Like any project investment, careful and detailed planning is required for on-point execution. The benefits were discussed previously such as streamlining business operations and improving customer relationships, but bear in mind the pitfalls to be avoided. Here are a few to keep on your list while planning the project.
Lack of Planning
One of the most common pitfalls is a lack of planning. Avoid wasting time and resources on a poorly executed integration. Make a clear plan with reasonable targets. Consider phases to accommodate change management. Identify and gain approval on the project goals, timeline, and the required resources needed to prioritize the integration project.
Incompatible Systems
In most cases one solution is already in place. Due diligence will lead you to the proper business decision on the complimenting system. The right selection will enhance compatibility and assist technical and business integration. This includes having similar data structures and using the same technology stack.
Data quality
You can’t mention this enough. This should not deter the decision to integrate, but as mentioned previously, data quality can impact the use of the system and its effectiveness in using the tool for decision-making. This is an ongoing task that should never be forgotten.
User Adoption
Listening to what the users need to improve how they do their jobs can help to avoid implementing a system that is not used. Buy-in from all teams affected ahead of time is critical. Having them participate in the project discovery and testing phases will help make this happen. Any project delivering a solution that will significantly change for the better, the way business is conducted requires steady communication and a well thought out training plan.
Insufficient testing
Consider any of these types of projects to be a partnership with your vendor. The success of the delivery is dependent on both parties being responsible for successfully completing each phase of the plan. No phase is more important than a well-defined test plan between the two systems. This includes testing data mapping, data validation, and real-time integration. Normally, this is a major project milestone. Its success depends on full cooperation, documentation, and resolution of any required data tests.
It's always important to emphasize the investment of time and budget in projects like these. The results will reflect on the team involved and the planned improvements being put into action. Endowance Solutions brings a practiced approach to integration projects. Duet360 OneOffice is designed to support business processes learned from many years of successful project implementations.
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