Why would you want to pre-plan for your CloudSuite implementation? In a nutshell, these projects are complicated and disruptive to an organization’s business processes. Since this undertaking is nothing like an upgrade, you need to set yourself up to have a successful implementation. Remember, this venture will last the next twenty, twenty-five years – as you're laying the foundation, you want to make the right decisions.
This endeavor should be approached with an understanding of what your organization can gain and what areas need additional time and energy to ensure everything is right. Basically, there are two objectives: one is to get the organization ready for this effort, while the second is to decide how much can be taken on during the initial implementation phase. Unlike an upgrade, this first objective is going to require the business users to be engaged. Even though this will interrupt their everyday jobs, it will also offer them a lot of opportunities in the long run. One of the objectives of pre-planning is to to establish the wins for your employees and help them understand what this project is and why they should be excited about it. The second objective revolves around the scope of the project. It requires knowing the complexity of all the different areas, both in terms of your business process and W.I.C.E. (R.I.C.E.) components, before figuring out the best way to proceed. The organization must decide how much time they have to take on the work versus how much support they want from a partner.
What it all comes down to is that no two migrations are the same. Every single customer has a very different house suite opportunity and because it’s not cookie cutter, it is important to look at the various nuances that could affect the end result. Obviously, if you recently implemented Lawson less than five years ago and you feel really good about your business processes and your GHR structure, this project will be less of an effort for your team as well as ours. However, if you have certain pain points you've been living with for twenty years or reporting requirements that are giving you trouble, it would be easier to avoid complications later on if all of your needs are addressed from the very beginning.
About the Authors
Keith Wayland
Managing Partner, RPI Consultants
Keith is the Managing Partner of RPI and is certified on Infor Cloud Suite Financials and Supply Chain. He has been working with Infor & Lawson customers for 20+ years and his passion is helping leaders develop strategies to optimize their use of the software. Keith leads and sets the direction for RPI – he is a driving force every day of our customer centric strategy as well as pushing our team to be thought leaders. He “leads from the front” by being a common presenter and the master of ceremonies of most of our webcasts or as we say our “carnival barker”. Keith also interacts daily with customer and Infor executives to promote the positive forward movement of our industry, community, and customers.
Richard Leigh Stout
Partner, Infor Practice Leader, RPI Consultants
Richard has been sharing his passion for helping clients implement optimized Infor solutions for more than 15 years. As an RPI partner and head of the Infor practice, he is widely known throughout the Infor community as a though leader in the space as well as one of the foremost figures in designing, developing, and optimizing successful ERP architectures leveraging the Infor solution. In addition to helping clients achieve their immediate and long-term goals, Richard focuses on educating the wider community on best practices, optimizing solutions, and moving organizations to their next level.
End of Messages
