Strategy: Implement ERP Balanced Scorecard to transform business

ERP is widely regarded as one of the strongest IT enabled initiatives that has the ability of transforming businesses and making them ready for future business growth, expansion plans and consolidation strategies. But, it also has a dubious distinction of one of the most cost intensive exercise that engages whole business during its deployment and often the great expectations after it goes live, fall flat. This builds the business case for the organizations to have a proper measurement and management system or framework in place to make sure that the results of ERP deployment are measured, reported and actioned regularly and ERP balanced scorecard is the best way to go about it. Using an ERP Balanced Scorecard creates a common language between IT and business stakeholders, making it easier to align strategies and measure and communicate value.

It is a next step that moves the organizations from just metrics based or outcome based measurement system to connecting business metrics and outcome with the efforts and also makes sure that:

• ERP value delivery focuses more on business alignment, in line with initiatives and budget
• It connects the customer satisfaction with the end user perspective so that usage of ERP is at its maximum
• It optimizes the business and IT processes for improved operational excellence
• The roadmap and expansion of ERP footprint is aligned with business future orientation plans with focus on improving staff and organizational capabilities

So, implementing an ERP scorecard and becoming a strategic partner with an explicitly communicated and clean strategy can help the IT organization demonstrate more business value. We all need to learn to transform the information technology organization by not only sharing risk with the business unit but also by identifying and executing solutions to specific business problems. Also we need to learn, how the best in class organizations measure and communicate business value and customer satisfaction to their internal and external stakeholders. Without this, IT and business teams will remain two separate teams but working for a common objective will take back seat and in-fighting as well as conflict of interest will come to the fore, as is the case in most organizations. This makes IT teams as just support teams and are not considered as part of the main business stream or revenue generating or enabling team. I am sure, by implementing ERP balanced scorecard that captures points as discussed above, ERP and extended IT organization can improve return on income as well as make sure that business and IT teams works on same strategy, review them together, make corrections/modifications together and improve overall business metrics – Again quoting my favorite slogan: Work Together, Win Together.