10 Steps to ERP Implementation Success

10 Steps to ERP Implementation

Despite decades of history and lessons learned, most organizations still haven’t figured out how to achieve ERP implementation success. In fact, our research over the years shows that most implementations still fail – despite lessons from history and advancements in technology. (For more on this, see our 2020 ERP and HCM Report). The more things […]

Digital Transformation Is Dead

Digital Transformation Is Dead

Digital transformation is dead – or at least it should be. The brutal truth is that most ERP vendors, consultants, and analysts have been far too focused on the “digital” in digital transformation and not focused enough on “transformation.” It’s high time that we put the outdated modes of digital transformation to rest for good. […]

Why ERP Software Magic Quadrants Are Flawed

Why ERP Software Magic Quadrants Are Flawed

When evaluating potential ERP software or other enterprise technologies, project teams typically turn to the usual industry analysts and reports. Analyst firms such as Gartner, Forrester, and others will frequently publish reports and analysis of various software solutions in a variety of verticals. Gartner’s ERP software magic quadrant is an example of a common reference […]

How Magic Quadrants Can Derail ERP and HCM Software Evaluation Processes

Magic Quadrants

We often see organizations get caught in analysis paralysis during their ERP and HCM software evaluation process. With so many options in the market, coupled with a lack of independent data on the strengths and weaknesses of these options, it’s easy to see how a project team can get stuck in the mud. Unfortunately, common […]

Hertz Bankruptcy and the Future of Digital Transformation

Hertz Bankruptcy

It has become clear in recent months that many companies won’t survive the pandemic and recession of 2020. Hertz recently filed for bankruptcy – the latest in a string of casualties in an uncertain economic environment. What did Hertz do wrong? While this may not be a surprise given that travel plummeted 90% earlier this […]

Top ERP Systems for Small Businesses

Small Businesses

Disclaimer: Third Stage Consulting is an independent ERP consulting firm. Third Stage has no financial ties to ERP vendors, either directly or through parent companies or affiliates. Accordingly, the below analysis is completely technology-agnostic and 100% free of vendor bias or compensation. More than ever, small businesses have a plethora of top ERP systems to […]

Business Transformation Is the New Normal

Business Transformation

The 2020s are forcing organizations across the world into business transformations – whether they want to or not. Most of the companies we were speaking with just a few months ago were focusing on strategic digital transformations that were meant to leverage top ERP systems to improve business operations. Most of these initiatives were focused […]

Top HCM Systems for 2020

Top HCM Systems for 2020

As we recently pointed out, HCM systems will be increasingly important because of the health pandemic of 2020. If anything, the health and economic crisis has placed unusual strains on HR departments across the world – while at the same time exposing opportunities to better manage talent. As companies navigate a post-Covid-19 world, they will […]

Top 10 Supply Chain Management Systems

Top 10 Supply Chain Management

Supply chain management is back! When I began my career in the ‘90s into the early 2000s, supply chain management was a pretty hot topic. Manufacturing and distribution companies were focused on outsourcing functions to other locations across the globe, which led to a lot of business process management and improvement of global supply chains. […]

How to Restructure Your ERP or HCM Implementation Project

Restructure Your ERP or HCM Implementation Project

The coronavirus pandemic of 2020 is wreaking havoc on ERP and HCM implementations across the globe. Some companies continue to be opportunistic and strategic in their transformation initiatives, but most are experiencing changes to their planned approach. The world has experienced a tectonic shift in terms of health, the economy, societal norms, and other aspects […]

Top 10 Recommendations for ERP / HCM / SCM Implementations in the 2020s

Top 10 Recommendations

It wasn’t long ago that we shared our top predictions for 2020. What a difference a few months can make. Instead of envisioning how they might leverage blockchain, artificial intelligence, internet of things, and other strategic technologies, many organizations are instead dealing with a new reality. For some, resources are constrained due to illness or […]

How to Lead Supply Chain Management Transformations of the Future

How to Lead Supply Chain Management

If the health and economic disruptions of 2020 have taught us one thing about business, it is that supply chains are not well conditioned for changing times. All the business process management, supply chain integration, and SCM software efforts of the past seem a bit irrelevant in light of today’s supply chain challenges. The challenges […]