When I started an ERP selection and implementation project in 2017, I thought my mission would have been complete after 12-18 months, and maybe come back a year later for another 12 months for a second phase. Little did I know that this company was in for the real hypergrowth, and that so many implementation phases and integration projects were going to be required, in which I would need to be involved for so long!
I led their digital transformation of operational software and processes, with a team of 5 Power Users (each representing the Business Processes of their respective departments) and a project Sponsor; this structure grew into 10+ Power Users for the next phases for the newly impacted departments.
Having helped my client hire an ERP admin after 2 years into my contract, I started to progressively transfer him the relevant business and system knowledge, as well as increasing the delegation of my responsibilities. He then became the ERP Product Owner after a little over one year, and started hiring a new ERP admin, then an ERP dev, and the team started to form, enabling me to delegate more and more.
Talk about hypergrowth!
From 80 employees in 1 building and a 20M$ revenue at the beginning of my contract, they reached 1,400 employees (and counting) in 18 buildings (including 3 manufacturing plants and a dozen service centers), and a 500M$ revenue. From 2 people in IT, they reached 50 (and counting).
All this within only 5 ½ years.
ERP implementation is never an easy endeavor, even when operations temporarily halt in order to give some room to improve focus and manage change. However we had quite a ride with such a relentless acceleration, constantly having to readjust to moving targets!
Beyond having to manage in-ERP features implementation, I developed several connected tools to manage R&D prototype definition for new high-complexity configurable products, item creation with embedded custom logic (data validation, branching flow, ETL templates), as well as integration with external modules and applications through various connectors such as REST APIs.
This was an incredibly stimulating and motivating environment for me.
Overview of a 8,500-hour collaboration
- How I built something huge, managed its evolution,
and left 20 people in charge of it after grooming them -
My initial analysis and choice of ERP spanned over 4 months, during which I already started developing transformation tools and launching data cleansing projects.
Then Phase 1 was a monolithic "big bang" Go-Live that we deployed as the deliverable of a 12-month project, replacing 3 obsolete and disconnected systems, as well as a plethora of Excel files and manual or paper-based processes.
In Phase 2 we brought new modules and features in increments, over the next two years, during which an agile methodology was set up along with a scrum framework.
By then, an ERP team was formed and started gradually taking over my initial roles : analyst, project manager, admin, dev, architect, integrator, interface with external partners, data wizard, process optimizer, tech support, etc.
Having delegated the bulk of my responsibilities, I was able to focus on the most complex integration projects, and to support the rest of the ERP team when they were stuck on difficult issues.
Continuous delivery of system improvements has now been in place for a while, in the hands of a 20-people team. After 5 ½ years in this multiple-project contract, I'm finally ready to let them continue evolving on their own, and to find myself new, fresh challenges!
Success Story - Full ERP implementation