Managing an Oracle ERP Upgrade with Best Practices in Organizational Change Management

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1 A Poit of View Maagig a Oracle ERP Upgrade with Best Practices i Orgaizatioal Chage Maagemet The implemetatio or upgrade of eterprise-wide systems, such as resource plaig tools, creates sigificat chage withi a orgaizatio. Successful adoptio requires careful aalysis, plaig, traiig, ad commuicatio for users to adapt to the ew processes ad systems. Too ofte, a lack of detailed plaig withi a Orgaizatioal Chage Maagemet (OCM) framework results i a implemetatio failig to deliver o its expected beefits. This paper looks at the eed for careful plaig ad cites examples of best practices i the cotext of the curret release (R12) of Oracle's E-Busiess Suite. About the Author Auj Dhigra is a Busiess Chage cosultat i the Global Cosultig Practice of Tata Cosultacy Services (TCS), ad focuses o techological trasformatio ad orgaizatioal chage maagemet. He has close to ie years of experiece i supportig cosultig egagemets i the areas of Chage Maagemet ad Busiess Process Trasformatio for customers globally. He has executed ad supported chage programs i a umber of ERP-drive egagemets. Itroductio Fuctioality, scalability, ad usability make Oracle E-Busiess Suite a great eterprise resource plaig (ERP) package. With the release of its latest versio, R12, orgaizatios are fast upgradig to this versio. Such upgrades are usually carried out to access ew fuctioalities or meet regulatory ad compliace cosideratios. The process of upgrade itroduces substatial chage. Isufficiet focus o Orgaizatioal Chage Maagemet (OCM) ca lead to the failure of such upgrade projects. Irrespective of their level of usage ad ivolvemet with the ERP suite, busiess ad system users ofte uderestimate ad defer the effort required of them for the upgrade. A cosiderable amout of commuicatio, traiig, ad hads-o exposure are required to help users make the trasitio to ew processes ad systems. The Upgrade Process for Oracle E-Busiess Suite The process of upgradig the Oracle E-Busiess Suite is as demadig as the implemetatio itself. The learig from previous implemetatios may help smooth the trasitio ad upgrade. However, the people aspect of the chage is ofte overlooked or missed; i additio to emphasizig the process ad techology aspects of the upgrade, due cosideratio must also be give to the people aspect. Orgaizatios ted to provide miimal commuicatio ad traiig support. The key aspects of Orgaizatioal Chage Maagemet such as stakeholder maagemet, busiess support, ad vedor (third party) egagemet are ofte overlooked. To esure a effective outcome, compaies must cosider these aspects as part of the OCM scope.

2 Best Practices i Orgaizatioal Chage Maagemet A successful upgrade demads attetio to multiple dimesios of Orgaizatio Chage Maagemet. These iclude: Estimatio A Oracle ERP upgrade is sometimes viewed as a mior chage that takes place at the back-ed ad does ot require much attetio. The dager with this approach is that program sposors ecouter challeges such as a low acceptace rate amog users, lack of awareess, skill gaps, ad resistace at a late stage i the project whe recovery optios are limited or uavailable. A Oracle ERP upgrade is comparable to a fresh Oracle e-busiess Suite implemetatio, ad the effort must be estimated accordigly. Sposors should cosider the followig factors: Number of users impacted: Oracle ERP usually has a footprit across the whole orgaizatio. As a result, the job of a OCM maager becomes more challegig because everyoe is impacted ad hece eeds to be cosidered. The ature of egagemet may differ depedig upo the associatio of a particular team or idividual with Oracle ERP. Commuicatio to build awareess amog impacted users across the orgaizatio should be a importat part of the program. Curret awareess level across the orgaizatio: The OCM maager should measure awareess ad esure uiform levels of awareess across the orgaizatio. Lack of cosistet commuicatio ad dissetig oise from differet sources may cause cocer. Iitiatives that may impact the upgrade or vice versa: If a iitial assessmet suggests other programs or iitiatives may coflict with the upgrade, it is best to idetify these cosideratios ad address them i advace. The chage maager should egage relevat stakeholders to avoid coflicts at a later stage. Nature of the orgaizatio: The ature of the customer's orgaizatioal structure will have a bearig o the required OCM effort. Maagers eed to uderstad whether there is a formal orgaizatio structure i place, ad whether it is federated, flat, or hybrid. Where the formal orgaizatio structure is limited, a more sigificat OCM effort is recommeded. I large orgaizatios deep, hidde pockets of staff or busiess uits may exist. These hidde groups are ofte idetified late ad require the program team to divert attetio from scheduled activities to address their eeds ad cocers. Chage history: Assessig the chage history provides a uderstadig of the key challeges faced durig past implemetatio projects ad the best practices that led people to adopt the chage. Chage maagers eed to uderstad how people react to chage ad whether they welcome it. Customizatio, Extesio, Modificatio, Localizatio, ad Itegratio (CEMLI) Decommissio: This is a customizable compoet i Oracle E-busiess suite. Oe of the objectives of a Oracle upgrade is to move towards a out-of-the-box system. The chage maager should look at the umber of compoets beig decommissioed with the upgrade. If the umber is high (say more tha 1,000), this idicates that the users will see sigificat chage ad the OCM effort should reflect this. Plaig As a rule of thumb, a Oracle upgrade should be plaed with as much detail as possible. Plaig at a daily level is a good start. Developig such a detailed pla at the begiig ca be a challege: the chage maager eeds to keep the pla alive, let it evolve, ad revise it frequetly. Various factors should be cosidered while plaig the chage program: Oracle upgrade phases: A chage program does ot work i isolatio; it eeds to be i syc with the phases of the Oracle upgrade. A typical upgrade adheres to the followig phased sequece - Iitiate, Validate, Desig, Build, Test, ad Deploy. The chage program should be plaed i cojuctio with these phases. Coferece Room Pilot (CRP): CRPs are the pilot sessios that a program team coducts to test the system iterally before performig itegratio testig. The program team usually plas a umber of CRPs i the program life cycle to esure the quality of the system. After each evet, the program team gets detailed iformatio about the level of chage i the ERP ad the fuctioalities impacted. This iformatio plays a sigificat role i OCM plaig, chage impact assessmet, ad traiig eeds aalysis. Each CRP uveils iformatio that is useful for the chage program ad allows the chage maager to pla i greater detail. Stakeholder maagemet: Stakeholder maagemet ca be challegig. Chage maagers should ot be surprised if the iitial list of stakeholders chages drastically later ad they meet more resistace tha they expected. Chage impact assessmet: A detailed assessmet will cosider the impact of chage i processes, systems, ad resources. A pla coverig all dimesios should be prepared i advace. Traiig: Traiig is a vital aspect of the chage program. A traiig eeds aalysis (TNA) helps idetify what traiig is required, whom to trai, ad which mode of traiig to use. TNA should provide a ample buffer after the last CRP for traiig preparatio, cotet developmet, ad traiig ifrastructure ad logistics plaig. 2

3 Commuicatio A chage maager eeds to cosider a rage of commuicatios-related factors: Program bradig: Previous implemetatios of Oracle may have received mixed reviews, ad employees across the orgaizatio may therefore be wary about the ew implemetatio. Developig ad presetig a compellig story that explais the beefits of the program will help people shed their reservatios ad will help create positive perceptios. Commuicatio chaels: There may be multiple, established chaels of commuicatio withi a orgaizatio. A part of the chage maager's role is to select the best oes ad create ew oes if required. There will be various stakeholder groups ad there may be o stadard commuicatio chael addressig all of them at oce. If this is the case, the some cosideratio should be give to ew tailored chaels specifically aimed at supportig the upgrade program. Effective commuicatio: There is a likelihood of too much commuicatio beig iterpreted as oise ad some commuicatio beig marked as juk i the recipiet's mailbox. Maagers may fid that for certai sets of users the chage is miimal, ad relatively ifrequet, low level commuicatio ad egagemet may be satisfactory. Other groups will eed more iformatio ad more frequet commuicatio. A commuicatios professioal ca work with the chage maagemet team to maage this aspect effectively. Learig ad Adoptio This is a critical part of the upgrade exercise. Success requires chage maagers to defie a learig curve suitable for their audieces. Plaig this activity should begi at the validatio phase, eve though the traiig may ot be iitiated util a later stage. Some cosideratios iclude: Leverage existig traiig cotet: Much traiig cotet is already available from past implemetatios. Sice users are already familiar with this resource, the OCM maager ca use it as the basis of the ew cotet. Thik beyod traditioal traiig methods: Updated traiig cotet does ot guaratee effective learig ad user adoptio. Traiers should thik beyod classroom activities ad web-based traiig ad look for other effective learig methods, perhaps oes particular to that regio. Brow bag sessios are commo i Australia ad New Zealad: people brig ad have luch i a traiig eviromet. The traiig departmet's advice o successful ways to implemet traiig will be importat. Cotiuous learig: Oce traiig is delivered, fuctioal cosultats ad the solutio team get busy with the cutover activities i preparatio for 'Go Live'. Supportig learig durig this phase with materials that ca be accessed durig this period is a effective method of reiforcemet. Busiess Support Oracle may provide techical support (depedig o the terms of the cotract) followig a upgrade of its ERP system. While this support will resolve techical problems, there is also a eed to provide greater support to people who struggle to use the upgraded system. The chage maager ca arrage for super users or floor-walkers to provide support to such users ad build cofidece. This activity should start just after the 'Go Live' phase ad cotiue util users are comfortable with the system. Vedor (Third Party) Egagemet Egagig with third parties ca preset tricky scearios. They are ofte ot iterested i adaptig to the chages i the orgaizatio without beig compesated for this kid of flexibility. Sometimes, they do ot wat to allocate resources for the testig phases. The key is to start egagig with these third parties as early as possible. Puttig this off till the very ed may lead to program delays as well as other problems. Case i Poit: Airlie Successfully Maages Complex Upgrade Impactig 40,000 Users A leadig Australia airlie plaed to upgrade its existig Oracle ERP suite to the latest versio with the aim of achievig process efficiecies ad cost savigs, ad esurig cotiued support from Oracle. TCS maaged the upgrade, providig hardware support ad etworkig. The program impacted aroud 40,000 idividuals, icludig employees ad cotractors, ad was spread over a period of 11 moths. The airlie was also udergoig several other trasformatio programs at the same time, which was causig related challeges. TCS' Chage Maagemet team performed a iitial assessmet that idetified certai challeges: varied levels of awareess i the orgaizatio, a lack of leadership commitmet, ad bad memories from a past implemetatio. The program ecoutered uforesee challeges ad coflicts. Iitially, all stakeholders appeared to welcome the chage ad be aliged with the project objectives. However, as the program progressed, there was a sese of discomfort from seior executives who were ot directly impacted by the chage but had sigificat ifluece withi the orgaizatio. Idividual attetio was give to these stakeholders ad a strategy was formulated to maage them. 3

4 TCS' Busiess Chage Cosultig Services offer a systematic approach that is desiged to deal with such complex eviromets. We created a chage ad commuicatio roadmap cosistig of four itervetios: a) Stakeholder Maagemet: We idetified key stakeholders, icludig sposors, seior maagers, ad busiess users, who should be aliged with the program objectives through cotiuous egagemet such as workshops, discussios, ad other forums. b) Chage Readiess ad Impact Assessmet: We coducted survey ad pulse checks throughout the program to assess readiess ad uderstad the impact o processes, systems, ad roles. c) Commuicatio Maagemet: We iitiated commuicatios i differet formats ad through several chaels to icrease awareess ad get buy-i from the various groups of stakeholders. d) Traiig Needs Assessmet: We assessed traiig eeds, ad assessed ad recommeded courses, with the format depedig o the level of impact required ad the idividual's iteractio with the system. With stakeholders aliged to program objectives, the result was a successful upgrade of the Oracle ERP suite that met the cliet's time ad cost cosideratios. Coclusio A Oracle ERP upgrade program is a sigificat techical chage withi a orgaizatio ad should be plaed carefully. Give the ature of the chage, the umber of people impacted, ad the resource implicatios, OCM should be cosidered a key compoet of the upgrade program. There are may pitfalls for a program ad a chage maager that could lead to failure. The OCM program should be plaed ad executed i syc with the overall program. Hece, the right itervetios should be executed at the right time; otherwise there will be mixed messages ad achievig the desired outcome will be difficult. Orgaizatios ca use the best practices outlied i this paper for a successful Oracle implemetatio. Detailed plaig ad itervetios aliged to the stages described above will impact the chaces of a upgrade's success. 4

5 About TCS' Global Cosultig Practice TCS Global Cosultig Practice (GCP) is a key compoet i how TCS delivers additioal value to cliets. Usig our collective idustry isight, techology expertise, ad cosultig kow-how, we parter with eterprises worldwide to deliver itegrated ed-to-ed IT eabled busiess trasformatio services. By tappig our worldwide pool of resources osite, offshore, ad ear-shore our high caliber cosultats leverage solutio accelerators ad practice capabilities, balaced with our kowledge of local market demads, to eable eterprises to effectively meet their busiess goals. GCP spearheads TCS' cosultig capacity with cosultats located i North America, UK, Europe, Asia Pacific, Idia, Ibero-America, ad Australia. Cotact For more iformatio about TCS' cosultig services, us at global.cosultig@tcs.com About Tata Cosultacy Services Ltd (TCS) Tata Cosultacy Services is a IT services, cosultig ad busiess solutios orgaizatio that delivers real results to global busiess, esurig a level of certaity o other firm ca match. TCS offers a cosultig-led, itegrated portfolio of IT ad IT-eabled ifrastructure, egieerig ad assurace services. This is delivered through its uique Global Network Delivery ModelTM, recogized as the bechmark of excellece i software developmet. A part of the Tata Group, Idia s largest idustrial coglomerate, TCS has a global footprit ad is listed o the Natioal Stock Exchage ad Bombay Stock Exchage i Idia. IT Services Busiess Solutios Cosultig All cotet / iformatio preset here is the exclusive property of Tata Cosultacy Services Limited (TCS). The cotet / iformatio cotaied here is correct at the time of publishig. No material from here may be copied, modified, reproduced, republished, uploaded, trasmitted, posted or distributed i ay form without prior writte permissio from TCS. Uauthorized use of the cotet / iformatio appearig here may violate copyright, trademark ad other applicable laws, ad could result i crimial or civil pealties. Copyright 2014 Tata Cosultacy Services Limited TCS Desig Services I M I 06 I 14 For more iformatio, visit us at