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Training is a top priority, and it can't be left to the IT department to carry out. One mistake is to treat all training alike. Training resources should have two components: those allocated for IT personnel and those for end users.

Generally, IT staffers require less training than end users. When the U.S. Navy recently developed a training program for a PeopleSoft application, the end-user training was 40 hours compared with 24 hours for IT staff.

But quality of training is even more important than number of hours. Not providing quality training to end users is a surefire way to set your implementation up for failure. Training must be user friendly and must clearly show users the benefits of the ERP implementation.

IT staff must be trained in the technical aspects of the software and how it will interface with the network. The staffers need to understand both their immediate jobs as they pertain to the ERP system and how those jobs affect everyone else. In a well-run implementation, the ERP vendor and its partners train the IT staff directly. Most IT training is conducted in a classroom, either on the client's site or off-site at the vendor's facility.

Traditionally, IT departments have trained end users when new software is installed. In the case of an ERP implementation, however, it's a bad practice to turn the IT staff into trainers. Instead, use a training firm, consultant or other partner with specific skills in training. Such trainers know the problems and obstacles of teaching end users in applications as complex as ERP, and they'll be more effective.

Training isn't cheap. One key task for IT members on the implementation team is to lobby hard to ensure there's enough money for training. Most companies allocate 4 percent to 5 percent of their ERP investments for training. It's also important to know how much of that is allocated for end-user training and how much is for IT training. Skimp on training the IT staff and you'll have big problems.

When the government of Sacramento, Calif., completed its large ERP implementation, it had a skeletal crew of only 20 IT persons. The many team members who had been present during the initial implementation were not kept around after the implementation. Sacramento had overlooked post-implementation planning and training to accommodate the new enterprise system.

Upgrades are ubiquitous when it comes to ERP. Treat them as new implementations. And again, consider them when it comes to long-term training costs.

Decide What to Keep In-House

IT managers inevitably must deal with the issue of how much of the implementation effort should be kept in-house and how much should be contracted out. Choosing partners and consultants begins with an assessment of your organization's inherent skills and abilities, measured against the broad palette of skills required for a successful implementation. These skills include familiarity with the technologies, project-management savvy and an understanding of what obstacles an enterprise typically faces in a migration to a new infrastructure.

Avoid the most common pitfall associated with IT and enterprise self-assessment: overconfidence. When the team is constructed and formed and you are assessing your strengths, be candid about your weaknesses. Overestimating your abilities will require emergency help to keep the project going and will cost more in the long run.

Pick the Consultant

From the perspective of the IT staffer who is on the selection committee, one of the most important factors is your prospective consultant's level of experience with the architecture, network and applications your enterprise will use. There's nothing new under the sun, and so too there are few ERP implementation models that haven't been tried at least once. Try to identify your biggest concerns and obstacles and find someone who has experience in overcoming them with other clients.

Also, look for the ability of the consultants to effectively transfer the knowledge gained from their experience. There's always a risk of picking someone who sounded great during the sales pitch but has a tough time performing later on. How can you cut through the hype? Sketch out scenarios or problems that may turn up in your implementation and ask the consultants how they might handle these situations. Or, in addition to the standard interview process in which you look at résumés, experience and projects, consider tossing candidates a problem-solving or network-design quiz to see not only how they approach problems but how well they organize their thoughts and think on their feet. This will likely be the way they approach your implementation.

Listen to your ERP vendor when picking subcontractors. Many vendors have espoused the best-of-breed approach to implementations, operating on the premise that no single contractor has the capability or the expertise to be the best in all applications. Partners and consultants should be selected based not only on their experience with the chosen product mix but on their know-how in integrating that mix into the enterprise. Sound obvious?