JD Edwards (ERP) User Adoption made easy with Oracle User Productivity Kit
What is perhaps the number one complaint about introduction of JD Edwards ERP or a new functionality in JD Edwards, in an Enterprise?
No one knows how to use it!!
According to one study, effective User Adoption seems to be the absolute best predictor of enterprise software success. More often than not, Enterprises have a lack of focus on faster User Adoption that helps to sustain Oracle -JD Edwards implementations and upgrades throughout its life-cycle. Let's talk about ways of achieving a faster user adoption based upon efficient usage of Oracle's User Productivity Kit (UPK) in an Enterprise.
What is UPK?
For the uninitiated, UPK is a tool provided by Oracle for rapidly developing and delivering on-demand training. It captures the developer's interactions/transactions with system and records them in various formats. From one single recording exercise UPK can output manuals, guides, cards and presentations and video recordings.
How to increase JDE User Adoption?
In implementing JD Edwards ERP we fundamentally change the way a business User or group does their job. Consequently, the business process and culture change associated with the ERP is much more significant than the implementation of the ERP itself. Below are a few things you can do to increase user adoption of JD Edwards Applications, utilizing UPK:
1. Generate interest and change perception
2. Develop basic theory
3. Bring applicability
4. Bringing it ALIVE
1. Generate interest and change perception
The JD Edwards business users may tend to have little interest in JD Edwards product features and associated benefits. To have their attention and change their perception, a "Real-to-life" scenario needs to be show-cased.
How UPK helps? Conducting sessions with the end users and show-casing, with the help of UPK pre-built content (in visual formats), how JD Edwards Procure-To-Pay process works and how it could help Procurement department / group become more effective and efficient.
2. Develop basic theory
Once the user's perception is changed there will be a need to communicate the basic theory of the new JD Edwards product / functionality. The end-user would need to understand a few basic concepts about the new product / functionality in order to have a reasonable discussion about how it could be applied to their work.
How UPK helps? With the help of UPK content understanding the basic steps of an Order-To-Cash cycle. This knowledge will be essential to understand how JD Edwards could be applied within the enterprise for Order management and tracking.
3. Bring applicability
Now the focus shifts from explaining the basic theory to bringing the applicability of JD Edwards to life. During this stage, the applicability of JD Edwards is explored within the context of a particular business group or team.
How UPK helps? A session could be set up with a business group to explore how they currently keep other people up-to-date with what they're working on, combined with an ideation session about how JD Edwards could enable them to do so in a different way, and the associated benefits. UPK can capture all the steps in a business process. It records every keystroke, every click of the mouse, each menu option chosen and each button pressed. The UPK content then can be updated whenever there is a change in business process or functionality and shared with the larger group.
4. Bringing it ALIVE
Finally it is about making the new JD Edwards ERP real and relevant to people and groups. The previous three stages have discussed what could be, and this stage is where it has to actually happen.
How UPK helps? Develop specific UPK content and provide online or softcopy of step-by-step user guides with screen shots to help users the first few times they use the new JD Edwards applications.
JD Edwards training can be conducted, leveraging UPK content, prior to using JD Edwards application / new functionality.
Having said this there may be a few more interesting ways of utilizing UPK. Please feel free to share your views.
