Two final pieces to our short summary of successful software implementation practices involve having the right management buy-in and identifying who your software "champions" are...

Management Buy-In

Another key factor and the second principle is having your managers become advocates of your new technology. They really need to set the example for the rest of the group. The way you do this is to set up specific training (there's training again.. that's why I say it is probably the most important thing you can do) for management that includes reporting, advanced tools, and methods to monitor and evaluate the use of your new system. Managers lead. When you can show the managers how many of their "administrative", time-consuming managerial "duties" are removed and their lives change as a result of using the system, e.g., better monitoring of their employees, quick information at their fingertips, increased productivity... they end up caring more about the system, and when they care and use it daily - the rest of the organization usually follows.  The bottom line - the initiative is created and driven from within

The Isolation of Champions

My highest recommendation in rolling out a new system, no matter how big is to start small. Elect a small group, a test pilot group to work through your system and provide feedback. By getting feedback from a small group of heavy users.. you are able to work out all the "kinks" before pushing the system out to the entire company. Pilot projects are also great in helping to establish realistic expectations, benchmarks and business goals of your new system.

You'll need to make sure you have "key" people representing all functional areas of the departments that will be using your new system... this way no group is left out, no stone left unturned and no room for excuses or complaints later on. When all employees get the sense that their opinions are important and more importantly, have been considered during the development and implementation process... their buy-in becomes more natural.

When you do this and you do this right - you actually develop "champions" of your new system, who will help bridge the gap between implementation and usability. Your champions will rally the troops around your new system and will help make your "launch" as successful as it can be.