Out of Epicor Multi-Site, Out of Mind

An Epicor multi-site implementation, whether moving from a single site to multiple sites, or vice versa, is a common phenomenon in the manufacturing and distribution world.  Companies and sites in Epicor are rarely in a “set it and forget it” proposition.  As companies evolve, the need to further break out or combine business units can become necessary.  As your business grows, you might wonder if your satellite facility should be considered part of your main site or if it should be a site of its own.  Or, in a similar Epicor multi-site configuration puzzle, you might wonder how to map out the consolidation of a two-company environment into a single-company installation.

Assume, for example, that a company has four sites (A, B, C, D) split across two companies (1 and 2) in the following manner:

• Company 1:  Sites A, B, C
• Company 2:  Site D

And the company desires to combine operations under a single operating unit, such that the lone site under company 2 would be absorbed under the operations of company 1:

• Company 1:  Site A, B, C, D

Such a change may seem like simply a matter of converting existing data—of pointing all records from the old company and site to the new company and sites.  Alas, systems are often less than accommodating in allowing for historical transactions to be modified in this manner.

Epicor Multi-Site Implementation Recommended

Epicor offers no toolsets to “move” a site across companies.  No toolset currently exists that provides the ability to change the company context of all records in a single instance, as to point them to another company context.  Historical transactions don’t like having their keys modified, and such revisionist history is fraught with potential challenges, and thus not recommended.

The recommended best practice in such an Epicor multi-site implementation scenario is to reimplement site 2-D in Company 1.  This would involve the setup and configuration of the site and the transfer of setup, master file, and open transaction data into the new site, and the continuance of business operations from within this new site.  This would not include the loading of historical transactions—it would essentially be an act of starting fresh in the new company, as if the site were converted from a legacy system and not from Epicor.

To achieve Epicor site consolidation, as described above, a four-stage process can create the desired infrastructure:

• Plan:  The planning stage finalizes scope and organization through assessment, planning, resource organization, scheduling, etc.  The resolution of conflicts in data, customization, or configuration will occur as part of the testing phase.  Scripts will be developed for the movement of data and customizations.
• Architect:  The architect stage involves the setup and testing of an environment that would represent the future state deployment, and the elicitation and resolution of any gaps, issues, or conflicts that would come from the planned deployment.  Key activities are the development of the test environment, testing of new site deployment, and gap/issue resolution.
• Validate:  The validate stage is used to verify that we can successfully execute a cutover and run the business as intended, as if we were in a live environment.
• Stabilize:  This is the final, successful deployment of a new site at cutover.

To address the scenario described above, the following environment map would be recommended:

• Test Environment:  The initial environment used to model the construction of the new site.
• Pilot Environment:  The environment in which conference room pilot (CRP) validation occurs.
• Live Environment:  The existing Live environment, which will be updated at the cutover of the new site.

In a traditional Epicor implementation, we go through a five-stage process:  Plan, Educate, Architect, Validate, Stabilize.  This conventional waterfall approach to implementing an ERP application does not adequately address a scenario where training is not required, and prototyping is centered less on the use of the system than it is on properly implementing and integrating an existing Epicor process into a different Epicor company.  As such, the methodology is somewhat simplified, considering the team is already well-versed in the application.

The environmental build, relative to the four-stage model described above, would be as follows:

Architect:

Initial Live Environment Setup:

• Extract Setup information from 2-D.
• Create New Site D in company 1.
• Update Site configuration in 1-D.
• Update Company configuration in company 1, as needed.

Test Environment Setup:

• Build Test environment from copy of production.
• Extract master file records from Company 2 (Live) and load into Company 1 (Test) and reconcile Conflicts as needed.
• Extract open transaction records from Company 2 (Live) and load into Company 1 (Test) and reconcile conflicts as needed.
• Extract open balances and open AR & AP from Company 2 (Live) and load into Company 1 (Pilot).
• Perform user testing to verify functionality in Site 1-D and the effect of adding 1-D on sites 1-A, 1-B, and 1-C.

Verify:

Pilot Environment:

• Build Pilot environment from copy of production.
• Extract master file records from Company 2 (Live) and load into Company 1 (Pilot).
• Extract open transaction records from Company 2 (Live) and load into Company 1 (Pilot).
• Extract open balances and open AR & AP from Company 2 (Live) and load into Company 1 (Pilot).
• Perform conference room pilot (CRP) event to verify functionality in Site 1-D and the effect of adding 1-D on sites 1-A, 1-B, and 1-C.

Stabilize:

Live Environment-Cutover:

• Extract master file records from Company 2 (Live) and load into Company 1 (Live).
• Extract open transaction records from Company 2 (Live) and load into Company 1 (Live).
• Extract open balances and open AR & AP from Company 2 (Live) and load into Company 1 (Live).
• Perform any ancillary cutover activities as required.
• Resume operation in new environment.

Considerations

As with any project, there are a number of considerations that should be clarified at the onset of an Epicor multi-site migration.  The following assumptions have been made:

• There are always minor data transformations needed when loading data into a new Company and Site, such as the new Company and Site IDs.  You should give consideration to any transformations above and beyond these basic adjustments:
  • Are there data transformations that will need to occur beyond the necessary changes to allow the data to function correctly and without conflict in the new company?
  • Are there changes to setup tables that will need to be mapped when loading master files and open transactions?
• There is a necessity to identify who will be building test case scripts and who will be performing the necessary testing and validation—and this validation is twofold:
  • Validate the functionality of the new site within the existing company.
  • Confirm that the addition of the new site does not introduce any processing issues with any of the existing sites.
• It is critical to identify a process for resolving conflicts—the addition of a new site may introduce conflicts with the existing Epicor implementation, and a resolution strategy should be devised at the project’s onset.

Conflicts and Conflict Resolution

Potential conflicts may exist between Company 1 and Company 2, and these may surface as a function of the “move” of Site 2-D into Company 1.  These may include the following:

• Company configurations in Company 1 may not be in agreement with those of Company 2.
• Security and menu settings in Company 1 may not be in agreement with those of Company 2.
• Conflicts between customizations and/or reports may exist between Companies 1 and 2.
• System Agent configuration conflicts may exist between Companies 1 and 2.
• Setup Table conflicts may exist between Companies 1 and 2.
• GL structure conflicts may exist between Companies 1 and 2.
• Master File conflicts may exist between Companies 1 and 2.

Historical Data Access and Epicor Multi-Site Design

With any such migration, questions exist as to how historical data will be accessed.  As noted above, our recommended approach does not include the loading of historical transactional data.  In the current situation, the historical data from site D in Company 2 will continue to reside in the database, but the ability to modify the data will be removed at cutover.  Read-only access and report access could still be permitted, to provide access to historical data.  Additionally, the utilization of cross-company BAQs could be applied for reporting from Company 1 and consolidating datasets between the legacy site 2-D and the new site 1-D.

As companies expand, it’s common for new physical facilities to be spun up and incorporated into the existing Epicor application in some form or fashion.  In other cases, companies manage parallel business within the same space, and may decide they need to better break these out, as to keep their operating interests independent of one another.  In all possible scenarios, Epicor multi-site implementation can be tricky, demanding a thorough migration plan.

Looking to tweak your company/site configuration as part of an Epicor upgrade?  Learn more about multi-company and multi-site upgrades here.

When Your E10 Conference Room Pilot Feels Like Space Exploration

Conducting a successful Epicor CRP remotely is a lot like doing one in person—except that nobody’s in the same room.  Customers suddenly working remotely in the midst of an Epicor implementation may feel like their project happened long, long ago in a galaxy far, far away.  As such, many have asked us for guidance on whether to proceed with their project or to put it on hold until their team returns to on-site infrastructure.  With a little adjustment, companies can proceed with their Epicor implementation and keep their team’s momentum.  As much as I like to get in the customer’s on-site orbit, a few little changes when orchestrating a remote Epicor CRP will go a long way since the fundamental implementation principles do not change.

Here are 5 recommendations for conducting a remote Epicor CRP event:

1)  Place extra effort on the preparation stage.

A number of planning steps can be performed before the event.  This may include level-setting expectations of the core team and end users.   For many of the attendees, this might be the first time they have gone through a systematic verification event such as a CRP.  Provide them with an understanding of the logic behind such an event and an idea of how the event will be conducted.

Consider which roles will be required and who will be performing them: Who will be the facilitator?  Who will be keeping score against the test script to confirm which steps have or have not passed testing?  Who will document discoveries, issues, gaps, decisions, or general notes that extend beyond the test script?  Having these roles defined will help build traction early.

Also, make sure that team members and users have access to the necessary documents (test scripts, agenda, end user procedures) prior to the event.  Make sure that technical steps have been validated, and work with the IT department as necessary to ensure web conferencing software is working as expected, and that team members will be able to access the application remotely.  Consider performing a quick dry run with a subset of the team to ensure the event can be conducted as intended.

2)  Start with a well-defined set of scenarios and a detailed testing script.

A CRP is only as successful as its completeness—in covering the key business scenarios that support the organization.  Companies implementing Epicor vary to the degree in which they document and define their scenarios prior to testing them in a milestone event such as a CRP.  A remote Epicor CRP requires a better-defined test script.  If you plan to bring in new users to try out the processes you’ve defined, you will want the test cases to be well-defined to avoid the ambiguity that can encumber a remote testing session.

In on-site situations, the assistance of the core team members, who have been living and breathing these scenarios on a daily basis, can help drive through the confusion that could be caused by a loosely defined testing script.  It becomes difficult in remote situations to provide this kind of guidance, so plan it out ahead of time.

3)  Organize your testing with a detailed agenda.

Once the scripts have been solidified, organize their execution within your remote Epicor CRP with a detailed day-by-day agenda.  This helps clarify expectations and becomes a tangible roadmap that everyone can follow for the week’s event.  For each day, identify scripts to be covered, the timeframe for which to cover them, and the necessary attendees.  This is especially important with end users that you will be bringing into the event, as their attendance will likely be for smaller and more-specific blocks of time.  Given that an individual’s availability may be compromised during this event, work with the project manager, the consultants, and the core team to logically arrange activities as to allow for a logical flow of events and an efficient use of team member and user resources.

4)  Make sure Epicor EUPs are well-defined and complete.

End User Procedures are often overlooked when entering a CRP, and we’ve seen companies conduct successful on-site Epicor Conference Room Pilot events where they successfully verify their processes in the absence of detailed click-by-click steps.  Consultant knowledge and team member capabilities often come into play here in guiding end users through processes.  Companies facing a remote CRP do not possess this luxury.  As such, Epicor EUPs need to be buttoned down in order to conduct a successful CRP.  It’s always good to introduce general users to a CRP event.  In a remote CRP, you will know with certainty whether you’ve given your user community sufficient instructions to do their jobs.

5)  Place extra emphasis on communication when conducting your event.

Due to the cross-functional nature of ERP systems, and the importance of confirming that a configured system operates properly across functional areas, communication is a pillar of any such event.  This is magnified when performing a remote Epicor CRP.  Open, transparent communication is essential.  Remember that in a remote Conference Room Pilot, it is hard to read non-verbal cues, and the team needs to be cognizant of such communication challenges.  Often it can be beneficial at the onset of the event to come to an agreement with the team on the ground rules to be followed, specifically when it comes to agreed-upon guidelines for things like clarifying a scenario before moving to the next, or deciding when to call “time-out” when a discussion is going down a bad path.

Engagement can also be an issue, so make sure your team stays engaged.  If you’ve been invited to a session, the assumption is that you will stay engaged in it.  Look to try out different techniques to retain engagement, such as taking frequent breaks, encouraging individual feedback, or leveraging the chat functionality or the digital whiteboard of your web conferencing software to keep people focused.  Also, if you are the facilitator, the project manager, or the consultant in a remote CRP, it is important to know your audience.  An understanding of team members’ general proclivities when it comes to working in situations with a greater degree of ambiguity can go a long way to heading off conflicts and frustration or preventing rabbit-hole adventures.

Epicor ERP implementations are more of a walk on the moon than a walk in the park.

These challenges may seem insurmountable in light of circumstances that mandate remote activity.  But it has been our experience thus far that a great deal of progress can continue, in spite of a decentralized team.  As it relates to successfully preparing for and conducting a remote Epicor Conference Room Pilot, we have found the same to be the case—with a little extra work in the areas of planning and preparation, and some adjusted expectations on how team members will interact with each other, an event as complex and rigorous as a remote Epicor CRP can be successfully conducted.

A successful remote E10 CRP relies on many of the same principles that underlie an on-site event, but these steps need to be conducted with even more diligence to ensure the success of remote implementation.  In on-site Conference Room Pilot events, it is far too easy for the consultant or the core team to “muscle” their way through the event.  Remote CRP events do not have this luxury, as the influence of any one individual is minimized due to the remote nature of the event.  Use this as a blessing: tighten up the organization and use your remote Epicor Conference Room Pilot as a launch pad to boldly go where no project has gone before.

Are you working through an Epicor ERP implementation?  Do you need some guidance on the setup of the part master?  Successful part master setup is critical for project success.  Download our white paper for some recommendations.

Why Remote ERP Implementation is Essential

Remote ERP consulting in Epicor has become a necessary service for manufacturing and distribution industries during the COVID-19 pandemic.  Coronavirus quarantines and stay-at-home decrees have disbanded ERP project teams.  Separated from traditional onsite ERP consulting paradigms, office culture has shifted into remote consulting platforms in order to support the manufacturers and distributors critical to our nation.  With travel advisories in place, remote consulting has quickly become the new normal, and ERP consultants are empowering teams to meet the challenges of implementing ERP using remote technology and methodology.  Fortunately, remote ERP consulting strategies can be quickly and securely deployed to keep your Epicor ERP implementation projects successful throughout the COVID-19 crisis.

How to Effectively Enable Remote Work

Working with our customers over the past few weeks, we’ve used our team’s experience to come up with a few recommendations for remote ERP consulting and ERP project management:

• Leverage Technology: Software providers have spent decades developing products that enable remote activities.  Go beyond basic connectivity and familiarize yourself with the ins and outs of your web conferencing tool of choice, such as Zoom, WebEx, or GoToMeeting.  Record sessions and look for ways to make file sharing and communication easier: SharePoint, Teams, OneNote, etc.  And if a remote engagement is on the horizon, work with your IT staff ahead of time to make sure everyone has requisite access.
• Bring in remote expertise: As consultants, who by necessity have to connect to one of many types of projectors, screens, and presentation architectures, we naturally become quite adept at this process, bringing with us a toolbox of adaptors to connect to this or that technology.  In the remote world, we similarly need to master the skills of remote connectivity: VPN, Citrix, RDP, etc.  These communication modes work to bring clients and consultants effectively together, keeping an ERP implementation on schedule.
• Modularize assistance: As COVID-19 disrupts traditional business culture across the manufacturing and distribution industries, moving key workers into home offices, Epicor ERP implementation projects demand adaptable technology and adaptable teamwork.  Remote consulting strategies that help to create ultimate flexibility for IT projects can bring success to your ERP implementations, even from your living room, by breaking up consulting into segments specific to particular individual needs.  Clients can optimize the increased flexibility of a consultant’s remote work schedule by using technology to enhance communication and productivity.
• Master the help-homework-help cycle: Related to the above steps, look to leverage the modular approach by scheduling incremental sessions.  In this more intensive cycle, a consultant can provide instruction on a given topic with a customer, then allow a period of time between sessions for the customer team member to perform independent work before picking up with the next session.  The key here is getting to a good point at the end of a session such that homework can be assigned, with the customer not only responsible for the next steps, but also well-equipped with the knowledge necessary to be successful.
• Keep your team connected: Communication becomes paramount during times of remote activity.  In these circumstances, consultants need to increasingly serve as the glue between team members.  Questions that don’t get asked are rarely answered, so this is a good time to get people asking questions.  In the absence of traditional project structures, individual team members might need more direction from their Epicor ERP consultants.  Customers working remotely are not only in need of consulting assistance but are also in need of increased project management.

When the Home Office Becomes Your Conference Room

Epicor ERP consultants are remotely managing teams to keep manufacturing and distribution projects successful throughout the COVID-19 outbreak.  With travel down and customers closing their doors to consultants who have been implementing ERP onsite, project teams might find themselves in an unfamiliar work architecture.  The shift to remote work environments brings challenges to ERP implementation teams and their consultants.  The coronavirus outlook for the upcoming weeks and months means the dependency on remote communication is only set to increase, making remote ERP consulting a necessity.  This will change the way that Epicor ERP consultants ply their trade for a while, but it won’t limit the success of ERP implementations.

Remote consulting strategies abound to assist customers in their remote business environments, and consultants more than ever need to be facilitators first and consultants second as we help manufacturing and distribution companies through the coronavirus disruption.  It’s a time for Epicor ERP project teams to be assertive, with consultants and team leaders providing direction, organization, communication and encouragement, not only though our application expertise, but also through the soft skills that we bring as part of our value proposition, keeping to our mission of Epicor ERP implementation success.

Looking for ways to enable remote work for your team?  Contact EstesGroup to learn more about our Managed IT, Epicor ERP, Prophet 21 and CyberSecurity services.  Stay well, be safe, and talk to us about the future of your business.

Looking for more information on Project Management to help keep your Epicor ERP Implementation moving forward? Check out our blog on: The Unique Family Dynamics of a Successful ERP Implementation.