Knowledge Base > Setup and Implementation > Implementation Best Practice

By following best practice you can help to ensure your Progress Plus implementation success. This document is not intended to be a definitive implementation plan but hopes to highlight some of the questions and pitfalls experienced when implementing a system.

1. Understand the target benefit of the Progress Plus implementation

•Clearly understand what are you trying to accomplish

•Have well-defined purposes and goals – if you do not know what you want to achieve then how can others be expected to buy into the project?

•Take time to validate current business requirements and future project plans – where does Progress Plus fit into the grand scheme?

•Communicate to both management and employees – it is their system too.

2. Take time to plan up front

•Make sure you do it right, don’t just jump into a project – are we wanting to implement Progress Plus in stages e.g. get stores or purchasing up and running first, then sales etc or are we planning on utilising all aspects of the system from day 1 when “live”.

•Budget time to thoroughly test new Progress Plus / business process, security settings, layout customization, and so on. Nobody wants to hear “I wasn’t expecting that” when running the system “live” on Day 1.

3. Focus on business process and requirements

▪Understand how your business operates – if you don’t know then how can a trainer advise you on the best use of Progress Plus within your organisation?

▪Define and prioritize key business requirement. Don’t overemphasize the software’s technical capabilities if they are not aligned with your needs. Know what Progress Plus can do for you and just as importantly what it cannot.

4. Gain commitment from management

•The project needs an internal executive champion. It is not an IT project.

•Executive management should endorse the Progress Plus implementation project. If management are lukewarm to the idea then don’t expect too much enthusiasm from those further down

•Executive management should remain actively involved throughout the implementation – let them see what they are getting for their money and what you are achieving

•Support from top-management will minimise conflict with business needs

•Establish regular project reviews with executive team and/or steering committee

•Remember anyone can install Progress Plus - only management and employees can implement it

5. Project Management

•Progress Plus implementation responsibilities should be shared between the IT department and functional areas where the software is being implemented e.g. Sales, Stores, Purchasing etc

•The project team composition should represent all functional areas where the software will be implemented if possible but always be aware that “too many cooks” can hinder an implementation – do we want a project team or a debating society?

•Leverage experienced resources. Other people will sometimes know the business better than you. Use them when necessary – they will feel more involved and their knowledge can be used for everyone’s benefit. Sometimes the storeman knows more about the practicalities of the day to day running of the company than the M.D.

•Project team members’ normal job responsibilities should be reassigned to other employees for the project duration if practical – make time for Progress Plus – the system will not implement itself

•A project manager should be assigned to the implementation if possible – who is going to be our “champion”?

•Develop strong project control – if we feel we are slipping in our plan how can we get back on track?

•A separate, dedicated work environment if possible , specifically created for the project team aids implementation efforts – less interruptions means more concentration

•Run a conference room pilot if possible to simulate the running of your business, before you go live. This needs the creation of test jobs and processes, which deal with all the routine and abnormal things that you need the Progress Plus system to handle. Progress Plus is not a bespoke system and as such management and employees will experience a system that may not currently mirror exactly whatever system, if any, is currently in use. If we wanted to continue with the same process we would not have purchased Progress – “Keep on thinking what you have always thought – you’ll keep on getting what you always got”

•Employees should receive training on how to work as a team on the project before the Progress Plus implementation begins if you feel this is required. “It is not my job” mentality will surface in some cases and sometimes roles will change after the implementation of Progress Plus but it is for the company’s benefit – let the employees see the bigger picture especially if they will be directly affected

•Educate users not just on how to use the software but also in best practice techniques so that they understand the implications of their actions on other users further down the line

•Conduct ongoing phase reviews throughout implementation

6. Data Migration (If required)

•Define the data scope up front, what’s going, what are keeping?

•It’s never too early to begin “tidying up” data. Do we really need to transfer old redundant data into Progress Plus? Will we ever use that customer or supplier or part information again?

•GIGO (Garbage In = Garbage Out)

•Data should be thoroughly tested with the “Play” systems before being entered into our “live” database.

•For users with opening stock balances – are we performing a physical stock check? Who is going to enter these balances? When? How are these stock levels to be kept up to date in the time from being input to the system going “live”

•What data requires to be entered for our “live” date? Do we re-enter open orders from our current system into Progress Plus or do we complete them on our current software, entering only “new” orders

•If we are intending to run Progress Plus in parallel with existing software for a certain period how will this be achieved – what resources are required to enable this? How long are we planning to do this for?