The Coronavirus and Manufacturing ERP
Reflecting back, it was pretty clear that 2019 was a transitionary year for manufacturing. Output was down, and tariffs and trade policies were a large part of the reason. Call it “political instability” that caused some manufacturers to hesitate or postpone capital investments in machinery or tech (including ERP) that could make them more efficient […]
Why “Vanilla ERP” Doesn’t (and Can’t) Exist
Whenever I hear a client tell me “we just want a vanilla, out-of-the-box solution”, my heart sinks. I know that I now have the unenviable task of gently persuading the client that the term really doesn’t exist and that it’s an ERP industry hoax, just like “accelerators” and “standard process models.” Some clients get it, […]
Independent Review of Workday HCM Software
Workday is one of the most common HCM systems in the market today. Along with Oracle HCM, SAP SuccessFactors, Ultimate UltiPro, and other common options, HR and HRIS departments have plenty of options to choose from. It is also one of the up-and-coming systems with lots of momentum behind it. The company and its software […]
Executive Buy-In: The Final Frontier to ERP Success
Why is executive buy-in so darn hard and fraught with surprises? Well the answers are many, and in this blog, we’ll explore a few that you may not have considered. Executive buy-in is a subset of organizational change management (OCM) and more than just terminology. An effective and well thought out OCM strategy is critical […]
How to Ensure ERP Success vs. Failure
It seems that ERP failures are becoming increasingly common in recent months and years. Lidl, Haribo, and Revlon are some of the more recent ones. Many of us still remember historic ERP nightmares such as Hershey’s, Nike, the US Department of Defense, and other well-publicized train wrecks (see the top 10 all-time ERP failures here). […]
Six Tips for Creating an ERP Communications Plan
Suppose you’ve been tasked with creating a communications plan to educate and communicate a digital initiative to users across your organization. Who do you target, what do you say, where do you start? As the importance of an effective Organizational Change Management (OCM) strategy has finally become better understood, more and more companies are beginning […]
Is My Company’s ERP Data Safe in the Cloud?
I recently proposed this question to Daryl Crockett, well known for her role specializing in data cleansing and data security. As in much of consulting, the answer often “depends” on many variables. Let’s start the discussion by using the Equifax situation as a glaring and public example of a high-profile cybersecurity breach. Sure, they stored […]
Is Big ERP Dead?
The big, integrated, traditional, and monolithic ERP systems are good for some, but not all. ERP vendors will typically push the big integrated systems like SAP S/4HANA, Oracle ERP Cloud, Microsoft Dynamics, and other leading ERP systems. Best of breed providers, on the other hand, will push their more siloed technology model. Salesforce, Workday, and […]
Project Governance: The Guardrails for Your ERP or HCM Implementation
ERP failures and pitfalls are not due to chance. Like a car that runs off the roadway, common challenges result from not having the proper guardrails in place. Organizations and teams often think that hiring a strong project manager or one of the big ERP systems integrators will be enough to prevent some of the […]
To Change or Not to Change: The Decision to Stay on the Green Screen
For the younger folks reading, this is a serious question. The metrics range in estimation, but there is an estimated 100,000 companies still running iSeries or AS/400 platforms. We get calls nearly every day from executives and IT managers questioning if it’s time to move from their legacy systems to one of the top-ranked ERP […]
How to Estimate ERP and HCM Implementation Time
ERP and HCM implementations often take longer than expected. In fact, this happens more often than most in the industry would like to admit. The fact of the matter is that change is hard, and the difficulty of change involved in any ERP or HCM implementation takes time. Forget about cloud solutions, easy-to-use user interfaces, […]
Motivating your CORE ERP Project Team
We have previously discussed the importance of an ERP project CORE team in completing a successful ERP, HCM or other enterprise application implementation. This is the team of individuals at the project level that takes responsibility for ensuring the project plan is carried through, deals with consultants and vendors and funnels critical decisions to the […]