ERP Implementation – Big Bang or Phased?
By Sam Graham If anything positive can be taken from recent ERP disasters (Lidl, National Grid, Waste Management, etc), it is that these failures happened before those systems went live. Compare that with, for example, the Hershey debacle (now frequently used as a case study in how not to implement ERP). It would appear that […]
Top 10 ERP and Digital Transformation Predictions for 2019
This has been an amazing year so far. Technology has continued to evolve while many organizations begin their digital transformation journeys. Some have been successful so far, while others have struggled. On a personal level, our company began working with 15 new clients in the last 6 months since spinning off from our last company. […]
When Should Business Process Management Occur During Digital Transformation?
Digital transformations have the ability to revolutionize the way we do business. However, new technology is worthless without a corresponding improvement to your business processes. It raises the question: when should business process management occur during digital transformation? This is and always has been a controversial topic with much debate. Software vendors and ERP systems […]
Can you Trust your ERP Consultants?
While every industry has some bad apples, the ERP consulting space is one that seems to have a few extra worms. We have also recently heard several horror stories from companies regarding their past experience with ERP consultants. The common phrase “you get what you pay for” comes to mind here. However, there are many […]
Digital Transformation vs. ERP Implementation: Which is Right for You?
Digital transformation is one of the industry’s biggest buzzwords at the moment. ERP implementation, on the other hand, is a term that is becoming a bit dated and has lost a bit of its luster with recent failures such as Lidl and National Grid. But what does “digital transformation” mean? And how is it different […]
How Your Systems Integrator is Rigging Your Digital Transformation
Most digital transformations are rigged. It was 20 years ago when I started in this space, and it still is today. I started my first consulting company (Panorama Consulting) back in 2005 because of the lack of unbiased independent ERP consultants in the market. That company at one time filled a need that wasn’t being […]
What is Best of Breed ERP?
For most of us this sounds like a simple question. We all have a definition of some sort in our minds and have used this term probably for years. Having had several conversations surrounding best of breed ERP over the past weeks, it has become clear that there are very dramatic differences as to what […]
The Last Mile of Digital Transformation
Over the last two weeks, I have been intrigued by two data points: 1. A recent article by a well-respected colleague about the outdated nature of ERP software, and 2. Work we just started with a new client – a very large US-based manufacturing and distribution company – whose digital initiatives extend well beyond ERP […]
What Private Equity Firms Want from Digital Transformation
Over the years, we have worked with quite a few clients backed by private equity companies. These big private equity firms want unique things from their digital transformation. Even for those of us outside that industry could learn quite a bit from their endeavors. As a broad generalization, private equity firms are hyper-focused on creating […]
What is the Best ERP Software?
Growing up my teachers used to tell us that there are no stupid questions. I’m sorry to disagree, but this is a stupid question. This is also the most common question asked in the independent ERP consulting space, and we receive it in one way or another on a daily basis. The most recurrent response […]
Comparison of Microsoft Dynamics 365 vs. NetSuite
Our recently release ranking of top ERP systems for 2019 triggered some interesting discussion and comparisons of leading enterprise software. Microsoft Dynamics 365 and NetSuite were both in our top 5 (#1 and #3, respectively), which leads to an interesting comparison of these two systems. Microsoft Dynamics 365 and NetSuite are often on ERP shortlists […]
How to Avoid ERP Failure
By Sam Graham Benjamin Franklin once said that in this world only two things are certain; death and taxes. Were he alive today, he would probably have added a third: continuing analysis of ERP project failure. We had hardly moved on from the Anchorage disaster before we read about the National Grid SAP failure, and […]