Risks Involved in ERP Solutions

An increasing number of educational institutions are implementing ERP systems for improved operational efficiency, making mundane daily processes quick and transparent. However, ERP projects are thought to be complex and risky. Therefore, it is important for organizations to focus on organizational relevance while choosing ERP partners and solutions, and also on risk management to make ERP implementation successful.


ERP systems integration can involve several risk factors and implementation may not be successful if projects exceed time limit and budget, training of staff is inadequate, systems are not upgraded regularly, no back-end support is provided, etc. Therefore, several factors should be considered while integrating ERP systems, and a risk management team should be deployed to mitigate risks and handle challenges. Here are a few points to be considered by the risk management team.   

1. Number of integration points: A gradual change is always more welcome than a sudden one. Projects that attempt to integrate everything at once are prone to adverse results due to the increased complexity, challenges and large number of inter-dependencies. Scaling down the scope in the beginning and focusing on quick, easy processes can be a key motivating factor for the users. The capabilities and scale of the project can be increased gradually.
2. Understanding the requirements: Adequate time should be given to understanding the requirements, and in planning the integration phases. A clear vision helps in matching the solution to requirements, thus reducing changes required to suit the institution or its staff. 
3. Selecting the right infrastructure: Undertaking an ERP integration project with inadequate or outdated infrastructure can lead to grave challenges and excessive costs. For example, solutions that rely on manual programming or overly complex software can create multiple issues for users.
4. Avoiding impractical timelines: Aggressive schedules are fine but impractical schedules must be avoided. Realistic timelines must be set to achieve results.   
5. Training and support: Introducing change to an organization always carries with it the risk of institutional or user resistance. Training the staff and other stakeholders is the key to achieving results and making the project successful, as they are the end users. Back-end support and assistance is also of prime importance to avoid initial hiccups in operations.
6. Introducing testing plans: Testing should be done often to detect problems. Test scripts and automated testing can help ensure accelerated and more complete discovery of problems early in the ERP integration project.
7. Sensitive data: An ERP solution handles large amount of data. Some of that data may be sensitive and require additional security. ERP partners should be consulted to ensure security and safety of such data and transactions.

Knowing the risks and challenges involved in ERP implementation allows us to better prevent and manage them. At Jupsoft, we have successfully completed hundreds of implementations and have worked alongside our clients to mitigate risks.  Get in touch with us if you wish to discuss any of these risks or others you may be worried about or experiencing. We would be happy to help!

 

Managing Activities through ERP

Co-curricular and extra-curricular activities are an integral part of any educational institute. Co-curricular activities can be defined as the activities that enhance and enrich the regular curriculum during the normal school hours. On the other hand, extra-curricular activities are the activities that take place beyond the normal school hours wherein the students are encouraged to participate voluntarily in activities like NCC, athletics, etc.

Such activities help in stimulating interest, nurturing talent, developing leadership skills and team spirit, encouraging creativity, and in broadening their experiences. Such activities also give students a chance to relax, refresh and mingle with others. In short, these activities prepare the students for their future.

Managing activities is usually a tedious task as various aspects have to be taken into consideration while organizing an activity, such as, assigning space for each activity, deciding upon suitable timings, keeping track of participants, providing ID cards to participants from outside the institution, collecting participation fees, issuing certificates, etc.

But now, activity management is easy, with the Activity Management feature of Jupsoft eConnect. Specially designed for managing activities of every scale, this application is user friendly and has all it takes to help you organize an activity.

The application helps in defining the activities to be conducted in an academic year and allocates a code for each activity. Each activity is then allocated a room or area where it is to be conducted along with the time, thus eliminating last minute rush and confusion. So, participants know when and where to report for the activity. A list of participants can be maintained along with performance details for added transparency in case of competitions. Winners of different rounds can also be tracked, thus generating a database of students with talent in specific areas. Such students may be further nurtured to make the school proud with accolades and awards.

Other valuable features include automated generation of ID cards for various activities/clubs and generation of certificates for participants