The following sections outline:

• The Benefits of ERP Business Optimisation
• Capgemini’s approach
• Capgemini capability
• Success stories

The Benefits of ERP Business Optimisation

• Efficient processes: designed to enable management and staff get the most out of a fully integrated system.
• Greater collaboration: Business units or departments aligned around new ways of working.
• Increased user confidence, expertise and acceptance of the system.
• Greater understanding of how to utilise the wealth of information from Management Reports.
• Overcoming change resistance that occurs with greater transparency of information.

Ultimately, a greater return on investment.

Capgemini’s approach

We work with your teams to identify business issues across the impacted functional areas. Our approach is based on the understanding of a ‘whole’ approach to ERP – not limited to technology - to help get the most from an ERP investment.

Step 1: Rapid Diagnostic

Through a rapid diagnostic, we evaluate whether your organisation can extract further value from your ERP investment. We identify key areas of missed opportunities and targeted quick wins to implement.

Step 2: Assessment Phase

Very often clients are aware that their ERP investment is not paying off and despite attempts to fix process inefficiencies, address sub-optimal people performance or correct data, they often find another problem popping up elsewhere. The fire-fighting becomes expensive, which is why our approach in the assessment phase is not to fix the symptoms, but rather to determine what the root causes are, and what their relationships are to each other, so that once we put together a programme of change, we will ensure that the sequence of change activity permanently eradicates the problems being experienced.

The assessment phase typically takes 6-8 weeks, the scope of which includes:

• Programme Management incorporating Benefits Management & Realisation.
• Organisational and Change Management.
• Process Development and Integration.
• Technology Management.

Typical deliverables from this phase include:

• A robust assessment on People, Process, Organisation and Behaviours.
• A Technical assessment of current systems, data, information management and reporting.
• A detailed user assessment (occasionally clients may choose for this to be a training needs analysis or a skills audit).
• Enablers and barriers identified.
• Areas for optimisation identified including quick-wins
• Rationale for optimisation created.
• Outline transformation roadmap (if required).

Step 3: Improvement Programme Planning

We develop a framework for deployment of the necessary improvements. We prioritise and implement changes based on our proven methodology for embedding process improvement and delivering sustainable change. We provide the strategy, tools and infrastructure needed and help with the challenges of implementation, including business transformation, stakeholder management, training and infrastructure requirements.

Capgemini capability

Capgemini have expertise in implementing ERP turnarounds. We have global expertise in ERP and Business Optimisation, including where necessary, bringing specialists from our Lean, Post-Merger Integration and Business Transformation groups.

We have developed a proven methodology for assessing each of the key functional areas in client organisations to evaluate the current situation across:

• Finance and Reporting
• Procurement
• HR
• Service Delivery
• Asset Management
• Management Information
• Technology

We use benchmarks, based on extensive internal and external research (with Hackett, Giga, Aberdeen, Stephens, and our own Capgemini benchmarks). Additional research can also be commissioned to support your case for change, if required, and we will be happy to discuss this further with you.

We can help quantify the benefits to be realised and qualify the rationale for your investment spend.

Success stories

A Scottish City Council had installed a new revenue & benefits system in order to improve its Council Tax collection rates. Whilst the IT implementation improved matters, it did not result in the full suite of major improvements. Capgemini was tasked to enable the client optimise their use of the system and related processes and to explain how the implementation of change would have a positive impact on the Council’s capacity to deliver on service improvements.

Following a short diagnosis phase Capgemini:

Undertook a process review of the Revenue and Benefits department focusing on the people and process changes required to support an integrated service

• Mapped “as-is” processes - Reviewed their current position against best practice to develop opportunity templates and identify potential “quick wins” .
• Ran workshops involving staff from Revenue and Benefits to validate opportunities identified and develop the high-level future state processes.
• Produced a blueprint that included an implementation plan, timeframes and responsibilities.
• Developed a governance structure to implement and manage change.

We collaborated with the client to deliver an integrated Revenues and Benefits service to all its customers. A tangible example of this success was increasing collections for Council Tax by a 2% improvement in 2007-08 and they are on target to achieve a 92% collection rate by 2009-10. Client Senior Management viewed the project as an exemplary piece of work.

A large UK travel & transport organisation had implemented a SAP solution covering Finance, Procurement, MI and reporting. The system had been live for 12 months, but the processes were unaligned to system changes. The solution had a bad reputation, staff created workarounds and avoided using the new system, incurring additional costs as a result. Overall management were not realising the benefits they were expecting.