VIM is a very powerful and complete tool that allows the automation and optimization of business processes, but the success or failure of these projects will depend on many factors.
To maximize the performance of VIM, make sure to follow best practices before, during and after the implementation or upgrade project to obtain a noticeable improvement in terms of VIM performance and invoice flow optimization.
BEFORE THE PROJECT:
Project definition:
- A strong internal leadership is key to maintain a unique and global process, collaborating together from the beginning of the project. To this end, it is important to define project teams:
- Internal infrastructure and communications team: the PM of this team will be key, collaborating in the definition of the project and in decision making at critical points.
- OpenText Partner Team.
- Accounts Payable Team for process definition and testing.
- Purchasing/Warehouse Team: their involvement will be secondary.
- All phases of the project should be planned realistically in terms of time and effort of the different teams.
- Knowing the product and what it can offer us will make us have more realistic expectations, and the flows that are defined will be closer to the standard.
Regarding the system:
- It is important that company code and supplier master data are correctly maintained in the system.
- For optimal data extraction, invoices must meet minimum quality requirements and the data reported by suppliers on their invoices must match those reflected in their masters (name, address, telephone, etc.).
- Different specialized “roles” should be defined to manage the different types of tasks.
- All system environments should be aligned and it is recommended that the data be periodically updated with production copies in the other environments.
DURING THE PROJECT:
Definition phase:
- A correct requirements gathering needs the involvement and active participation of all the teams involved in the processes in order to define them in an optimal way from the beginning of the project.
- Adapting to the standard as much as possible, and not the other way around, will give us a better optimization of our flows, and will facilitate maintenance and subsequent developments.
- The internal sponsor will be fundamental in this phase of the project as he/she represents the link between the two parties and his/her work will facilitate communication and collaboration.
- tesEnvironment alignment and data updates prior to VIM installation or upgrade also play an essential role for realistic testing of the test system.
Installation and configuration phase:
- Infrastructure and communications equipment will need to be available during system installation.
- The availability and participation of the “key users” in the previous phase is indispensable for an optimal configuration of the system.
- The different teams and their key users must also actively participate in the definition and planning of the different scenarios required for testing the different processes.
Testing phase:
- Unit (UT) and integrated (IT) testing by key users is essential to help define more concretely the different end-to-end scenarios to be tested in the UAT.
- It is important the training of key users and the joint preparation of UAT scenarios, with the involvement of all the participating teams in each case.
- The performance of UAT tests by the different teams working with VIM will make it possible to verify that the proposed scenarios work correctly and if not, to correct small deviations.
- It is also important to have the infrastructure and communications equipment available during the correction of possible incidents as a result of the UAT.
PRODUCTION OUTPUT AND HYPERCARE
- Support from the infrastructure and communications team will be required during installation in the production environment.
- A Sanity check provided by the corresponding equipment will allow us to verify that the system is working properly.
- The involvement of the different teams to perform the appropriate checks and detect possible corrections that may be necessary will be essential during the first weeks of the installation in the production environment.
By following these best practices before, during and after the implementation or upgrade project, we will get the most out of a tool as complete and powerful as VIM to manage supplier invoices and their different flows.
For more information on this topic, please do not hesitate to contact us.