Why Digital Disruption is Overrated
Industry analysts and academics often tout the concept of digital disruption as a good thing. But the reality is that while technology has the ability to positively transform your business, it is more likely to create operational disruption of the negative kind. Digital disruption vs. operational disruption For example, while many companies look to disruptive […]
What is ERP Software? Explaining to My Kids What We Do
Although we advise clients on it every day, ERP software isn’t a commonly known term outside of the IT and consulting industry. Understanding the basics of what ERP software is and how it works is something that we often take for granted as independent ERP consultants. With this in mind, I set out to teach […]
SAP S/4HANA vs. Oracle ERP Cloud: Clash of the Titans
When considering new enterprise technologies, many of our clients consider SAP S/4HANA vs. Oracle ERP Cloud in their ERP software evaluation process. In fact, our upper mid-market and larger enterprise clients choose between these two systems on an extremely frequent basis. In the most recent rankings of the top ERP systems, it’s not surprising that […]
Common ERP Organizational Change Management Challenges
When I’m speaking with executives at our clients, one of the most common things I hear is: “our people are ready for change, so ERP organizational change management isn’t going to be an issue for us.” This is one of the most challenging perceptions to overcome. Employees may be tired of the old legacy systems […]
Lessons from LeasePlan’s SAP ERP Failure
Just weeks after releasing our ranking of the top ERP failures of all-time, European-based fleet management company LeasePlan announced its massive SAP ERP failure. In this same announcement, the company also announced that it was taking a 100M Euro write-off and pulling the plug on its SAP project. What went wrong? Like many past failures […]
Oracle ERP Cloud vs. Oracle NetSuite: An Independent Third-Party Comparison
In the years we have been providing our annual technology-agnostic ranking of the top ERP systems, we have never seen one quite like the list for 2020. Not only were there some surprises on the list – particularly with Service Now, Workday, and SAP S/4HANA – but some vendor products fared better than others. This […]
The Top 10 ERP Systems for 2020
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. As we enter the home stretch of the year, many of our clients […]
Why You Should NOT Implement a New ERP System Now
Growing up in the ‘80s, I was used to hearing the phrase “just say no.” It was a term coined and used often by the US President Reagan’s wife Nancy as part of her anti-drug campaign, so the saying became ubiquitous and associated with the ‘80s. CIOs can’t seem to say “no” to drinking the […]
The Biggest ERP Failures of All Time
The enterprise technology landscape is riddled with ¬ERP failures from the last twenty years. Some are more extreme than others, but all have stories behind them. More importantly, they all contain important lessons that can help us in our digital transformations going forward. Overview of ERP failures I used to dislike writing about ERP failures. […]
Defining ERP Strategies for the 2020’s
Executives and project teams have a lot of issues and curveballs to navigate as they define their digital strategies for 2020. Whether you are considering ERP, CRM, HCM, cloud, on-premise, AI, industry 4.0, internet of things, predictive analytics, asset management, or any other set of technologies, the decision process can be overwhelming. This is true […]
Leaving Panorama Consulting: Reflections on the ERP Software Industry’s State of Chaos
Although it’s been nearly 18 months since several from my team and I separated from Panorama Consulting to form Third Stage Consulting, I still get daily inquiries from people unaware we are no longer with the old company. As discussed below, it took my favorite rock star’s death to finally motivate me to tell the […]
How to Create Your Digital Transformation Change Management Strategy
Organizational change management is the #1 determinant of ERP implementation success vs. failure, yet most organizations misunderstand or underestimate the importance of change management. Too often, organizations and project teams fail to have a cohesive or complete change management strategy when deploying a digital transformation or ERP implementation. An effective change management strategy is critical […]