The Critical Path Method in ERP Projects: Reduce Stress, Time
Pressure and Headaches
with this Simple Method

ERP Implementation: Rushing and Hasty Decisions damage Quality

What you really don’t need in your ERP implementation project is time pressure. You have probably already experienced first-hand how hectic and hasty decisions can affect the quality of your results. Because: implementing an ERP system badly is quick. A sustainably successful implementation, on the other hand, takes time.

It’s even worse if you have to work with a business-critical system that is no longer fully supported by your software vendor. So if you’re planning to migrate your on-premises software solution to the cloud in the near future, you should get very well informed beforehand.

Do you remember how much time your company needed for the selection, the contract conclusion, the implementation and finally the use of your current software solution? If not, you should find out. This will probably help you realize that these processes are very time-consuming. For a small or medium-sized company, the entire process can quickly take one and a half to two years. Or even longer. Your available capacities are simply limited because you also have to keep your business running “on the side”.

The path to your new ERP solution does not lead past the following question: have you determined your critical path? What is meant by the “critical path” is made pretty clear by a simple example from everyday life.

The Critical Path Method - simply explained using an Everyday Example

Are you familiar with the early evening show “The Perfect Dinner”, in which the cooking skills and hosting qualities of the participants are scrutinized every week? Imagine you are planning to host a perfect dinner for your friends on a Saturday night. What do you have to do in any case to make your “project” a success?

1. Plan the menu
2. Send out invitations
3. Go grocery shopping
4. Make preparations
5. Organize table decorations
6. Cook the 3-course menu
7. Serving

So, to make sure you end up with a perfect dinner that’s just the way you want it, there are some to-dos on your list. These seven processes are all essential and interdependent: until you’ve planned the menu, you can’t send out the invitations or go shopping for the necessary ingredients. And without preparation - for example, cutting the vegetables or chilling the dessert the night before - you can’t start cooking.

Without the correct “project management”, your overall schedule could be thrown into disarray and you would still be there in your cooking apron and the table would not be set when your friends are already ringing the doorbell.

An aspect that is not essential for the progress of the dinner project, on the other hand, could be the planning of an entertainment activity for the guests to bridge the waiting time between courses.

The Critical Path of your ERP Implementation

Has this “everyday project” now made it a little clearer to you what the critical path is all about? Great, now back to your ERP implementation: the critical path method (CPM) is a method from project management.

The critical path method refers to the chain of events within your project that determines its minimum duration.

As with your perfect dinner, the focus is on the operations on which others are based, each of which must be completed by a certain time so that you can adhere to the schedule for the entire project.

If one or even several tasks in the critical path are delayed, all subsequent tasks in your project will also be delayed. This can ultimately make it difficult to meet the planned go-live date. And you want to avoid this at all costs, just as you want to avoid excessive budget overruns! It is therefore important to keep a close eye on the critical processes and to counteract bottlenecks in good time.

The following critical project steps are on the way to your new ERP software:

1. Analyze processes and define goals
2. Define solution approaches
3. Implement solution approaches
4. Carry out functional tests
5. Carry out integration tests
6. Hold training courses
7. Put the system into operation

First and foremost is the analysis of your current processes and the definition of your goals that you associate with the new ERP solution. You determine the actual and target situation - nothing works without this first step! In order to be able to implement the new processes, solution approaches must first be defined that are precisely tailored to your company. Only then can functional tests and then regular integration tests for quality assurance be carried out. If everything is right, application training can take place before you finally put the new system into operation.

These Questions will help you with the “Critical Path Analysis” of your ERP Project

When determining the critical path, there are also two questions that are of central importance. You should definitely clarify these for yourself in advance.

1. Are you assured of full support from your current vendor?

   Assuming you were to begin implementation today, would you be confident that your current solution can rely on active support from your vendor throughout the period? This includes complete security, bug fixing, provision of new versions and compliance with all laws and regulations relevant to you.

   And what if you’re not launching today, but in six or twelve months’ time? Has your current vendor already committed to providing you with this full active support?

   Today, almost every ERP vendor is in the process of moving their on-premises solutions to the public cloud, and many of them are expected to release dates in the foreseeable future when they will stop supporting their on-premises solutions. This can of course affect your plans.

2. Is your preferred implementation partner available at the desired time?

   And now the second important question: Is your preferred implementation partner also available to start the project when you are ready?

   Apart from internal considerations, you also have to deal with external factors. These include, for example, the capacity of your implementation partner to migrate your system. With the large number of on-premises users looking to migrate to the cloud over the next few years, there may well be a wait.

Visualize and keep Track of Project Steps with a Gantt Chart

You can use a Gantt chart, for example, to visualize the critical path clearly for all those involved and to systematically plan and monitor the project steps.

Put simply, a Gantt chart shows you what needs to be done and when. In addition, you can see how long the individual tasks take and how they depend on each other. You can also use it to see whether processes overlap. A very simple principle with a big impact!

Using the Critical Path Method: identify Essential Tasks and follow a Realistic Timeline

If you want to successfully migrate your location-based software solutions to the cloud in the near future, you need to know your critical path. First of all, good preparation with thorough research is everything. Make sure you know exactly how long your current solution will be supported and always keep in mind that your organization is not the only one that needs capacity.

The critical path method helps you to identify the really important tasks and track them throughout the project so you can develop a realistic schedule and then stick to it by constantly comparing your target plan with the actual state. A promising tool to visualize your processes is, for example, the Gantt chart. If you use it purposefully and focus on the really important processes, it helps to make your project clearer, which in turn can minimize stress and time pressure.

If you still need support, please feel free to contact us. We will help you to successfully tread the critical path.