implementing and growing 11i in a small to midsized business david tomczak, camelbak products

Implementing and growing 11i in Implementing and growing 11i in a small to midsized businessa small to midsized business

David Tomczak,

Camelbak Products

Why attend?Why attend?

Business manager planning an implementation

Evolving a business system

Why attend?Why attend?

Business manager planning an implementation

Evolving a business systemYou are lost: You intended to be in another

session

Case: Camelbak Pre 11iCase: Camelbak Pre 11i

History of steady growthBusiness processes informal Most analysis adhoc Future growth expected to accelerate Risk: How long could this go on before it

would impede the growth

Common dynamics within a Common dynamics within a small businesssmall business

High % of resources driving products and services

Little priority placed on administrationStretched resources (Human and Financial) Informal business practices Business units evolving and maturing

Special challenges to make Special challenges to make commitmentcommitment

Difficult cost justification– Don't try to save your way to ROI

Cultural change: Requires business to commit to a single suite

Will implementation be too distracting for the business?

Will maintenance of the system become an anchor?

Reality, Risk and SuccessReality, Risk and Success

Resources are focused on value added efforts Business support and infrastructure can fall behind

the business– Growth efforts hampered– Organizational overhead drags down business

Provide robust application infrastructure– Ability to add functionality as needed– Integrate your business drivers– Scalability beyond business plan

Why choose Oracle?Why choose Oracle?

Eliminate future scalability issues Expansive application footprintSingle vendor solutionIntegration = Risk + CostSupportability

– Oracle Services– Oracle Partners

  Less obvious benefitsLess obvious benefits

The best employees want the best tools Reduce business distraction on future

application decisionsProven Oracle dedication the small

customersImplement for the company you will be

Implementation – Set goalsImplementation – Set goals

Create a balanced value proposition– Enhance revenue drivers– Mitigate Risk– Formalize business practices

Get the basics first Create a long term vision Be Realistic

– Don’t over promise immediate returns

Implementation – Implementation – OrganizationalOrganizational

Insure corporate commitment– Get executive involvement – (Steering Committee)– Engage business sponsors– Maintain high profile

Internal Resources– Insure business units can support workload

Make it quick

Implementation - What they Implementation - What they don’t tell youdon’t tell you

Don’t forget – Basics FirstAvoid distractions

– Monitor business changes

Change project team members when neededLook for your next generation of leaders

Implementation - What they Implementation - What they don’t tell youdon’t tell you

Data Conversions– Start early– Balance automated and manual conversions

Implementation Partners– Set detailed expectations– Look for industry experience

Implementation - What they Implementation - What they don’t tell youdon’t tell you

Think long term and question everything– Implementers implement– Software salespeople sell– You have to live with it

Lessons learned - ErrorsLessons learned - Errors

Scope creep – If forced, adjust goals and resources

Test your integration points moreUnderestimation of post implementation

support– Implementation continues after go-live– Keep learning

Let the dust settle before adding on

Now that it is runningNow that it is running

Business Plan = System Plan– Align the growth plans for both– Realign every 6 months

Focus on high impact changes Consistent review and refinement of business

practices– Documentation– Training– User Groups

Camelbak Revisited Post 11i Camelbak Revisited Post 11i (2 years)(2 years)

Business sold for 25x return from original investment (8 years)

Doubled revenuesDoubled user baseReduced cost of systems support

Follow up questionsFollow up questions

The following slides recall some of the follow up questions posed by the audience.

Will a “Plain Vanilla” Will a “Plain Vanilla” implementation work?implementation work?

Yes, many people do it successfully. Consider using discoverer or other

presentation tools for reporting and query. It is wise to avoid customizations to core

logic due to long term stability and maintenance cost issues.

I am implementing that is dominated by “personalized systems”. How I am implementing that is dominated by “personalized systems”. How

do I get people to let go and accept an integrated system?do I get people to let go and accept an integrated system? Don’t underestimate the users. If they have created special tools (spreadsheets, databases,

etc.) for accomplishing their goals you can assume the following:

– Creativity – they thought of what they needed

– Intelligence – they were able to design it

– Dedication – they executed on it

– Pride in their work – they are resistant to let go

Use these positive traits to your advantage.

– Explain to them the benefits of an integrated environment – They may agree

– Move forward with your early converts – People will feel pressure to not fall behind

Assure that you have executive support. Make that support public.

In the face of strong change resistance you may be required to force process change. In some situations you will need to change people’s job assignments.

Our environment is highly customized and not Our environment is highly customized and not well documented. How do we upgrade?well documented. How do we upgrade?

Don’t feel bad. This is not uncommon. You need to choose from the following options depending on how deep you are into this situation.

Work the upgrade like as though it was a brand new implementation

– The magnitude of this problem is usually not understood until a company is well into an upgrade. If you realize this in the planning phase you will be best suited to act as though it is a brand new system.

– Treat everything like it was new. You will most likely find areas where process re engineering back to standard functionality will serve you well.

Create the missing business and technical documents.

– This option is easiest if the modifications are deep into a few areas of functionality.

– It is not well suited for environments where the modifications are wide spread.

Account for the extra cost of the implementation including an estimate of the customizations being abandoned.

– Use this as leverage to institute better management practices in the future

For further follow-up questionsFor further follow-up questions

Dtomczak@camelbak.com