“If you don’t know where you’re going, any path will do”

Start with business strategy.

I was recently having a conversation with a business consultant friend of mine, who was describing a discussion he’d had with a friend of his. The friend was working on an ERP software evaluation for a large company, and was inquiring as to the company’s strategic direction for the next several years. This consultant was informed that he was to only focus on the requirements of the current business and not to be concerned with the company’s strategic direction. However, this consultant knew that with the implementation for this very large organization likely to take some 24 months, the business for which they would be implementing software would be two years outdated if future business direction wasn’t taken into consideration. He decided to move on as he didn’t want his fingerprints on this scenario.

I also find the words of hockey great, Wayne Gretzky, to fit this situation well. Gretzky said, “I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it’s been.” From a business perspective relative to evaluating and implementing new ERP software, start with business strategy first. That way, one can enable the business that will be, not an outdated business model that will no longer be competitive in the future business setting. There should be an on-going process of continuous improvement, continuously seeking to enable new business models that sustain competitive advantage for the long haul.