ERP Implementation 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What does TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) include in the context of an ERP implementation?
- Only the software licensing fees
- Only implementation consulting costs
- All costs across licensing, implementation, training, customization, maintenance, and upgrades (Correct answer)
- Hardware infrastructure costs only
Correct answer: All costs across licensing, implementation, training, customization, maintenance, and upgrades
TCO captures every cost across the ERP lifecycle—upfront and ongoing—so organizations can make accurate investment decisions beyond the initial purchase price.
Question 2: A company implementing ERP decides to use the vendor's standard processes instead of replicating their legacy workflows. This approach is called:
- Heavy customization
- Vanilla implementation (Correct answer)
- Hybrid deployment
- Localization
Correct answer: Vanilla implementation
A vanilla implementation adopts the ERP's out-of-the-box processes with minimal customization, reducing cost and complexity while leveraging vendor best practices.
Question 3: Which data migration technique loads only open transactions and master data into the new ERP, leaving historical records in a legacy archive system?
- Full historical migration
- Big bang data load
- Legacy data archival with selective migration (Correct answer)
- Real-time streaming migration
Correct answer: Legacy data archival with selective migration
Selective migration loads only what is needed to operate (open orders, current balances, master data) while keeping historical data accessible in a decommissioned legacy archive.
Question 4: What is the risk of skipping end-user training during an ERP implementation?
- Increased hardware costs
- Low system adoption and data quality problems after go-live (Correct answer)
- Delayed data migration
- Higher software licensing fees
Correct answer: Low system adoption and data quality problems after go-live
Undertrained users make errors, avoid the system, or revert to workarounds, undermining data integrity and the business value the ERP was meant to deliver.
Question 5: In a multi-company ERP implementation, what is a 'template rollout' approach?
- Using a single vendor contract for all subsidiaries
- Building a standardized configuration once and deploying it with local adjustments to each entity (Correct answer)
- Rolling out all companies simultaneously in one big bang
- Letting each subsidiary choose its own ERP modules
Correct answer: Building a standardized configuration once and deploying it with local adjustments to each entity
A template rollout creates a global core design once, then adapts it for local legal, language, and tax requirements at each subsidiary, reducing rework across entities.
Question 6: What is the key difference between functional consultants and technical consultants in an ERP implementation team?
- Functional consultants write code; technical consultants design processes
- Functional consultants configure business processes; technical consultants develop custom code and integrations (Correct answer)
- Functional consultants manage the project timeline; technical consultants manage the budget
- Functional consultants handle data migration; technical consultants handle user training
Correct answer: Functional consultants configure business processes; technical consultants develop custom code and integrations
Functional consultants translate business requirements into ERP configuration, while technical consultants build custom development, APIs, and system integrations.
Question 7: Which metric is commonly used to measure ERP implementation success in the months after go-live?
- Number of customizations developed
- System adoption rate and process cycle time improvement (Correct answer)
- Total number of test scripts executed
- Lines of code written during the project
Correct answer: System adoption rate and process cycle time improvement
Post-go-live success is measured by whether users actually use the system and whether business processes are faster or more efficient than before implementation.
ERP Implementation 5
What does TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) include in the context of an ERP implementation?