CSUEB management professor offers tips for a successful ERP installation

• May 20, 2013 5:00am

Among the 246 firms that completed an enterprise resource planning (ERP) installation within the past year, implementation exceeded budget 56 percent of the time and only 46 percent were completed on schedule or earlier. California Smart Business magazine interviewed Zinovy Radovilsky, interim chair and professor of management for the College of Business and Economics at California State University, East Bay, about avoiding delays and budget overruns when tackling ERP projects.

“The scope and complexity of ERP implementations makes forecasting treacherous,” said Radovilsky. “While cost overruns can’t be eliminated, they can be managed with the right tools and tactics.” His first recommendation is to select a qualified project manager who has extensive experience with ERP implementation and updates, then incorporate risk management into the budgeting process by considering every possible problem and starting with a rough order of magnitude (ROM) budget followed by a more accurate, and typically higher cost, budget estimate and finally, a definitive estimate.

Read How to keep ERP projects from exceeding budgets and timelines

Princeton Review has rated Cal State East Bay as one of the country's "Best Business Schools" for seven consecutive years. 

KL