HomeBlogProject ManagementWhether Big bang Approach Right for your ERP Implementation?
Enterprise resource planning (ERP) is a culmination of an organization's technologies and systems an organization uses to manage its business processes. ERPs offer single-system solutions that consolidate user interactions, disseminate information and enable techno-functional collaboration across various streams in the organization. It brings together planning, manufacturing, purchasing, distribution, sales, marketing, finance, resources, analytics, and other business areas. As a result, implementing your ERP as per the Big Bang Approach might be the right step.
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ERPs work like glue binding different technology systems of larger organizations. Sans ERPs each department will have its system optimization; while, with ERP software, each department will still have its system, but importantly, the systems work in unison and can be accessed via one interface. It collects data regarding the activity and states of different departments, simultaneously making it available to other parts, where it can be used productively and also facilitates the elimination of costly duplicates and incompatible technology. Let us explore how the big bang approach to ERP implementation can be a game changer.
A Big Bang implementation (aka single-step strategy/implementation/bigbang installation) as the name says is an all-at-once implementation i.e. all users will start using the system on the same day. It is almost like switching off the old system and going over in a single step to the new system. This kind of implementation oftentimes involves
With the advancement of technology, ERP systems have also evolved from traditional physical client-server models to cloud-based software offering remote, web-based access and a host of other benefits at lower costs. To achieve this single state of technology, either traditional or modern, every business needs to perform a thorough ERP implementation. An ERP installation, though it sounds straightforward, is not; it involves at a minimum:
On the contrary to a bigbang approach or all-at-once go-live; a phased or incremental implementation involves a step-by-step rollout of ERP modules. In this case, instead of a single go-live date for the entity, there will be several small go-live dates for each phase/region/module according to the implementation strategy. This will result in a gradual phase-out of older systems and incremental tune-in to newer systems, thereby reducing risks associated with a big bang implementation also, not causing a hiatus with the overhaul. A phased approach to ERP ordinarily involves:
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Implementing an ERP is a major painstaking step any organization can make, and it involves eliciting a comprehensive roadmap before even investing in an ERP package. One stereotypical question that marks its presence in every implementation checklist is what methodology will the organization use in implementing the package.
There are two methodologies that organizations follow in any ERP implementation:
Utilizing any of these methodologies, organizations may approach their ERP implementation either
Each of these approaches may have its considerations as follows:
Considerations | Big Bang | Phased Rollout | Parallel Adoption | Hybrid |
Training time | Low | High | Medium | High |
Support network | High | Low | Low | Medium |
Planning required | High | Low | Low | Low |
Implementation Time | Low | High | High | High |
Cost of Implementation | Low | High | High | High |
Risks involved | High | Low | Low | Low |
Suitable for | Less functional areas or 2-3 modules | More than 2-3 functional areas or modules | More than 2-3 functional areas or modules | More than 2-3 functional areas or modules |
Organizations may choose to utilize any of the approaches independently or even combine one or more approaches to derive the benefits based on the business case involved. For example, one popular approach is to do a big bang implementation for smaller business units and transition into a phased implementation approach for larger units.
When it comes to an ERP for any organization, there is no one-size-fits-all implementation approach and every organization needs to weigh the pros and cons of various approaches as well as methodologies before concluding on a particular approach and methodology. However, there are instances where Big Bang deployment approach or a single-step strategy may be the best choice for any organization. These instances may be:
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A big bang implementation though it sounds very complex and involves the same number of steps as with other approaches. The only difference is that in the case of big bang implementations, several steps need to be accomplished on the new system, before moving away from the old one. Some best practices/tips for a successful big bang strategy in ERP implementation include:
Big bang implementations are astonishingly complicated as well as ambitious projects. The points outlined above are some tips that may help the organization on a case-to-case basis; but it is important to remember that this list is not exhaustive and can include several other pointers such as:
Deciding a strategy to introduce or deploy the ERP package is ordinarily based on the organization's business objectives, budget constraints, available resources, and time constraints among other factors. But each approach has its benefits as well as loopholes.
Steps to perform a successful ERP implementation
The essence of a phased rollout is that project teams can take some time to plan, map the business process, build, customize, and validate the system while continuing with their regular duties/roles and responsibilities. Some of the pros and cons of a phased rollout embody:
| Pros | Cons |
| Involves lesser time for adjustments and adaptation | Commonly long-term projects due to extensions/scope changes |
| Best Practices/Lessons Learned can be shared across other phases | Time-consuming fallback to a legacy system in worst-case scenarios |
| Team expertise by performing continuous rollouts and learning by execution | Change fatigue and lack of control over resource team in the long term |
| Small issues can be resolved quickly on the goGo-live happens on planned date and is not susceptible to multiple changes | Temporary fixes causing breakages |
| Far-reaching and incremental testing approach to ensure sanity and qualitySystem integration is relatively easier as requirements are identified and addressed at once | Higher implementation costs |
| Delay in project benefits realization/ROI | |
| Organizational compliance & policies may cause delays/additional scope |
Organizations that look for shorter implementation times and go with a full-fledged plan early on in the implementation cycle prefer a big bang approach, which, albeit has its share of benefits and drawbacks, such as:
Pros | Cons |
Short implementation lifecycle | Risky to perform regression/end-to-end testing closer to the go-live date |
Low cost due to shorter timeline and economies of scale | Productivity loss in case of system issues in one module affecting other business areas |
Single system/interface for all business functions | Costly to do a rollback of all modules in case of issues |
Go-live happens on planned date and is not susceptible to multiple changes | Chances of overlook/errors are high in the last-minute rush toward go-live |
System integration is relatively easier as requirements are identified and addressed at once | System training and usability can get complex for users |
In the current context, particularly weighing factors for a big-bang vs phased approach, the below parameters are also important to consider:
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Implementing an ERP is a daunting decision any organization can make and determining which approach and/or methodology is the best to choose depends on the organization's specifics such as the business goals, strategies, and needs. It is also crucial to have a thorough implementation plan, identifying each step in the cycle, addressing dependencies, especially those related to configuration and data, and finally allocate abundant time and resources for user training to have a successful implementation.
Irrespective of the strategy an organization wants to use to implement its ERP – it is significant to consider leadership buy-in, manage expectations, limit customization, and use the right measurement KPIs to review the post-implementation performance of the system. A successful and timely ERP implementation will result in a multitude of benefits including increasing revenues, improving processes, efficiencies, and economies thereby reducing costs, disruptions, and dependencies. Choosing a methodology/approach is something an organization can do considering a balance between costs, risks, and quality.
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No, big bang is an integration testing technique where all business areas are integrated in a single-step unlike incremental integration testing where business areas are integrated piece by piece utilizing stubs and drivers. Nevertheless, both form a part of testing techniques focusing on validation of data and communication among the business areas.
Big bang approach means integrating all modules at once and testing the system as a single unit. In this case, testers/developers encounter several challenges, such as:
Big bang approach is just another name for big bang integration which aims at integrating all modules at once for validations. This approach is advantageous for smaller systems which have minimum interactions; it also carries a high-risk and uncertainty as validations are done late in the development lifecycle.
Top Down is a form of integration testing in which testing the system behavior flows from top to down i.e. higher level modules are tested prior to lower-level modules to validate the system. Stubs and drivers are used as temporary placeholders to simulate data communication for the modules which may not be developed/ready for validations.
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