STEP 9- IMPLEMENTING YOUR TREASURY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

Step- 9 Implementation Phase   

The goal here is to have a secure and efficiently functioning Treasury Management System as quickly and painlessly as possible.  Implementation generally takes 6 to 18 months to implement though some ASP and hosted solutions are reducing this timescale.  You may have competing projects, international resistance, and a changing environment.  All these will lead to a poorly utilized system unless your team including the vendor, is keenly focused on the task at hand.  The stakeholders should be prepared to work some extra hours during this phase.

There are four sections of the implementation phase, planning, installation, end-user training, and system optimization. 

1-     Planning – This section establishes the objectives and expectations surrounding the vendor and company deliverables.  A detailed scoping exercise should be performed of all the treasury business processes to be implemented.  The vendor should be instrumental in this process - laying it out in what is called the Statement of Work (SOW).  You must ensure the resources are in place and the vendor's responsibilities are clearly defined.  An implementation plan should be documented covering the vendor expectations and the client expectations. 

2-     Installation – Depending on the type of system that is selected the installation duration may vary significantly.  An in-house installed system will take longer than a hosted or ASP system.  Again, the vendor will play a critical role in this process. 

3-     End-user Training – Will there be on-site training classes? Will the training be customized to your specific needs? Will it be a “train the trainer” situation where you may end up training the staff?  Will there be monthly online training?  Will there be any user conferences where you can combine training with networking time?  Can you simply make a phone call and get support?  These are the questions that need to be answered and understood.  Once answers are established the next step is self explanatory.  Set up a time to train the appropriate people. 

4-     System Optimization – After a year or so with the system set up a meeting with the vendor to review your usage of the features and functionality.  Ask the vendor to comment on your usage.  Collaborate to determine if your company is using the Treasury Management System to its fullest capacity.  Battle through the challenge to ensure you optimize your new Treasury Management System. 

In terms of risk and cost, companies can no longer afford manual treasury processes.  Yet these inefficiencies are still prevalent.  Companies must look beyond the objective of cost reduction and focus on the benefits of managing the downside with a new system.  The effort required to maintain spreadsheets and the cost of errors and omissions could easily outweigh the investment in technology.  Managing the downside of not having a Treasury Management System may be more than enough justification to invest in one.   It is time to leverage the treasury solutions that are available in todays market.