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April 27, 2023
Why insisting on perfection can kill your Print MIS Implementation by Jane Mugford & Danielle Jackson |
Striving for a perfect Go Live Print MIS implementation can become a slippery slope for some.
Of course you want everything in place and perfect, just as it was envisioned, before your Go Live launch. The reality though is that extra time can actually be your enemy, and it’s difficult to have everything perfectly in place, no matter how well thought out things are. Also the scope creep on Print MIS implementations tends to get out of hand, which only adds to the complexity.
So where is the balance? How do you accomplish a successful Go Live without taking forever to do so? How do you decide if you can phase in your implementation, effectively having multiple Go Live dates lined up? The answers to these questions are some of the critical elements that will help your Print MIS implementation happen sooner, rather than later, while still ensuring you can build in additional scope over time.
A Print MIS transition is one of the most difficult AND rewarding projects a print company will ever go through. Striving for perfection though, shouldn’t become the trigger for procrastination. Don’t let your desire to do everything perfect right out of the gate, serve to delay the actual flip of the switch on your Go Live. Phasing in your implementation can serve to provide more motivation, more focus, and in the end will lead to more success for your team and your Print MIS software.
Of course you want everything in place and perfect, just as it was envisioned, before your Go Live launch. The reality though is that extra time can actually be your enemy, and it’s difficult to have everything perfectly in place, no matter how well thought out things are. Also the scope creep on Print MIS implementations tends to get out of hand, which only adds to the complexity.
So where is the balance? How do you accomplish a successful Go Live without taking forever to do so? How do you decide if you can phase in your implementation, effectively having multiple Go Live dates lined up? The answers to these questions are some of the critical elements that will help your Print MIS implementation happen sooner, rather than later, while still ensuring you can build in additional scope over time.
- Define the minimum requirements for Go Live.
- This isn’t the ‘nice to haves’ it’s the ‘must haves’. Here are a few examples:
- If you want to integrate an ecommerce system that isn’t currently integrated with your legacy MIS, this would not be considered a ‘mission critical’ Go Live requirement. It can be accomplished in a later phase.
- If you currently don’t use a system for scheduling but you’ve purchased a scheduling module, this is something that could be implemented in a second phase. However, you must at least be mindful of all minimum configuration elements required for future scheduling in your MIS.
- If you know your new Print MIS has some awesome new workflows that can automate your current manual processes - which it most definitely does! - you can most likely move these to a second or even third phase of implementation. Everything doesn’t have to happen all at once.
- This isn’t the ‘nice to haves’ it’s the ‘must haves’. Here are a few examples:
- It’s best not to try and change everything at once during a Go Live. Here’s an example of why:
- Considering the third example above, while it would be nice to change and automate as much as possible at Go Live - taking advantage of, and adding new features and functionality - the more likely scenario is that trying to do everything all at once will more than likely result in chaos for you and your team; and then time spent unraveling that chaos. There is stability to be had during transition by keeping some manual processes in play as everyone becomes familiar with the new Print MIS. The learning curve will be steep, so keeping some existing processes can act to control and monitor things for you.
- Determine ‘Showstoppers’ for your initial Go Live.
- What MUST you have to keep your business functioning at Go Live?
- Those ‘must haves’ need to be on everyone’s radar early in the implementation process. Please, please, please do not forget to invite Accounting to participate in the process. Forgetting to do so is an all too common reason for Print MIS Go Lives to get bumped back - by months in some cases. Too many forget how critical Accounting is in this process, ESPECIALLY if you’re going to use your Print MIS for Accounting.
- Keep an updated ‘Roadmap’.
- It is very, very, very easy to Go Live with a well-intended, phased approach but then end up dropping those phases after the initial Go Live. After some of the initial chaos dies down, too often the temptation tends to be to stop worrying about implementation as there are always so many other things that demand our attention.
- You must keep that ‘Roadmap’ in sight, on the wall, and up-to-date. Sticking to a regular meeting cadence with your implementation team - at least biweekly - will enable you to keep progressing, to and through, your planned phases.
- Keep your ‘Roadmap’ peppered with both quick-wins and longer term objectives. Quick-wins keep the user base motivated to learn the new MIS system. Longer term objectives are critical to your overall Print MIS success
A Print MIS transition is one of the most difficult AND rewarding projects a print company will ever go through. Striving for perfection though, shouldn’t become the trigger for procrastination. Don’t let your desire to do everything perfect right out of the gate, serve to delay the actual flip of the switch on your Go Live. Phasing in your implementation can serve to provide more motivation, more focus, and in the end will lead to more success for your team and your Print MIS software.