Many of our customers are currently in the process of implementing best of breed â??OnDemandâ?? HR/HCM/Talent Management technology solutions for business processes such as Goal Alignment, Compensation Planning, Performance Management, Learning Management, and Recruiting. All of our customers are implementing these solutions on top of HCM foundation systems like PeopleSoft, Oracle, SAP, Lawson, etcâ?¦.
Recent studies (Link) indicate that there is a huge shift underway in the marketplace toward increased adoption of OnDemand solutions. Hereâ??s the problem though: Neither the vendors nor customers have optimized implementation methodologies that are redesigned for the OnDemand world.
Our experience has been that OnDemand vendor methodologies typically do not extend beyond the configuration of their own products to the business process and organizational change issues their customers will face as part of their implementation. While the focus of the vendors seems to be too narrow, the focus of customers tends to be too broad â?? as they try to apply ERP implementation methodologies to OnDemand solutions. Here are some tips to redesign your methodology to fit the OnDemand world:
The Planning Stage Becomes Even More Important: Given the shorter timeline of OnDemand projects, there is less time to recover if there is a planning misstep. Youâ??ll need to have a crystal clear definition of the scope, functionality, and phasing of your implementation â?? as well as business process and change management impacts. All project stakeholders need to be on-board with the parameters of the project early on since the window for communicating the organizational changes that are sure to accompany the implementation will be compressed.
Be Ready to Make Decisions: While most OnDemand vendors are excellent at configuring their systems to meet your needs, you still must know what your needs are â?? down to the last detail. An OnDemand solution requires no fewer implementation or functionality decisions than an old school â??behind the firewallâ?? implementation (excluding hardware decisions). Our experience has been that most organizations are not prepared to make the myriad of decisions required for a successful OnDemand implementation, and donâ??t have the strong facilitation and decision processes (governance) in place to quickly make the required decisions.
Manage the Organization and Business Process Changes: While the compressed timelines of OnDemand implementations are alluring, the timeline for rolling out organizational and business process changes related to the implementation are also compressed. To effectively manage the shorter timelines, youâ??ll need resources dedicated to the tasks of communicating the value of the project to the organization; insuring end-users have the training and resources available to use the new system, and marketing the system to the organization at large.
