Requirements vs. Opportunities

Recently an RFP (request for proposal) I was completing asked me to describe our company’s “requirements gathering process.” This was a fair question since understanding requirements is essential to success. But I wished they had asked, “What is your opportunity-gathering process?”

Opportunities are things that the system might do beyond the minimum “requirements” that it must do. I wish they had asked about our opportunity-gathering process because too many methodologies leave this out. You might miss some significant value if you do not have a process for identifying, evaluating, and tracking opportunities.

Once a system is in production, any number of things should get better, but too often they stay the same.  I think the solution is hidden plain sight.  Implementations should focus on opportunities, not just “requirements.”

Here are some keys to realizing opportunities as well as requirements.

• During the strategy or vision stage, establish goals for the system beyond recreating the status quo.
• Conduct a business process review. Review current business processes to identify areas where the ERP implementation can streamline workflows and reduce manual effort.
• Identify pain points and areas for improvement. Collect feedback from employees, customers, and other stakeholders to identify pain points and areas of improvement. This feedback can be gathered in a variety of ways.
• Understand process goals as well as process steps. Ask why.
• Walking through current processes can provide opportunities for improvement but identifying them requires more than passive listening. Ask questions such as, “What information would you like to have to make this decision?”
• Understand industry best practices. Staying current with industry-specific trends and best practices can help identify areas where processes can be improved.
• After go-live, analyze how the system is being used. Look for bottlenecks or areas where the system could be used to improve efficiency.