So you’ve done it. You’ve made your case, convinced the higher-ups, and have finally decided to implement a document process automation system that will help propel your company’s digital transformation journey. Congrats!
Now what?
Preparing to go-live with any new software solution can often be a stressful period that seems to take far longer than it actually should. We try to make the implementation process for our customers as easy and painless as possible, but it always help to have aligned expectations and goals. So we asked some of our current customers, both new and old, about what they wish they would have known back when they started their implementation. Ready to take notes? Here’s what they said.
Phase One
“Make sure the needs of the company are mapped out. Know what you want as a final product.” – Dan
“Build your solution for the future – if there are possibly different order types, scenarios or acquisitions that may happen in the future, plan for them.” – John
“Make sure everything is flexible that can be flexible. That way if you change your mind/policy/procedure you don’t have to try to change functionality at a later point.” – Kelli
“Find a company that uses the same software you use and see if there are tips and information that can be shared to help with the implementation.” – Susan (our Esker All Access customer hub is a great place for this!)
Phase Two
“Use a smaller group of SMEs to get Esker implemented. Then have those SMEs translate the process into your business practices and teach everyone else. Too many people trying to get involved from the start can slow the implementation process.” – Eric
“Allow Auto Learn to do its part. Give it time and try not to rely on Teach.” – Candie
“Test everything! Every possible situation!” – Heather
Phase Three and Beyond
“Customizations aren’t as big of a deal as you would think they are. A lot of major and minor adjustments were easily implemented by Esker in our early increments!!”- Krystle
“Always keep your options open and go with the Agile approach to implementing a solution. You never know, you may be satisfied with less…” – Chris, Sales Guy
“With Esker Order Entry, we were well prepared by the Esker team to focus on change management and by “seeding” some experts (power users/trainers) in the rollout group. It was very good advice. We put a rollout schedule together that, as it turned out, was unnecessarily conservative. We accelerated the rollout when we realized that the prep work we did was well executed. We are bringing up our second business now and – being more confident – we will plan for a more rapid deployment with this one.” – Tom
“We would do less teaching up front and inspect early on for consistency in processing with reps. We have since explained to reps that working in Esker is like having a four year old from that Rodney Atkins song; ‘I’ve been watching you dad, ain’t that cool?…I wanna be like you…I wanna do everything you do, so I’ve been watching you.’ Esker wants to do everything we do and be like us. If we do something wrong, Esker will learn wrong. If we are inconsistent, Esker will be inconsistent. In the Rodney Atkins song, the four year old learns a four-letter word from his dad and it shocks him. When Esker does something wrong, we need to examine our actions in Esker and look for improvement in accuracy and consistency.” – Titia
With the right amount of training, collaboration, and organizational buy-in, a software implementation and the corresponding results can be the best thing that has happened to your business. And of course, having a reason to throw a Go Live party never hurts either.
Thinking about implementing a new software system? Click here to learn more about Esker!
