Choosing the goals and a scope for PIM is critical to the success of your PIM. Click here for Akeneo’s definition of a PIM Any project’s success is dependent on the expectations and definitions of success going in. Defining clear goals and setting expectations for what a PIM can do is critical to success. Some common goals:
- Improve time to market for new products
- Increase sales conversions
- Add a new downstream sales market
- Improve employee satisfaction/retention
All of the above items should be clear wins for a new PIM implementation. There are also some goals that should not be excluded from the scope of a PIM. Things to look out for are misconceptions of what might have been included in other legacy database systems, but should not be your new PIM. These include any hot data such as inventory or hot pricing data. For the inside scoop on the do’s and don’ts of hot data, check out a recent blog post by another Akeneo-certified resource at Sitation.
Now is also the perfect time to collect the initial business requirements for your PIM. Key questions:
- Where will your products come from? Typically the answer is an ERP, but you might have atypical places
- What are the destinations for your product data?
- Does your data change based on the destination?
Defining your product enrichment team now is critical as well. Many companies have different impacted teams outside of your core content managers including sales, IT department, and support staff. Including these teams in the early goal setting stage will ensure nobody’s requirements are left out of the PIM evaluation process.
A common pitfall of PIM implementations is considering the project IT driven as opposed to business driven. IT needs to be involved and be prepared with technical documentation and data support, but it is detrimental to think of PIM’s as an IT project rather than a business process.
“An effective goal-setting system starts with disciplined thinking at the top, with leaders who invest the time and energy to choose what counts.”
– John Doerr, Measure What Matters: How Google, Bono, and the Gates Foundation Rock the World with OKRs
PIM implementations should support a long term strategy for your company’s vision. The change management process requires deep internal support to be successful. Every phase of the project has the potential to uncover new challenges that require support and possibly even a pivot in strategy. Ideally the project champion has the vision and commitment to success to push through even the deepest challenges.
Our professional services team knows this process well and can guide you. They’ll ensure you focus on what counts to ensure the best return on investment for future e-commerce success.
