How to adapt agile to ERP

Some agile practices can be directly applied to ERP implementations without adaptation: forming small, end-to-end, cross-functional agile teams, with dedicated product owners from the business and end users; working in short cycles of two to three weeks to produce working software (or configurations, interfaces, et cetera) incrementally; adopting scrum-based ceremonies focusing on continuous improvement, with transparency facilitated by the ceremonies and KPIs; and using tools and technologies—such as test automation and continuous integration—that optimize and accelerate the delivery process.

Other agile practices, however, need to be adapted further. For instance, the project’s entire scope must be defined up front at a high level to include clear success criteria, as opposed to agile’s more common approach toward a minimum viable product. Teams should be allowed, however, to refine the detailed scope and to set priorities as they go along.

In addition, to ensure consistent development, more work must be done on the business process and architecture than in the typical agile implementation, so that the work can be split among small teams.

Strong linkages are needed between the agile teams delivering functionalities and the “transversal” teams, which are nonfunctional teams—for example, the data-migration team, the integration team, or the change team that support the functional or feature teams. All teams should be synchronized so that they work in the same rhythm and meet the finish line together.

“Production ready” software cannot be delivered as frequently as in typical agile software development. A phase of end-to-end (E2E) testing and cut-over is needed to consolidate the increments delivered by individual teams and to test complex interfaces with legacy systems; this often takes longer than one sprint to complete.

Finally, a strong agile program management office (PMO) should be added for faster resolution of issues and cross-team decision making.

Applying agile to the classical approach

A classical ERP implementation has four stages: developing an ERP strategy and road map, setting up the program, implementation, and deployment. Each stage can be adapted for agile delivery.

Further reading: https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/mckinsey-digital/our-insights/agile-in-enterprise-resource-planning-a-myth-no-more