Lesson 8: Localise before you plug in

I have never been a sartorial buff like your Uncle from Italy as you must have always noticed (I guess with some amusement of your own) son. But I always honored my appointments with our tailor. For me, it did not matter much if the shirt I wore screamed of a certain brand from miles away or not. What mattered, and worked, was whether it fit properly and comfortably enough? To my size and to my nuances and fuss as that decent old tailor of ours will starkly (or not so fondly) remember me for.

It turned out that even with the best stitched shirts I always needed a pocket at a place and of a size to be re-fitted for me. Same goes with the software we used son. Hope you continue the ritual of visiting the tailors whenever it is due.

That is something that will reverberate if you read a 2011 report from Gartner. Ask Sunil to help you here, I am sure he will oblige.

This Gartner report highlighted how many statutory reports, documentations and accounting are still done outside the ERP system. End users continue to make quick-fix customizations and find short-term solutions to meet legal and statutory requirements. This of course, results in frequent changes to India localization customizations and associated complexities in propagating the changes in the ERP system. Typically, the average cost of an India localization effort across a wide range of end users ranges from 10 per cent to 15 per cent of the overall configuration/customization effort.

And this is despite global and Indian ERP vendors making significant investments in enhancing the capabilities of India localization, end users continue to struggle to meet statutory requirements.

It still surprises me. Imagine the rigmarole, the tip of the iceberg that lies huge and deep and possibly dangerously waiting.

As you will note we should remember to work closely with your system integrators (SIs) and partners to enhance the adoption of localization functionalities. Also, work with user groups and communities to make requests to your ERP vendor for inclusion of new localization features and functionality in the base product. At the same time, you should resist quick-fix interim solutions and localization efforts outside the ERP system, but evaluate your ERP vendor certified partner solutions.

What you might do is to verify that your SI and implementation partner can conduct localization-enabling sessions that provide not only an overview, but also a deep-dive on the capabilities, gaps and work-around solutions. Or use SIs and implementation partners that understand Indian end users' needs and can help ensure that you meet the local regulatory compliance needs. Thankfully, during the past few years, leading ERP vendors, such as SAP, Ramco Systems and Oracle, have focused on enabling their partners and SIs with deeper understanding of India localization capabilities.

You have always needed just a hint, a nudge to help you as a GPS. So I will say no more on the subject. Like your mother always told us, a stitch in time, saves nine shirts.

I should have heeded to her advice. Looks like I have only one more page to go if I want to finish this will in time. The clock is impatiently squinting at me. I can hear the tick-tock now. So brace up for a final goodbye and please promise me you will let my favourite cigar rest with me in peace. And also the blue tie if possible.