Imagine you are an architect bidding for a project - like the Sydney Opera House for example.

You present your client with a detailed plan of the building but they want to see what it will look like, in all its multi-sail glory.

Sorry you say, I have no model for you to look at, just a plan of how to get there.

Do you imagine you would win that commission? I doubt it.

So why do so few ERP implementations have a 'solution' model to look at and work towards?

Well, partly because an ERP solution is not a building, or an aircarft or a car. It's a software solution. So it's difficult to 'model'.

The only way I know to model an ERP solution is to use process maps to visualize the solution so all stakeholders can clearly see what they are aiming for, right from the start. Analysis, development, UAT, data migration, user training, cutover are all important phases for delivering the project but without the process maps, no-one has any idea what the solution will look like and when you have got there.

Plans document the journey, detail the roadmap, whereas solution process mapping visualizes the destination.

Implementation 1