing the realisation of business benefits from IT investments”, March 2007, MIS Quarterly Executive

• Ward, J., Daniel, E., and Peppard, J., “Building better business cases for IT investments”, March 2008, MIS Quarterly Executive

To subscribe to the entire article series visit http://www.supplychainsecrets.com.au

Peter Clarke, Chief Technology Officer IBS Asia Pacific has over 20 years experience in ERP Software, ERP Systems, Supply Chain Management Software and EAI.

Any business is composed of many processes. All of those processes have direct or indirect impact to the main activity – serving the customers. Customers expect to receive product and/or service from their supplier that will satisfy their needs.

Usually, more than one company is competing for the same customer base. Eventually, the customer base is split based on chosen supplier. What is the reason for customer to choose one supplier out of many? All suppliers are competing to satisfy customer’s needs by offering them a certain value. This value is represented as ratio between benefits and price. More benefits for less price gives greater value to the customer. So, the product/service needs either to have bigger benefit for the same price, or lower price for the same benefit, for some company to be chosen as a preferred supplier.

When we come to cost structure, that affects the value delivered, we find many process steps that increase, directly or indirectly, the price of the product. These activities can be value adding or waste activities.

Value Adding Activities

Since customer appreciate greater value that he receives from his supplier, any activity that customer cares about is value adding. Any activity that improves the product appearance, functionality, durability, satisfaction and brand loyalty is value-adding activity.

Also, value-adding activity is any activity that changes the product itself. This can be in any step in raw materials manipulation, production, or adjustments and packing of the product.

Finally, any activity that is done properly from the first time can be considered as value adding. Obviously, failure to achieve activity from the first time does not add to the value of the product.

Waste Activities

Unfortunately, there are many waste activities that are waiting any company during their activities. Wastes are sometimes even difficult to detect, especially in case that proper structure of key business indicators is not implemented. There is a whole range of wastes that can generate in Supply Chain:

Overproduction – This Type of Waste can happen in case of greater production versus demand, or in case of inaccurate forecasting. In some cases overproduction can be justified, like pre-stocking prior to the main sales season.

Unnecessary Inventory – It is true that higher inventory is the protection from uncertainty of demand and from OOS, but too high inventory does not add value. From financial perspectives, high inventory level is capturing the working capital, that can be used for better purpose ( investment, interest, etc. )

Defects can slow down or stop production. Low productivity and scrap are increasing cost per unit produced.

Inappropriate processing due to inadequate technology or design can produce waste.

Waiting of item in the queue to be process does not add value to the customer.

Transport is an important part of operations, but unnecessarily movement of products is not adding value

The optimum price of the product is achieved by proper balancing of activities. Value adding activities should be optimized, while waste activities should be either reduced or eliminated.

Laurus Nobilis has 11 years of experience in FMCG business. In 2007 he has started the www.biz-development.com web site dedicated to development of managerial skills. He also runs www.my-introspective.com a Personal Exploration and Development Guide.

People in online business want to be able to quickly process their online payments. They also want to appear professional and secure for their clients otherwise people won’t be confident enough to trust them. For this reason, it’s often wise to set up a merchant account quickly. There are a lot of reasons to get a merchant account including:

- You can increase your customer base by demonstrating professionalism with a professional looking online payment solution

- You’ll have the ability to accept major credit cards such as Visa, MasterCard, Amex and Discover payments on a secure connection right from your website. Your customers need to feel secure in buying from you!

- You could get the ability to rent a terminal for credit card payments that need to be processed manually. The terminals are often included with your monthly membership fee and this can save you a several hundred dollar expense. This can help you with online and offline business.

- Have your online payments transferred to you by wire securely, quickly and safely.

- Included software enabling you to set up price lists and shopping carts on your website

- Transaction reporting and statements making your bookkeeping management much more seamless

- Fraud screening protection. A lot of online retailers have been the victims of credit card chargeback fraud where someone buys something from a site and then claims fraud later so that you are automatically deducted money but still out of pocket for the product provided. A merchant account could help you avoid this problem with fraud screening services included in the cost of having the account.

- Low fees. Compared to some services such as PayPal, a merchant account has much lower fees that enable you to have greater profit margin. While some have monthly fees, the low transaction cost and value added services can make the fees negligible in contrast to PayPal.

- 24/7 support is included in some cases which can help you with payment gateway problems that could happen. An open source program won’t offer you any help so a merchant solution could be a better alternative, especially if you have (or want to expand to) a borderless business with many customers ordering in various time zones. If you’re looking at several options, you’ll want to take the amount of included support into serious consideration!

- Speaking of borderless businesses, a solid merchant service will give you the ability to accept payments in multiple currencies which can extend your ability to service more customers.

How do you set up a merchant account?

There are a lot of companies to choose from when you get ready to embark on finding a suitable merchant services company. Once you’ve done your due diligence and found someone suitable, you’ll likely have to provide completed paperwork and an application form. Many high end merchant accounts now work to approve applicants quickly.

The account approval process will likely include request for a financial statement, banking information, a signed merchant agreement and copies of your photo ID.

Merchant accounts can be set up and software can typically be easily integrated into your existing website.

Looking at merchant account options? It might be time for you to set up a merchant account for your online business. Visit TheWebReviewer for a vast amount of free information and online product reviews pertaining to online payments and making money online.

Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) has been referred to as a revolutionary method of psychological therapy that allows a person to take personal responsibility in improving his current life situation. It is said to give you the power to eliminate fear, trauma and stress and other negative emotions from your daily routine without resorting to surgery or other extensive medical procedures. Due in large part to the fact that it does not involve any surgical procedure, pill intake or needle-pricking –hence minimizing negative side effects — as well as to its one-size-fits-all appeal, EFT is now being promoted for use in all aspects of an average individual’s life.

Among the things we consider most important towards achieving personal satisfaction and fulfillment is professional development or success in business. And this part of our life has not escaped the notice of EFT enthusiasts around the world. They believe that the Emotional Freedom Techniques originally devised by Gary Craig can spell the big difference between being a business washout or an economic genius.

Taking into consideration the fact that Craig’s intention in developing EFT was to help people remove stress and cope with anxiety disorders, we have to concede that they could be right. For how can one be successful in business if he lives in a constant state of emotional stress? And how can one move forward in the business world if all his best intentions and ideas are overshadowed by an inherent fear of rejection and failure?

By employing the Emotional Freedom Techniques, we are able to slowly let go of all the negative feelings and memories that have burdened us all these years. In a way, we are making our personal “Declaration of Independence” — independence from stress, from fear, from envy, from anything and everything that hinders us from reaching our full potential as individuals. As a result of this independence, we become more positive in our outlook; thus allowing wealth, success and well-being to flow freely into our lives.

As you begin to make the technique a habit, you will notice its effects in subtle changes in your character. You begin to relax a bit while preparing for an important business presentation and become more confident in public speaking engagements. After a while, other people will see these changes as well and they will realize that you have become less irritable — generally, you shout less and smile more often. And because EFT does not only address money-making issues, but is primarily geared towards creating balance and total development in the individual, you get the bonus of feeling good and looking better than you have looked for years.

What’s best is that this method enables us to use our own healing energies in the privacy of our own home to relieve ourselves of psychological and emotional burdens. We do not have to go through the embarrassment of having to share our failures with others, as in an AA-type therapy session. Nor do we have to make a nuisance of ourselves by having to consult a professional every once in a while just to complain about imaginary aches and pains. EFT has, indeed, given us the chance to take matters into our own hands and take the necessary steps towards turning our business failures into shining success stories.

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