It was a day that many
thought would live in
infamy! There was much
nervousness as the implementation
team, upper management and
users waited in
anticipation for the
"throwing of the big
switch." Flash cut is such a
final thing. Would it all
work as planned?
Cutover team members were in
place at the 28 locations
worldwide preparing to
handle any crisis that
might arise. At
mission control in
Allentown, Pennsylvania,
critical core team members
were on 24-hour call.
Core team members remaining
on site had brought in
food and sleeping
bags in anticipation of any
heroic efforts required to
keep the business running in
the event
of a catastrophe. After over
three years in the making,
all our efforts were finally
coming to a head. To the
best
of our knowledge, this would
be the biggest flash cut of
an Oracle Application Suite
to date!
All held their breath as the
switch was thrown. The old
system went down. The new
system came up. Except
for a few minor glitches,
the business ran as usual.
For the most part, the
thousands of employees at
the
28 Lucent Technologies
Microelectronics Division
locations
worldwide went about their
business oblivious
to the fact that we had just
replaced our legacy applications
with an Oracle-based
solution. For all intents
and
purposes, this was a
non-event. The business did
not stop, the system
did not crash and burn, and
no cutover
day heroics were required.
How were we able to pull off
such a monumental event
without so much as a ripple
in our normal day-to-day
business activities? This
presentation will provide
highlights of steps taken by
the project team to
ensure a relatively seamless
transition from the old
system to the new system.
Hopefully, lessons learned
from our experiences will
help others better plan and
execute
a successful ERP system
implementation, making a
system
cutover uneventful.
PLANNING/EXECUTING A
WORLDWIDE
IMPLEMENTATION
Executive Team Makes Big
Decision!
Early on in the planning
process, the executive team
was
faced with the decision of
how to best implement the
new system functionality.
There were numerous debates
regarding flash cut verses
phased cutover approaches.
The
team had to review not only
the technical pros and cons
of each approach, but also
the impact each approach
would have on our ability to
grow and compete in the
short and long term. After
much churning, the executive
team felt that a flash cut
of the entire division would
be
the best all-around
approach. The major reasons
cited
for this decision were the
following:
•
Minimizes dual maintenance
of planning and financial
systems.
•
Provides worldwide
standardization of systems
and
business practices.
•
Allows a worldwide view of
production, inventories,
financials, etc.
•
Need to get off legacy
systems (global limitations/
Y2K issues).
•
Enhances a "one company"
attitude (behavioral
change).
From a total business
viewpoint, a flash cut wouldallow
us to increase our
competitive advantage and
growth potential in a much
shorter period than a
location-by-location phased
approach.