Operating the New ERP: Ownership, SLAs, and Change
Oil & Gas • ~7–9 min read • Published Nov 1, 2024
Go-live is not the finish line—it’s when the real work starts. Reliable ERP operations depend on clear ownership, measurable service levels, and a sustainable change cadence that keeps value flowing without heroics.
Why this matters now
After go-live, many organizations rely on ad-hoc fixes and tacit knowledge. That’s fragile. A formal run-state—service catalog, SLAs, RACI, and change governance—stabilizes operations and creates capacity for improvement.
Our point of view
Design ERP operations as a productized service. Define what’s offered (services), how it’s measured (SLAs/OLAs), who owns what (RACI), and how it evolves (change rhythm). Embed continuous enablement so the system improves as the business does.
The run-state playbook
1) Service catalog & SLAs
- Catalog the services: Incident handling, access management, batch/job monitoring, master data stewardship, integration support, reporting/analytics.
- Define SLAs/OLAs: Response/restore targets by priority; interface uptime targets; batch cut-off and RPO/RTO objectives.
- Publish KPIs: Ticket volumes, MTTA/MTTR, recurrence rate, change failure rate, release success rate.
2) Ownership & RACI
- Accountable owners: Product owners per domain (Finance, Procure-to-Pay, Order-to-Cash, Manufacturing).
- Ops backbone: Service Manager (end-to-end), Release Manager, Problem Manager, Data Steward leads.
- Partner model: Internal + partner split with clear handoffs; OLAs for partner response/resolution.
3) Incident → Problem → Change
- Incident: Prioritize by business impact; swarming for P1s; business comms templates.
- Problem: Root cause analysis (5-Whys/Fishbone), defect backlog, and prevention actions.
- Change: Standard vs. normal vs. emergency changes with CAB criteria and pre-approved patterns.
4) Release train & cadence
- Monthly maintenance drops: Patches, minor enhancements, and reconciled config changes.
- Quarterly value releases: Thematic improvements with benefit hypothesis and adoption plan.
- Release readiness: Regression packs, cutover steps, and rollback plan per release.
5) Evergreen enablement
- Role-based learning: Micro-modules, just-in-time clips, and new-hire pathways.
- Knowledge base: Runbooks, SOPs, decision trees; owner and review cadence for freshness.
- Business champions: Community of practice that escalates patterns and spreads good practice.
Controls that prevent backsliding
- Service reviews: Monthly KPI review with A3s on chronic issues and actions.
- Access controls: Quarterly SoD review, high-risk privilege attestations, audit trails.
- Data stewardship: Quality dashboards for masters, with SLAs for fix turnaround.
Day-1 checklist
- 24×7 P1 on-call roster and war-room protocol for first 4 weeks.
- Monitored interfaces with alert thresholds and contact matrix.
- Published service catalog + ticket routing guide.
- Known-error KB seeded from hypercare learnings.
Closing
Operate ERP like a product: clear owners, measurable service, disciplined change, and continuous enablement. That’s how you trade firefighting for dependable outcomes—and free capacity for real value.