Doug Smith, Vice President of Operations, Sheplers Frank Hanshaw, Chief Technical Officer, Circle Commerce Mike Elder, President, Mike Elder Consulting Inc.

Optimizing Your Order Management System How to avoid issues Data management and Integrity Systems Integration Expectation Management / Communication Functional Reporting Requirements How to correct issues Opportunity Identification – Where are the gaps? Organizational Impact – What are the measurable costs? Solution Development – What is the effective corrective action? Execution – New Software, Engaging Partners, Internal Team? Monitoring – How to monetize the results?

Introductions

Top Ten System Comments to Worry About 1. “It is a seamless solution” 2. “There is no need to test this area as nothing is changing in the new system” 3. “We promise to have it completed before Go-Live, so mark it off on the project plan” 4. “The coding is taking longer than expected, so we need to eliminate some operational testing” 5. “Operational Super Users will own the system at launch” 6. “It doesn’t work the way we used to do it” 7. “The key players are not involved in the project” 8. “ Don’t worry about the data” 9. “Of course it will handle our transactional volume” 10. “This is too much to do all at the same time”

Managing Organizational Expectations Reasonable Timelines Enlisting commitment from all stakeholders Dedicated/Prioritized resources for the project Realistic performance KPI’s during Go-Live Ramp up to past performance after launch You will never be 100% ready to cut-over Clearly define and communicate the goals and expected results for the project Address system integrations and external interfaces

Planning for New System or Upgrades Needs Analysis ROP Process ROI calculations Define priorities – draw a line Attention to exception processes Returns, Receiving errors, Customer Service issues Data Plan Training Plan System integrations and interfaces Phased Approach

Organizational “Pain” Management Where do you want the Pain? Pre or Post Go Live? Project Length Resource allocation – Human and Capital Sales impact during launch Stakeholder commitment Training and procedures Manage integrations and partner organizations What is the fail safe solution?

We Are Live!! Now What? Problem research and root cause analysis Tracking Prioritizing Monetizing Correcting Performing Plan and execute on the deferred work Verify deferred work validity Keep outstanding work visible Create next steps project plan Manage additional costs

Lessons Learned From Launches TEST, TEST, TEST, TEST, and TEST Risks of system modifications Data – GIGO – cleanup before implementation Performance/Transactional Load Expect the unexpected Train and practice

Session Take Aways Plan and prioritize Test – and test again Validate after go-live Remember you sell products/services and are not in the business of implementing OMS The more time spent preparing for the implementation will minimize problems when live Being prepared is the difference between success and disaster