{"id":8899,"date":"2014-02-13T11:38:52","date_gmt":"2014-02-13T11:38:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sg.syspro.com\/blog\/four-tips-for-starting-an-erp-project\/"},"modified":"2025-04-02T11:33:07","modified_gmt":"2025-04-02T09:33:07","slug":"four-tips-for-starting-an-erp-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sg.syspro.com\/blog\/planning-for-erp-or-purchasing-erp\/four-tips-for-starting-an-erp-project\/","title":{"rendered":"Four tips for starting an ERP project"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>We have previously discussed <a title=\"How an ERP system can help a business\" href=\"https:\/\/sg.syspro.com\/blog\/planning-for-erp-or-purchasing-erp\/what-is-erp-and-how-will-it-help-your-business\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">how an ERP system can help a business<\/a>, and also provided some suggestions on <a title=\"How to select an ERP solution\" href=\"https:\/\/sg.syspro.com\/blog\/erp-for-distribution\/8-steps-to-selecting-the-right-erp\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">how to select an ERP solution<\/a>. But if you have read some of the stories about ERP project problems you might wonder if it is worth the risk. The answer to this is twofold.<!--moreRead more...--><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>The reports on ERP project failure mainly refer to large organizations implementing fairly large projects, and are not representative of projects undertaken by small- and mid-size businesses.<\/li>\n<li>It\u2019s how you approach the implementation that is a significant determinant of success or failure.<!--more--><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h1>So where and how do you start?<\/h1>\n<p>The lead up to an ERP project is a good time to consider Eli Goldratt\u2019s <a title=\"Theory of Constraints Thinking Processes\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Thinking_processes_(theory_of_constraints)\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Theory of Constraints Thinking Processes<\/a>, which is a set of tools to help organizations identify what can be done to significantly improve any business system. By the time you start the project you should have dealt with the question \u201cWhy change?\u201d Now you need to look at the other questions:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>What to change?<\/li>\n<li>What to change into?<\/li>\n<li>How to cause the change?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>A number of organizations might think that all they need to change is their business system, when in reality they will probably also change and streamline processes, and realign roles and responsibilities. Therefore I recommend the following steps.<\/p>\n<p><strong>1. Do a business process blueprint.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>To answer those \u201cwhat\u201d questions you need to understand the processes that operate in the business. A process blueprint provides a graphical view of the way processes work, who is responsible for the processes, and the interaction between different roles. It also helps by creating a view of the business that both IT and business can understand and discuss \u2013 a common, visually-based language. From the blueprint you can see more clearly what might need to change (e.g., in terms of streamlining processes), and with a decent blueprint tool you can try out different changes to see what might be most appropriate. The blueprint enables you to identify solution gaps and define integration points between IT solutions.<\/p>\n<p><strong>2. Check that the key project issues are covered<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Evidence from many projects shows that there are four main factors that create project problems, and so mitigating them will improve the chances of project success.<\/p>\n<table border=\"1\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" bgcolor=\"#efefef\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\" bgcolor=\"dfdfdf\" width=\"198\">\n<h4><strong>Main causes of project problems<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" bgcolor=\"dfdfdf\" width=\"244\">\n<h4><strong>How to mitigate them<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\" width=\"198\">Unclear objectives and poor focus<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" width=\"244\">Focus on strategy, involve stakeholders and define project teams responsibilities and accountability<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\" width=\"198\">Changes in project scope<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" width=\"244\">Ensure project team and all affected staff are aligned to work towards common project goals<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\" width=\"198\">Lack of appropriate skills<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" width=\"244\">Ensure appropriate skills are available<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\" width=\"198\">Unrealistic schedules and poor planning<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" width=\"244\">Have a good project manager<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><strong>3. Plan the project in phases<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The implementation project plan describes how the transition from current state to envisaged future state will occur \u2013 it addresses \u201chow to cause the change?\u201d Plan the project in phases and implement over time, for several reasons.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>It\u2019s easier to estimate and manage the budget for a smaller set of tasks than it would be for a \u2018big bang\u2019 type of approach<\/li>\n<li>It restricts the impact of the change to a smaller number of people, which means disruptions to everyday work can be minimized<\/li>\n<li>Showing rolled-out wins will keep people motivated<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>4. Make sure change management is included<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The biggest cause of failure in IT projects is not software, it\u2019s \u2018wet-ware\u2019 (people). Resistance to change can block even the most perfect plans, so building active consensus and buy-in is crucial. Forrester Research offers the following steps.<\/p>\n<p>Lastly, although you may have undertaken a thorough business process analysis, and done the proper project planning, be prepared for unexpected complications that occur during roll-out. This is especially true for manufacturing businesses with complex processes, and where integration with other manufacturing applications is needed. If, however, you have done the upfront work, you will be in a position to handle these complexities without seriously impacting the project or the business.<\/p>\n<p>What is your experience with starting an ERP project? Have you got any other tips to add?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Reading Time: <\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 4<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutes<\/span><\/span>We have previously discussed how an ERP system can help a business, and also provided some suggestions on how to select an ERP solution. But if you have read some of the stories about ERP project problems you might wonder if it is worth the risk. The answer to this is twofold.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":134,"featured_media":6033,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[272],"tags":[45,7,270],"class_list":["post-8899","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-planning-for-erp-or-purchasing-erp","tag-business-software","tag-erp-implementation","tag-syspro-process-modeling"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Four tips for starting an ERP project<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A process blueprint provides a graphical view of the way processes work, who is responsible for the processes, especially true for manufacturing businesses with complex processes.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sg.syspro.com\/blog\/planning-for-erp-or-purchasing-erp\/four-tips-for-starting-an-erp-project\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Four tips for starting an ERP project\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A process blueprint provides a graphical view of the way processes work, who is responsible for the processes, especially true for manufacturing businesses with complex processes.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sg.syspro.com\/blog\/planning-for-erp-or-purchasing-erp\/four-tips-for-starting-an-erp-project\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"SYSPRO Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-02-13T11:38:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-04-02T09:33:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sg.syspro.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/starting-an-erp-project.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"410\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Simon Griffiths\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Simon Griffiths\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sg.syspro.com\\\/blog\\\/planning-for-erp-or-purchasing-erp\\\/four-tips-for-starting-an-erp-project\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sg.syspro.com\\\/blog\\\/planning-for-erp-or-purchasing-erp\\\/four-tips-for-starting-an-erp-project\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Simon Griffiths\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sg.syspro.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0dd30e9120a0499443b61cf237de4763\"},\"headline\":\"Four tips for starting an ERP project\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-02-13T11:38:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-02T09:33:07+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sg.syspro.com\\\/blog\\\/planning-for-erp-or-purchasing-erp\\\/four-tips-for-starting-an-erp-project\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":674,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sg.syspro.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sg.syspro.com\\\/blog\\\/planning-for-erp-or-purchasing-erp\\\/four-tips-for-starting-an-erp-project\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sg.syspro.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/starting-an-erp-project.png\",\"keywords\":[\"Business software\",\"ERP Implementation\",\"SYSPRO Process Modeling\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Planning-Purchasing-Implementing ERP\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/sg.syspro.com\\\/blog\\\/planning-for-erp-or-purchasing-erp\\\/four-tips-for-starting-an-erp-project\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sg.syspro.com\\\/blog\\\/planning-for-erp-or-purchasing-erp\\\/four-tips-for-starting-an-erp-project\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sg.syspro.com\\\/blog\\\/planning-for-erp-or-purchasing-erp\\\/four-tips-for-starting-an-erp-project\\\/\",\"name\":\"Four tips for starting an ERP project\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sg.syspro.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sg.syspro.com\\\/blog\\\/planning-for-erp-or-purchasing-erp\\\/four-tips-for-starting-an-erp-project\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sg.syspro.com\\\/blog\\\/planning-for-erp-or-purchasing-erp\\\/four-tips-for-starting-an-erp-project\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sg.syspro.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/starting-an-erp-project.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-02-13T11:38:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-02T09:33:07+00:00\",\"description\":\"A process blueprint provides a graphical view of the way processes work, who is responsible for the processes, especially true for manufacturing businesses with complex processes.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sg.syspro.com\\\/blog\\\/planning-for-erp-or-purchasing-erp\\\/four-tips-for-starting-an-erp-project\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/sg.syspro.com\\\/blog\\\/planning-for-erp-or-purchasing-erp\\\/four-tips-for-starting-an-erp-project\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sg.syspro.com\\\/blog\\\/planning-for-erp-or-purchasing-erp\\\/four-tips-for-starting-an-erp-project\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sg.syspro.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/starting-an-erp-project.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sg.syspro.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/starting-an-erp-project.png\",\"width\":900,\"height\":410,\"caption\":\"Starting-an-ERP-project\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sg.syspro.com\\\/blog\\\/planning-for-erp-or-purchasing-erp\\\/four-tips-for-starting-an-erp-project\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sg.syspro.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Four tips for starting an ERP project\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sg.syspro.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sg.syspro.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"SYSPRO Blog\",\"description\":\"Insights on Business Management Software and ERP\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sg.syspro.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sg.syspro.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sg.syspro.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"SYSPRO\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sg.syspro.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sg.syspro.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sg.syspro.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/03\\\/cropped-syspro-blog-logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sg.syspro.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/03\\\/cropped-syspro-blog-logo.png\",\"width\":260,\"height\":94,\"caption\":\"SYSPRO\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sg.syspro.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sg.syspro.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0dd30e9120a0499443b61cf237de4763\",\"name\":\"Simon Griffiths\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sg.syspro.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/Simon_Griffiths-150x150.jpg\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sg.syspro.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/Simon_Griffiths-150x150.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sg.syspro.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/Simon_Griffiths-150x150.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Simon Griffiths\"},\"description\":\"Simon Griffiths is a Johannesburg-based ERP veteran with over 20 years in the industry. He started work as a programmer and was one of the early users of the IBM PC. He spent several years working with decision support systems and spent time in Silicon Valley. Moving into the ERP industry, he has been in ERP project management, sales and marketing. He worked with JD Edwards, Dynamics Nav, and with SYSPRO as a reseller and then in corporate product marketing. He also spent several years with a software-as-a-Service (SaaS) vendor. He now uses his technical, sales and marketing knowledge to create content for enterprise software vendors that business and other non-technical people can understand. In his spare time he is a Salesforce administrator for NPOs. He was one of the first 3000 users of Twitter and can be contacted at @simon_g, and on LinkedIn.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/www.syspro.com\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/in\\\/simongsa\\\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sg.syspro.com\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/simon\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Four tips for starting an ERP project","description":"A process blueprint provides a graphical view of the way processes work, who is responsible for the processes, especially true for manufacturing businesses with complex processes.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/sg.syspro.com\/blog\/planning-for-erp-or-purchasing-erp\/four-tips-for-starting-an-erp-project\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Four tips for starting an ERP project","og_description":"A process blueprint provides a graphical view of the way processes work, who is responsible for the processes, especially true for manufacturing businesses with complex processes.","og_url":"https:\/\/sg.syspro.com\/blog\/planning-for-erp-or-purchasing-erp\/four-tips-for-starting-an-erp-project\/","og_site_name":"SYSPRO Blog","article_published_time":"2014-02-13T11:38:52+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-04-02T09:33:07+00:00","og_image":[{"width":900,"height":410,"url":"https:\/\/sg.syspro.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/starting-an-erp-project.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Simon Griffiths","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Simon Griffiths","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/sg.syspro.com\/blog\/planning-for-erp-or-purchasing-erp\/four-tips-for-starting-an-erp-project\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sg.syspro.com\/blog\/planning-for-erp-or-purchasing-erp\/four-tips-for-starting-an-erp-project\/"},"author":{"name":"Simon Griffiths","@id":"https:\/\/sg.syspro.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0dd30e9120a0499443b61cf237de4763"},"headline":"Four tips for starting an ERP project","datePublished":"2014-02-13T11:38:52+00:00","dateModified":"2025-04-02T09:33:07+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/sg.syspro.com\/blog\/planning-for-erp-or-purchasing-erp\/four-tips-for-starting-an-erp-project\/"},"wordCount":674,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/sg.syspro.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sg.syspro.com\/blog\/planning-for-erp-or-purchasing-erp\/four-tips-for-starting-an-erp-project\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/sg.syspro.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/starting-an-erp-project.png","keywords":["Business software","ERP Implementation","SYSPRO Process Modeling"],"articleSection":["Planning-Purchasing-Implementing ERP"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/sg.syspro.com\/blog\/planning-for-erp-or-purchasing-erp\/four-tips-for-starting-an-erp-project\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/sg.syspro.com\/blog\/planning-for-erp-or-purchasing-erp\/four-tips-for-starting-an-erp-project\/","url":"https:\/\/sg.syspro.com\/blog\/planning-for-erp-or-purchasing-erp\/four-tips-for-starting-an-erp-project\/","name":"Four tips for starting an ERP project","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sg.syspro.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/sg.syspro.com\/blog\/planning-for-erp-or-purchasing-erp\/four-tips-for-starting-an-erp-project\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sg.syspro.com\/blog\/planning-for-erp-or-purchasing-erp\/four-tips-for-starting-an-erp-project\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/sg.syspro.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/starting-an-erp-project.png","datePublished":"2014-02-13T11:38:52+00:00","dateModified":"2025-04-02T09:33:07+00:00","description":"A process blueprint provides a graphical view of the way processes work, who is responsible for the processes, especially true for manufacturing businesses with complex processes.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/sg.syspro.com\/blog\/planning-for-erp-or-purchasing-erp\/four-tips-for-starting-an-erp-project\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/sg.syspro.com\/blog\/planning-for-erp-or-purchasing-erp\/four-tips-for-starting-an-erp-project\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sg.syspro.com\/blog\/planning-for-erp-or-purchasing-erp\/four-tips-for-starting-an-erp-project\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/sg.syspro.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/starting-an-erp-project.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/sg.syspro.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/starting-an-erp-project.png","width":900,"height":410,"caption":"Starting-an-ERP-project"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/sg.syspro.com\/blog\/planning-for-erp-or-purchasing-erp\/four-tips-for-starting-an-erp-project\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/sg.syspro.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Four tips for starting an ERP project"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/sg.syspro.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/sg.syspro.com\/blog\/","name":"SYSPRO Blog","description":"Insights on Business Management Software and ERP","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/sg.syspro.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/sg.syspro.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/sg.syspro.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"SYSPRO","url":"https:\/\/sg.syspro.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sg.syspro.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/sg.syspro.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/cropped-syspro-blog-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/sg.syspro.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/cropped-syspro-blog-logo.png","width":260,"height":94,"caption":"SYSPRO"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sg.syspro.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/sg.syspro.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0dd30e9120a0499443b61cf237de4763","name":"Simon Griffiths","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sg.syspro.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Simon_Griffiths-150x150.jpg","url":"https:\/\/sg.syspro.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Simon_Griffiths-150x150.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/sg.syspro.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Simon_Griffiths-150x150.jpg","caption":"Simon Griffiths"},"description":"Simon Griffiths is a Johannesburg-based ERP veteran with over 20 years in the industry. He started work as a programmer and was one of the early users of the IBM PC. He spent several years working with decision support systems and spent time in Silicon Valley. Moving into the ERP industry, he has been in ERP project management, sales and marketing. He worked with JD Edwards, Dynamics Nav, and with SYSPRO as a reseller and then in corporate product marketing. He also spent several years with a software-as-a-Service (SaaS) vendor. He now uses his technical, sales and marketing knowledge to create content for enterprise software vendors that business and other non-technical people can understand. In his spare time he is a Salesforce administrator for NPOs. He was one of the first 3000 users of Twitter and can be contacted at @simon_g, and on LinkedIn.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.syspro.com","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/simongsa\/"],"url":"https:\/\/sg.syspro.com\/blog\/author\/simon\/"}]}},"metadata":{"_yoast_wpseo_focuskw":["Four tips for starting an ERP project"],"_yoast_wpseo_focuskw_text_input":["Four tips for starting an ERP project"],"_yoast_wpseo_title":["Four tips for starting an ERP project"],"_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":["A process blueprint provides a graphical view of the way processes work, who is responsible for the processes, especially true for manufacturing businesses with complex processes."],"_yoast_wpseo_content_score":["30"],"_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":[""],"_yoast_wpseo_linkdex":["69"],"_yoast_wpseo_metakeywords":["erp project, change management, erp implementation, business software"],"_wp_page_template":["default"],"_thumbnail_id":["6033"],"_edit_lock":["1743586278:226"],"_edit_last":["226"],"_webdados_fb_open_graph_specific_image":[""],"_webdados_fb_open_graph_specific_title":[""],"ao_post_optimize":["a:6:{s:16:\"ao_post_optimize\";s:2:\"on\";s:19:\"ao_post_js_optimize\";s:2:\"on\";s:20:\"ao_post_css_optimize\";s:2:\"on\";s:12:\"ao_post_ccss\";s:2:\"on\";s:16:\"ao_post_lazyload\";s:2:\"on\";s:15:\"ao_post_preload\";s:0:\"\";}"],"_yoast_wpseo_estimated-reading-time-minutes":[""],"_elementor_page_assets":["a:0:{}"]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sg.syspro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8899","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sg.syspro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sg.syspro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sg.syspro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/134"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sg.syspro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8899"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sg.syspro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8899\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10861,"href":"https:\/\/sg.syspro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8899\/revisions\/10861"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sg.syspro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6033"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sg.syspro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8899"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sg.syspro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8899"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sg.syspro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8899"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}