Why a Business Process Assessment is Essential for Successful System Implementation

While it is more instant gratification to skip analysis before selecting the pretty new system with fancy bells and whistles, this may lead to poor fit, high cost, security exposures, downtime, disruption, issues with scalability, and long-term vendor dependance. Employees may also feel resistant to change and frustrated by the new system right off the bat, particularly when capabilities do not match their needs.

To ensure both short- and long-term success, AAFCPAs advises that clients establish system requirements at the outset by analyzing their processes and what they would need and want to accomplish in a new system. The following are important considerations to keep in mind when selecting and implementing new technology within your organization.

• Outline Pain Points: List all pain points in your current processes and how those might be remedied. Then outline specific ways vendors and their software might help.
• Consolidate: Evaluate all systems used in operations and where efforts might be efficiently combined. If you use bill payment software or a customer relationship management (CRM), lease management, or general ledger system, could those be satisfied through one single enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution? What does each system do, and how could another system meet everyone’s needs? Where might a new system fall short? What other solutions would you need to integrate to address shortcomings?
• Identify Stakeholders: When combining system functionality, consider which users should be involved in the process. Not only should those users provide feedback, but they will also need to provide buy-in. If you broaden the scope, who else should be involved? For example, if your current general ledger system doesn’t provide support down to a program level, would it make sense to include program management so they could use the system to directly access and monitor their programs?
• Review Data Needs: Review with the team where more information or data points might be necessary to support and improve operations. Begin with reporting functionality, where information is pulled from multiple sources, and how those could be combined to offer more convenient, real-time reporting.
• Wait To Contact Vendors: Contact software vendors only after you are ready to go. Know that sales staff can become increasingly assertive to win your business. This might involve multiple scoping calls to get initial information and pricing. If you have all the answers together with your team, scoping will be much faster.
• Evaluate Multiple Solutions: Only after evaluating and testing various software options can you fully understand features and limitations. Broad knowledge allows for more informed discussions about your processes and software requirements, ensuring the most effective results.
• Prepare Answers: During the design process, you will need to provide configuration details to software implementors. By addressing questions early, you will have more productive discussions and can make more informed decisions without feeling rushed or pressured.

How We Help

AAFCPAs’ business process assessments add great value to the system selection and implementation process by managing process discussions up-front on your behalf—saving time and backing your project with the insight only attainable from experienced IT professionals. Our clients benefit from a requirements-based process versus one that is influenced by vendors or features that might not apply to your organization. We help clients better understand changes that could and should be made, how a certain system might help, and other process and data possibilities that might lead to more efficient operations. We also prepare clients for decisions ahead, helping you make the best decision for your organization.

If you have questions, please contact Robyn Leet, Partner, Business Process Assessments & Attestations at 774.512.4010 or rleet@aafcpa.com—or your AAFCPAs Partner.