Designing change management strategies for ERP systems: observations from Alameda County, California.

• Author: Harris, James
• Position: Enterprise resource planning

A key factor in successful ERP implementation is the dedication of resources to change management. This article defines the concept of change management and its application to large county governments.

Governments that are implementing Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems are beginning to appreciate the value of a well-designed change management strategy as part of the implementation plan. Many ERP implementation firms stress the need for entities to focus substantial staff effort - from 10 percent to 30 percent of total implementation hours - on change management. This article describes the design and execution of change management strategies for ERP.

Alameda County is the sixth largest county in California. It has an operating budget of approximately $1.3 billion and 12,000 employees. At Alameda County, the term "system" represents the mix of technology, processes, and people that together solve a particular problem. Early in the project, county staff learned that ERP systems often are viewed narrowly as "technology" projects leading the human side to be either ignored or poorly addressed. We also learned that many project managers consider the success or failure of ERP implementation to be strongly associated with the effective management of the "people" part of the system equation. Early in the procurement process, Alameda County's senior managers decided to develop a strategy that seeks to optimize use of the new system by staff. Both the RFP development and contract negotiations acknowledged the importance of change management to the county.

Defining Change Management

Change management refers to all activities associated with the interaction of technology, processes, and people. Project team and end-user training, the understanding of new processes, communications, and job redesign are some of the main activities that comprise a change management strategy. Change management also is concerned with steps to manage people through the emotional ups and downs that inevitably occur when an organization is undergoing massive change. An active change management approach helps to make a systems implementation project successful by 1) building people's understanding of and commitment to changes associated with the implementation; 2) aligning key organizational elements (structures, roles, and skills) to support the implementation; and 3) enabling continuous improvement to sustain the change. Each individual that utilizes the new system needs to understand why the organization wants to go from the "as is" to the "to be" processes and the role they will be asked to play in the future system.(1) For the purpose of this article, change management can be viewed as efforts to promote the successful transition from an old legacy system to a new enterprise system.

Change Management Program

The...