tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-78877044742320370272023-11-15T22:06:31.446-08:00reviewsoftwarerpAdminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09426320976359221672noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7887704474232037027.post-20292028738999681832019-10-17T04:52:00.000-07:002020-02-24T03:43:46.978-08:00What is erp system software in the business management process? <div style="text-align: justify;">In general, what are erp system software work and purposes in business management? ERP or Enterprise Resource Planning is the management software of business process that allows a business or organization to use the integrated system applications for managing the business and automatically many functions of back-office features that related with human resources, technology, and services.</div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>The erp system software application </b></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The erp system software is considered a type of enterprise application. This means this is software that designed to use by larger business and often the user needs dedicated teams for customizing and analyzing data and for handling the deployment and upgrades in the software application. There is also small erp system software business application that contrast application that uses a solution for lightweight business management software, often it customized for specific business industry. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" class="thumbnail" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="320" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQYNU_5gc15kpkLZ52MnbAjgGD_c5C8Jv4CiEB-7DGJDuaCXptR8GE-Mu7TNgFQYyBllrmFCgB_9acFKS5vb-atDmAGJFnhJsvhSYuh_XVz4hh_G3-a-vpvZobg1ueqh2qtNijJHyIGRw/s200/What+is+erp+system+software.jpg" style="text-align: center;" width="200" /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Recently, the erp system software system use as replacement for the legacy software or incorporate the ERP applications because there is no current system that exists. There are some reasons why an organization applies erp system software: </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><ul><li>To replace the out of date erp system software </li><li>For replacing the homegrown system </li><li>For replacing the accounting software </li><li>To replace other known- erp system software or had no system </li></ul></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>The benefit of ERP system</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The purpose of using ERP system software is to improving efficiency, to streamline the process and improve the collaboration culture of the organization. The final result from using ERP system is the minimizing cost and increasing productivity that lead to the better bottom line. Here are the benefits of the ERP system. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><ul><li>Increase efficiency. The parts of a business process such as sales, marketing, accounting, production, and inventory that integrated with one platform or ERP system will be easier to collect and access the data from the organization and streamline of cross departments workflows. </li><li>Promote more organize and collaboration. The ERP system will breakdowns the departments between. The ERP system extends the collaboration between the headquarters with remote teams through internets. The data silos are will be integrated and process the superhighways links to make together workstations locally. The setup will allow the team that used the system to operate in vacuum easily collaborate with another team in an inside of ERP system platform. </li><li>Low cost operational. The company can cut down the cost with ERP system. When the process gets streamlined and the key metrics are disrupted, closely monitored and controlled, anticipating to delays and breakdown it will bring better management. The ERP system allows production, customer service, engineering, and many other business sections to work closely with real-time data and resolve when a problem appears. </li><li>Make forecast more accurately. With a centralized database, the ERP system will lend the company’s disparate business solution into the standard process, and it also enhances data integrity ultimately. The ERP system reporting tools use advanced analytics and filer for sifting inconsistencies data. </li><li>Improve data protection. The ERP system has restriction controls and firewalls that guard to a data breach. When you have single warehouse data, it means the access points are monitored tightly and the security will be concentrated. </li></ul></div><div style="text-align: justify;">With the benefit and what is erp system software feature in business, and then it is crucial for companies and business owner to use and apply the system to their business.</div>Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09426320976359221672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7887704474232037027.post-34180126520654261402019-03-28T17:39:00.000-07:002020-02-24T03:43:48.221-08:00ERP Software for Business<div style="text-align: justify;"><b>what is erp in business?</b> This is a question which might be asked by the small business owners because they consider using it for supporting their business. It is better to have a proper understanding of this system so people can use it properly for improving their business management.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img alt="ERP Software for Business" border="0" class="thumbnail" data-original-height="520" data-original-width="1000" height="166" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGXU-6dkHgDoPtxS4yZj0r3jdCwmSWlNG72ULOLCATYkUa8EJP6E86rHKuj_5xpf0yTnvtbEYE2XLy6NvU0q0Ymy4Nv_EKKmUj0DnK6hS7iCGEJqVcruUVLxDeJ2V52LMotGW4Gu3jj3o/s320/ERP+Software+for+Business.png" title="ERP Software for Business" width="320" /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Definition</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">There might be so many benefits which can be offered by the ERP software for the business. However, people must know this software first. It is actually the information system which is used for managing all business aspects by integrating it. The business aspects which can be managed using this software include the customer's service, planning, production, manufacturing, purchasing, distribution, sales, as well as accounting. For the small businesses, there are various reasons why the ERP software must be used. The primary reason is usually for improvement across departments communication and for optimizing the process in the business.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>ERP Types</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">After understanding about what is erp in business, the next thing which people should do is to identify the types of ERP software which can be suitable the most for the small business. There are some types of software which can be chosen. The first one is the industry-specific one which is made for the specific industry such as automotive or retail. It is used mostly by the large businesses for responding to the requirements which are more complex. There is also the web-based software which can also be considered as the cloud-based ERP software.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It is hosted by the open source or vendor which allows the business to access the software remotely. It is not as complex as the first one especially for the setup and the installation. That is why it is a great choice for small businesses. The last type is the small business one which is made for helping the small business with the HR and order management. The ERP functions are limited so it can be the most affordable options of ERP solution.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Licensing Models</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Every business has specific needs and future goals. That is why they need to find the best option of ERP software by considering the licensing model available. They can consider the open source ERP small business which comes with the available source code. There is also free proprietary ERP small business which comes with the limitation of the fully functional proprietary one. Last but not least, there is a proprietary ERP small business which is the full paid version.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Essential Features</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">There are various features which will be offered by the ERP software which can be considered by the small business. Nevertheless, they need to find the ERP which comes with the essential features for making sure that it can really provide the best support for managing the business. The important features which must be found include the accounting, HR, business intelligence, management of inventory, CRM, manufacturing, management of the supply chain, integration, as well as analytics and reporting. Those features should be useful for helping people understand more about what is erp in business.</div><script src="https://rawcdn.githack.com/awu12/toperp/296a4d4536db603cbc2b2606c3389575c828d385/random.js" type="text/javascript"></script> <script type="text/javascript">var currentURL=location.href; var str = currentURL; var res = str.replace("https://www.top-erp-software.info/2019/03/erp-software-for-business.html?url=", ""); document.write('<button id="download" class="Visit_Link" onclick="changeLink();" style="display: none;text-align:justify;margin-bottom:1px;">learn_more</button>') </script>Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09426320976359221672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7887704474232037027.post-62715838572111207992019-03-21T07:11:00.000-07:002020-02-24T03:43:48.601-08:00Top ERP for Small Business<div style="text-align: justify;">Today’s market offers you with all values of ERP for small organization or operator, especially when you come to the niche segments. While these companies need the same type of resources management which bigger organizations, they also need some adjustments to ensure that their specific needs were met. You can find top ERP for small business with these guides. There is some standout ERP software that offers you with the best class depend on the market sector and size of the organization.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b><b>xTupleSoftware</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This open source ERP was designed to support small business at the twenty or even fewer employees. This company offers you with the cloud and on-premise operation. The major functional values including inventory management, GAAP accounting, production distribution, sales management, and supplier-chain management. This system receives some manufacture modes range from the process manufacturing, discrete manufacturing and engineer-to-order manufacturing up to the products are made based on the order. This software gets online support for all of the customers during the business hours.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>BizAutomation Cloud</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This ERP software was designed to support smaller business around 10 or fewer employees. It offers the users with the SaaS, therefore it gives a low price. There are some major functions, such as inventory, GAAP accounting, order management, sales commission, customer relationship management, project management, material purchase planning, and e-commerce. This product was more focused on small distributors or wholesale, retails sales and so on. This software was priced based on the per-user and per- month base.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Top ERP for Small Business" border="0" class="thumbnail" data-original-height="399" data-original-width="415" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1ohyphenhyphenactKIiu1E7vJeOi-oX1UDuvnniKgfKzO0fdtWtrAtvprySf2iZ6J0LsILNqP6oJh-ClJT5xpbE4Y1dEjmR1O2ldRi4aza8pBMKuMlwa9FepBNKX1OcmtXCBcwu0tci3Q6pVZDZ4Q/s320/Top+ERP+for+Small+Business.jpg" style="text-align: center;" title="Top ERP for Small Business" width="320" /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Blue Cherry</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This provider offers you with ERP values for mid-size business which operates in the production and textile design market. This product is the perfect suit to the mid-size apparel companies and range from 50 to employees. Offer the users with the cloud-based and on-premise deployment. There are main functional values, such as product development, design, planning, materials source management, product development, sales processing, workflow management, tailored reporting production management, actual costing, financial management and so on. The data will be represented in graphs, charts or in a summary form that can be sent throughout email, web browser or even text message as well. The price was based on per module along with user license fees.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>NetSuite</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This software initially designed for pure accounting software, over the time, after been acquired by Oracle then this software had developed as more advanced ERP system. This product will send as the SaaS value and fully capable to manage 50 to 100 employees. The main functionalities, such as GAAP accounting, financial management, supply chain management, integrated analytics, inventory management, billing management, and payment management.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>TradeGecko</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This is the cloud-based inventory platform which specifically designed to make the commercial operation more efficient. All of the inventory management operations, purchasing, critical business apps, and sales could be managed just in one app if you connect it to your sales channels This software also offers you with the B2B e-commerce that allows you to sell the wholesale directly to the retailers. The users will receive the notification and upgrade in real time for better analysis. Are you ready to select <i>top ERP for small business</i>?</div><script src="https://rawcdn.githack.com/awu12/toperp/296a4d4536db603cbc2b2606c3389575c828d385/random.js" type="text/javascript"></script> <script type="text/javascript">var currentURL=location.href; var str = currentURL; var res = str.replace("https://www.top-erp-software.info/2019/03/top-erp-for-small-business.html?url=", ""); document.write('<button id="download" class="Visit_Link" onclick="changeLink();" style="display: none;text-align:justify;margin-bottom:1px;">learn_more</button>') </script>Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09426320976359221672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7887704474232037027.post-81195501377493008972019-01-10T04:28:00.000-08:002020-02-24T03:43:50.710-08:00The Best ERP System Software Free Download<div style="text-align: justify;">erp system software free download surely becomes the solution which is needed by people who are running their business. ERP system is necessary because of various benefits which can be offered but it does not mean that a lot of money is needed for applying this system to the business. In this circumstance, people can use the open source option which can be downloaded for free.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img alt="The Best ERP System Software Free Download" border="0" class="thumbnail" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="720" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZQilHIS_one6tONUr3dNa8uIUtEZV_GgUFKN7Gss9TG3d8W1S02S22_utaLb0Xs_yetbBDkrCwvS_rF4gChTzQ5t-qnT9mQKv3q1P_lNaw7yrcQEliGsCl_536_GDAmxSxXM7KQboZcY/s320/The+Best+ERP+System+Software+Free+Download.png" title="The Best ERP System Software Free Download" width="320" /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Dolibarr</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The very first option of ERP open source which is used a lot by many people in the world, Dolibarr ERP must be the answer. There is no doubt that this ERP system becomes a popular option because it comes with everything people need from the ERP system. It comes with the support for the accounting, HR, CRM, and also modules for inventory. There is also a possibility for the users expanding functionality based on their requirement because there are also apps offered through the Dolistore. They even can just build their very own ERP system for meeting their requirement the most. It is very popular and this ERP system has a pretty constant update with an active user forum. It means that users are able to make a general discussion as well as troubleshooting with other users. Of course, it must be included in the list of the best erp system software free download.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>ERPNext</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">If people are looking for the open source solution for the ERP system, they can consider ERPNext which is made by considering the modern users. This system is created for the business with the small and medium size. It is offered in the apps series after all. There is no need to worry because the system is made for making sure that people who are not too technical can use the system easily. The simplicity which is offered by this system can be great because it can be set up pretty easily. With the clean interface which is user-friendly as well, people can get familiar to the system pretty quickly. However, it will be difficult for expanding the system so it can fit the requirements of the business which is larger and more complex. Five users can use this online hosted system for free. Any size of business can use it for free when the system is installed on the business servers.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>iDempiere</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Next, people can also choose iDempiere which is a system which is fully fledged. It can be used for helping anything in the business including, invoicing, POS integration, management of the warehouse, and forecasting. It might be true that this product is an open source but people need money for installing the system based on the size of the business. Since it is an open source system, the troubleshooting will rely on the community support. That is why that it is possible for the business calling in the experienced specialist on this system. More setup might be needed for using this system but it will be worth it since this open source is considered as one of the most robust erp system software free download.</div><script src="https://rawcdn.githack.com/awu12/toperp/296a4d4536db603cbc2b2606c3389575c828d385/random.js" type="text/javascript"></script> <script type="text/javascript">var currentURL=location.href; var str = currentURL; var res = str.replace("https://www.top-erp-software.info/2019/01/the-best-erp-system-software-free.html?url=", ""); document.write('<button id="download" class="Visit_Link" onclick="changeLink();" style="display: none;text-align:justify;margin-bottom:1px;">learn_more</button>') </script>Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09426320976359221672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7887704474232037027.post-60278920062908160592018-12-19T17:21:00.000-08:002020-02-24T03:43:53.602-08:006 Benefits of Cloud ERP<div style="text-align: justify;">Cloud ERP and on-premise ERP each have their benefits. The best choice for you will depend on your organization’s structure and business strategy. While this post focuses on the benefits of cloud ERP, it is by no means superior to on-premise software or hybrid cloud environments. The benefits you realize from any technology will depend on your project execution before, during and after implementation.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img class="thumbnail" alt="6 Benefits of Cloud ERP" border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="750" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_2hBCUsudfryBqcU02onlQrG6kQppNldLHavMIXVoNx_tKhdTjggrH64m7N56c9Q4NAGLPAThUWiwnJCoq-LU-l5drAXQ3knKF6xD5QseGx4VkyAuNRNLx59VXsCw6dQsd_yd2-W3Ejs/s1600/6+Benefits+of+Cloud+ERP.jpg" title="6 Benefits of Cloud ERP" /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />Here is a technology-agnostic perspective on the reasons some organizations choose to implement cloud ERP:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>1. Better Business Intelligence</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Cloud technology allows organizations to access data remotely without complex technical configuration or robust IT staffing. Over the past two years, the number of organizations deploying business intelligence (BI) in the cloud has doubled. Cloud BI adoption is especially prevalent among sales and marketing departments as they rely on real-time data to understand and improve the customer journey.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">When it comes to data access and data storage, cloud ERP has several advantages over on-premise ERP. Cloud technology is more scalable for storing large amounts of data and can provide access to data gathered by IoT technology.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">While researching cloud ERP systems, you’ll likely run across many lists of “top ERP systems.” These lists are often based on the amount of research and development vendors are investing in their products. The most innovative ERP vendors are heavily investing in cloud BI.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>2. Faster Implementation</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Cloud ERP systems are faster to implement than on-premise ERP systems. The technical environment for cloud technology can be configured in as little as 24 hours.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">This gives organizations more time to focus on the business side of transformation. Change management and business process management require the same time and resources whether you’re implementing cloud or on-premise ERP.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>3. Ability to Focus on Your Core Competencies</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Many organizations lack sufficient IT staffing or cannot afford the same resources and infrastructure as cloud providers. While an organization may be decently skilled at IT, it’s not necessarily its core competency.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Cloud technology allows organizations to outsource their IT function and focus on their core business. Retailers, for example, typically like to dedicate more focus to the customer experience than IT maintenance.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>4. Cost Savings</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The initial cost of cloud technology is lower than on-premise technology. While subscription costs add up over time, many CFOs are more concerned about minimizing capital expenditures than reducing operating costs. These CFOs may opt for a multi-tenant cloud to minimize long-term costs.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">For smaller organizations, the long-term cost of cloud ERP may actually be less expensive than on-premise ERP – the fixed infrastructure costs of on-premise ERP can’t be spread over enough volume to justify the cost.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>5. End User Buy In</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Cloud technology tends to be more modern and easier to use than on-premise software, so employees may be quicker to embrace it. This does not mean organizations won’t need end-user training and a communications plan. It just means they might experience less resistance. Some organizational cultures are more accepting of cloud ERP than others.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">In any technology initiative you should communicate with employees about the benefits of new technology, emphasizing how their jobs will become easier. Are you implementing robotic process automation in conjunction with cloud technology? Focus on how these bots will streamline menial tasks and enable employees to work more efficiently.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">6. Strong Data Security</div><div style="text-align: justify;">To avoid security breaches, many organizations turn to cloud ERP as cloud vendors tend to have very secure hosting environments. Some CIOs still worry about the security of the cloud, but they don’t realize how vigilant cloud ERP vendors can be when it comes to security because the stakes are so high. Cloud vendors have a lot to lose – with multiple customers, they are popular targets for security breaches. This may sound like a disadvantage, but in many cases, it forces vendors to develop sophisticated security.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Cloud ERP Best Practices</div><div style="text-align: justify;">While there are very compelling reasons to implement cloud ERP, all technology initiatives entail significant risk. Before jumping into a cloud implementation, you should first understand your business strategy and digital strategy. The deployment model you choose should align with these strategies.</div>Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09426320976359221672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7887704474232037027.post-17296738018682825822018-12-19T02:48:00.000-08:002020-02-24T03:43:53.965-08:006 Ways to Mitigate Software Implementation Risks<div style="text-align: justify;">Software implementations carry significant risks, including budget and duration overruns and implementation failures. Often, these risks can be mitigated with proper planning at the beginning of the project. Instead of making decisions based on fear, you should feel confident you’re addressing the potential pitfalls of ERP projects.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><img class="thumbnail" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGEa3gjR5fr5354BKtEIZdJE4aGxfllAiO3WaQtCwCxjHSCv5x8t8ewRGR8EmfDDKEISgdAgZFysBAQIW_oCFxzYShJRZLJv7wRq8ZXYjAMtzyaTfOY0-sj9Q1hDuPmicg-7_DYv2BkbEc/s1600/6+Ways+to+Mitigate+Software+Implementation+Risks.jpg" /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Here are six ways to mitigate risk before beginning the software implementation process:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Understand Your Business Strategy Objectives</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Clarifying your business strategy requires collaboration among all stakeholders. During these discussions, define what customer success looks like and determine what’s working and what’s not. Most importantly, clearly articulate your objectives – do you want to create new business models or generate new revenue using ERP software?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">These discussions will help you achieve organizational alignment. Ultimately, executives and middle management should be aligned around what changes are needed to improve your organization’s competitive advantage. With organizational alignment, you can reduce the risk of selecting the wrong software system. When you know your long term goals, you know what technology your organization needs.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Set Realistic Expectations</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">ERP failure is often caused by unrealistic timelines and budgets. Understanding what benchmarks are realistic for your industry and company size will help you set realistic expectations. While you may need to adjust expectations throughout the project, starting with a realistic estimate will make these adjustments less surprising to executives.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">ERP vendors may not have a realistic view of the resources and internal requirements necessary for a successful software implementation. It’s up to you to create a realistic software implementation plan based on your organization’s unique situation. This is an area where independent ERP consultants can be helpful.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Prepare Employees for Organizational Change</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It is human nature to resist change. Change resistance causes implementation delays, quality problems and reduced productivity. If employees don’t adapt to change, your digital strategy will not lead to lasting business transformation.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Obtaining buy-in from executives first is a good way to obtain buy-in from team members and employees. If executives are excited for change, this attitude will be contagious. You can obtain buy-in from all stakeholders by communicating the nature of upcoming changes and the reason for change. Communication should be guided by a change management plan, which is informed by readiness assessments and user acceptance testing.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">If your employees aren’t using new software day to day, you will have to postpone go live until they accept change. However, if you obtain buy-in early, you reduce the risk of project delays. The sooner employees start using software, the sooner you’ll realize business benefits.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Optimize Your Business Processes</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">An ERP implementation is a good opportunity to optimize your business processes. While most back-office processes can be optimized based on standard software functionality, some processes should be redesigned independent of software. Processes that provide competitive advantage shouldn’t be constrained by an ERP vendor’s “best practices.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Optimizing your processes before ERP selection minimizes risk because you’re ensuring you select software that meets your current and future needs. Optimized processes help you develop demo scripts for ERP vendors to ensure they focus on your unique needs. If you were to select an ERP system without knowledge of your future-state processes, the software might require extensive customization.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Why bother with business process reengineering? Employees at most organizations work in silos and have different ways of performing similar processes. This creates duplication of effort and makes it difficult to gather and analyze data. Improving the customer experience via software implementation requires real-time data, so you should break down silos as much as possible.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Plan for Data Migration</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">With every software implementation, there is the risk that ERP software will not enable the organization’s strategic objectives. To mitigate this risk, reliable and actionable data is essential. As soon as you select a software application, you should start preparing for data migration. Most legacy data is not ready for new systems. Data is usually spread across multiple sources with various structures and formats.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">To account for this complexity, you should document and establish a data strategy. For example, you will need to cleanse data to resolve duplicate data and other common data quality issues. You also should define future nomenclature for items, item descriptions, units of measure, etc. Successful data migration requires involvement from four key groups: data owners, the functional team, the data migration team and the project team.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Limit Software Customization</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Once you start down the path of software customization, it’s difficult to stop. You might receive customization requests even after you’ve made it clear there will be no further changes. After the final round of customization, you should only approve customization requests that truly benefit your competitive advantage.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Strong project governance and project management ensure the implementation team doesn’t over-customize the ERP software. Investing in business process reengineering also is a good strategy for limiting last-minute customization.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Technology-focused Projects are Inherently Risky</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">There is a distinct difference between technology-focused and business-focused projects. Technology-focused projects neglect activities that align people and processes with new technology. Business-focused projects, on the other hand, focus on change management and business process management. Guess which type of project is less risky.</div>Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09426320976359221672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7887704474232037027.post-17444239246781105002018-11-21T02:52:00.000-08:002020-02-24T03:43:54.327-08:00How to Improve Your Sales Processes and Boost Your Revenue<div style="text-align: justify;">Improving sales isn’t about bringing in better salespeople. Instead, you need to understand how you generate leads and convert those leads into sales. In other words, improving sales is about improving your business processes.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><img class="thumbnail" alt="How to Improve Your Sales Processes and Boost Your Revenue" border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="750" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE7XSsjBSITBT8hfaIMdyzA2_ugcSXltfxxPfvTfeZ1pVsAp2ZvKa_mv6K2tnvxZNxD0wmYveCSzYK8y4MukTb6amEKu3gvqJHf6P-XupyKn2-wnKYF9b12kSS7QMQZ0WoVTIRHS9IPJ3-/s1600/How+to+Improve+Your+Sales+Processes+and+Boost+Your+Revenue.jpg" style="text-align: center;" title="How to Improve Your Sales Processes and Boost Your Revenue" /></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b><b>Think About Your Sales Funnel</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The first step to improving your sales processes is documenting them. Your sales funnel is good place to start. Document how you attract leads and eventually convert them into customers.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">How many steps are in your sales process and what are they? More importantly, what purpose do they serve? Answering these questions will make it much easier for you to improve your processes. Consider using value stream mapping, a technique that focuses on removing waste and identifying opportunities for improvement.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Establish KPIs</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Key performance indicators (KPIs) are metrics that can provide you with tangible goals for improving your sales processes. You need to establish KPIs for each step in your sales funnel and measure your conversion rates over time.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">When setting up targets, make sure you’re being realistic, and allow some flexibility to make changes along the way.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Automate Some of Your Processes</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The next step in your journey to optimize your sales processes is to get the right tools. More specifically, you’re going to need a CRM system – or an ERP system with CRM functionality.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A CRM system can make your sales team more efficient. For example, it can track who is responding to your marketing material, and help you identify which leads are more likely to turn into customers. You also can learn about people’s demographics and interest profiles and use this information to help you sift through your leads and move those less likely to turn into sales towards the bottom of the list.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">CRM systems put all your data in one place and make it easy for your team to share information. This ensures organizational alignment, which is critical to digital transformation.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Determine How You’re Going to Improve</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">There are generally two ways to improve your sales:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><ul><li style="text-align: justify;">Increase the volume of each sale</li><li style="text-align: justify;">Increase the number of customers</li></ul><div style="text-align: justify;">Typically, you should be able to make improvements in both areas. Consider offering some promotions that bundle different products together or use your CRM software to send follow up emails to previous customers. To improve your conversion rate, you can do some A/B testing in your CRM system to find out what content is most effective.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Start Optimizing Today</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Improving your sales processes to boost revenues is a long process, but it’s one that is well worth undertaking. It will help you improve margins in a sustainable way, so your business can continue growing and maintain its competitive advantage.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">About the Author: Kevin Conner is the founder of several successful startups. His current focus is Broadband Search, a service dedicated to helping people find the best value internet service provider in their area. These businesses have given him the opportunity to work closely with many different sales teams, giving him an insider’s perspective on what works and what doesn’t.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Note: The inclusion of guest posts on the Panorama website does not imply endorsement of any specific product or service. Panorama is, and always will remain, completely independent and vendor-neutral. If you are interested in guest blogging opportunities, click to read more about our submission guidelines.</div>Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09426320976359221672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7887704474232037027.post-50015837693054997342018-11-20T02:56:00.000-08:002020-02-24T03:43:54.691-08:004 Tips for Finding the Right ERP Consultant<div style="text-align: justify;">ERP implementations are frequently run by project managers with little ERP implementation experience. Many of these project managers refuse to contract with ERP consultants. As a result, organizations struggle to differentiate between various ERP vendor proposals. When they do finally implement an ERP system, they struggle to realize the full benefits of digital technology.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img class="thumbnail" alt="4 Tips for Finding the Right ERP Consultant" border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="750" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQsePabcxQ1IDFTK73TyB8MCLikc0VWDJQ5agm5R1mHJa-OyGIH7iKOLMRRiDDaGJ_hzbgPad6N1EsgpYY-tzW1adonTddRp0dY8L5wsKuO0Ph3gy7u7GOyQ91d55NLSZTHS3UMw9jreXG/s1600/4+Tips+for+Finding+the+Right+ERP+Consultant.jpg" title="4 Tips for Finding the Right ERP Consultant" /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Clearly, these project managers could use third-party guidance. However, finding a reliable implementation partner is no easy task. Here are four tips for finding a trusted partner for your ERP implementation:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>1. Ensure the ERP Consultant is Technology Agnostic</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">An independent ERP consultant has no financial ties to a particular ERP vendor or ERP system. The implementation partner is only interested in the client’s digital transformation success. Preferred partners, on the other hand, are tied to specific vendors. In other words, a preferred partner’s revenue model depends on selling or servicing particular systems. This is typically the case with any VAR or large consulting firm specializing in just a few ERP systems. When it comes to smaller systems, it is the vendors themselves who sell and implement these systems.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">While you may want a large ERP system, like SAP or Oracle, you shouldn’t rule out other systems that meet your business requirements. You’ll never know what you’re missing unless you hire an ERP consultant with the freedom to recommend any system. Another benefit of hiring an independent ERP consultant like Panorama Consulting? These firms typically have a proven vendor negotiation methodology developed from years of experience with hundreds of ERP vendors.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>2. Understand the ERP Consultant’s Methodology</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">When evaluating ERP consulting firms, you should understand their methodologies and where those methodologies come from. Many consulting firms use canned methodologies from various business training organizations. Few consulting firms have taken the time to leverage their learning into their own methodologies. Your consultant’s methodologies should holistically focus on people, processes and technology. As more organizations pursue digital transformation rather than traditional ERP implementations, the need for a holistic approach is becoming clearer. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">You should also consider whether the consultant’s methodology is flexible enough to fit your needs. For example, some organizations need a business process management approach that focuses on improving individual processes. Others need a business process management approach that focuses on streamlining end-to-end processes. Panorama has expertise in both approaches. The truth is, methodologies should evolve as technology evolves. Organizations now expect more from their technology and want an innovative implementation partner.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>3. Ensure the ERP Consultant has a Wide Breadth of Industry Experience</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A key part of every request for proposal is the section on “prior industry experience.” You might find the consulting firm has experience with organizations similar to yours. However, consultants that specialize in only one market can be myopic in their focus. The ideal ERP consulting firm leverages best practices from many industries. Its consultants are operational experts with hands-on experience tackling the same challenges their clients are facing.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>4. Determine the Level of Diversity Within the Consulting Team</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">People with different backgrounds approach problems from different perspectives. This diversity can help you build competitive advantage. ERP project managers know this and staff their teams with employees from different departments while ensuring they have different skill sets. Why haven’t ERP consulting firms followed suit?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Many consultants bring the same team of resources to each pitch and presentation, regardless of cultural fit. Everyone on the team has worked in the same handful of companies and views the world through the same eyes. Where are the differing opinions and skills necessary to transform your organization? Where is the global understanding needed to improve your competitive advantage? The top ERP consultants use diverse project resources who collaborate face-to-face to help each organization achieve its strategic vision.</div>Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09426320976359221672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7887704474232037027.post-59390519770443229502018-11-19T03:02:00.000-08:002020-02-24T03:43:55.058-08:00How to Use Change Management to Increase Your ERP ROI<div style="text-align: justify;">Ensuring a high ROI on your ERP implementation is no easy task. Many organizations have tried to accelerate their projects by implementing out-of-the-box ERP software, minimizing process changes and cutting change management from their budgets. While this may result in higher financial returns in the short-term, it does nothing to position your organization for long-term growth.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img class="thumbnail" alt="How to Use Change Management to Increase Your ERP ROI" border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="750" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKCvDXOuw5sIbtsqJ1I4wROPx6RhODoaEkBqzgAmEIAw1kzabxTR7m7LOQnnRfaTwAEOmlK0mMkh45dFcs-1m39TqKTwt59Psog5QkfHlpAMhiyPJ9N9buiyzyF9JtbOHaGKcFXRAtUDXs/s1600/How+to+Use+Change+Management+to+Increase+Your+ERP+ROI.jpg" title="How to Use Change Management to Increase Your ERP ROI" /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">So how do you maximize ERP ROI without reducing your project budget to the bare necessities? One answer is organizational change management. In other words, your employees will determine your ROI.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>The Human Factors That Influence ROI</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><ul><li>Speed of Adoption – How quickly are employees adopting new technology, business processes and job roles?</li><li>Ultimate Utilization – How many employees are using the ERP system and demonstrating buy-in?</li><li>Proficiency – How well are employees performing their jobs with the new ERP system?</li></ul><div style="text-align: justify;">If one of these factors is negatively impacting your ERP project, you may want to conduct an ADKAR (Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability, Reinforcement) Assessment. Evaluating how well you’re meeting employees’ needs will help you develop a change management plan, which is a key pre-implementation activity.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>What Employees Need During a Change Initiative</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><ul><li>Awareness of the need for change</li><li>Desire to make the change happen</li><li>Knowledge about how to change</li><li>Ability to implement new skills and behaviors</li><li>Reinforcement to retain the change once it has been made</li></ul><div style="text-align: justify;">Desire is one of the key components of ADKAR that organizations overlook. They see change as a mandate that employees will follow whether or not they desire it. While this may be the case with some employees, software usage isn’t the ultimate goal. Employees must be proficient with new software for your organization to realize business benefits, but they are unlikely to become proficient without the desire to change.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Reluctant software users are almost as bad as employees who refuse adoption altogether. It’s important to begin change management activities before ERP selection, so you can proactively build desire among employees and give them more time to process the changes. While SAP and Oracle may be infinitely better than your old ERP system, employees may still be reluctant to adopt a new system if you don’t give them reasons to desire change.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Another aspect of ADKAR that many organizations forget to address is employees’ need for reinforcement. When employees revert to old processes, this may indicate the need for reinforcement. The best way to reinforce change is through recurrent training and frequent communication. Our experience as a software implementation expert witness has revealed that a lack of communication is a leading cause of ERP implementation failure.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It’s helpful to think of ADKAR as sequential. You cannot meet every need simultaneously, and each employee will go through the process at a different pace. Managers should be the first to complete the ADKAR process followed by the employees they supervise.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>How to Be a Change Leader</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>1.Prepare yourself for change</b> – What changes will impact your team and how? Why are these changes being made? Answering these questions is the first step to becoming a change leader.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>2. Adapt to the change that is happening to you</b> – Just because you’re a manager doesn’t mean you like all the proposed changes. You should share your concerns but ultimately commit to supporting change.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>3. Develop competencies to manage change</b> – A manager should have the competencies to take on the roles of a communicator, liaison, advocate, resistance manager and coach.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">If your organization is experiencing low productivity, high turnover and low morale as a result of organizational changes, the role of coach will be essential to your digital strategy. Managers who assume this role significantly impact how employees perceive change. By listening to employees’ concerns and using ADKAR, these managers are able to identify barriers to change and develop plans to address them. Executives can also play the role of coach. In fact, they can be some of the most effective coaches because of their level of influence.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>6 Tips for Coaching Employees</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><ul><li><b>Remove barriers</b> – Barriers to change may relate to family, personal issues, physical limitations or money. Coaches should fully understand the individual situation of each employee to determine how to remove barriers.</li><li><b>Build desire by providing choices</b> – Employees need to know in simple and clear terms what their choices are and what consequences they face for making a particular choice. This puts a level of control back into the hands of employees.</li><li><b>Create hope</b> – Employees are more open to change when you frame it as an opportunity for a better future. Coaches can create desire for change among employees by expressing their own excitement and enthusiasm. While this tactic is effective, it can be misused if coaches create false hope and don’t believe in the change themselves.</li><li><b>Convert the strongest dissenters</b> – By focusing their energy on the most vocal dissenters, coaches can reduce the spread of negativity. Another reason that converting vocal dissenters is worthwhile is because they may be some of the most vocal advocates when converted.</li><li><b>Highlight the tangible benefits</b> – Case studies and testimonials can tangibly demonstrate the benefits of change. Conducting pilot programs and sharing the successful outcomes is also useful for generating buy-in.</li><li><b>Use money or power</b> – This tactic works well with mid-level and senior managers that are critical about the success of the ERP project. Offering higher pay in exchange for project support can be worth the investment.</li></ul>Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09426320976359221672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7887704474232037027.post-84375583028929234732018-11-18T03:08:00.000-08:002020-02-24T03:43:55.423-08:005 Benefits of Business Process Management<div style="text-align: justify;">Many organizations begin ERP selection without a solid foundation of business process management. When they look at the mass of ERP systems to choose from, they have no idea where to start because they don’t know what technology will enable their business processes or competitive advantage.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img class="thumbnail" alt="5 Benefits of Business Process Management" border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="750" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVfnCXmzGIjynmVJ9lr4DR8FomlpVYaKi2tg6oC1aYpZfAb6tqiDxF0EgLlRhJJSj4QOrW0M_1ZIHAn8xkdRdBM4R9v8jc9IE-t4g-ymk99U-jcqAwM1R-dNFvIURAa2QmWfExFC-PZA4l/s1600/5+Benefits+of+Business+Process+Management.jpg" title="5 Benefits of Business Process Management" /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Clearly, business process management is important. At the most basic level, business process management helps you define business requirements that you can submit to your long-list or short-list ERP vendors. However, the value of business process management goes beyond business requirements:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Competitive Advantage</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Misalignment between processes and strategy makes it difficult to deliver customer value. Business process management gives you the opportunity to design your processes to support your digital strategy and competitive advantage. Business design sessions bring together stakeholders from across the organization to promote strategic alignment and find opportunities to improve your competitive advantage.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">You can protect your competitive advantage and minimize software customization by viewing processes through three lenses. Backoffice processes, like invoicing or procurement, can usually leverage out-of-the-box software functionality. Other processes are industry differentiators. These will guide your choice of ERP software since some ERP systems may not support niche functionality. Finally, there are processes that provide competitive advantage, such as product development or ecommerce. These may require software customization. While expensive, customization for the sake of competitive advantage is always worthwhile.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Employee Buy-in</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Defining your business processes allows you to identify organizational changes and communicate them to employees. Imagine telling employees, “there will be change,” without being able to outline specific process changes. This would not elicit buy-in.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Business process management also helps you understand roles and responsibilities as well as changes to organizational structure. This understanding facilitates change management activities as it enables you to develop a targeted communication plan.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Another way to elicit buy-in from employees is to involve them in business design sessions. When employees are allowed input on the changes made to their own processes, they will naturally support these changes and encourage others to support them, as well.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Organizational Alignment</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">When we say that business process management can lead to organizational alignment, we are talking about a certain approach to business process management. One approach relies on functional thinking, which is a way of thinking about processes in terms of specialization. The other approach relies on end-to-end process thinking, which looks at the entire value chain, including the intended purpose of each process and hand-offs between functions. The latter approach leads to organizational alignment.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Another name for this approach is value chain mapping. What does it look like? It’s all about breaking down functional silos and gaining end-to-end process understanding, visibility and control. You bring together various stakeholders to look for ways to increase efficiency across functional areas and not just within functional areas. By integrating processes across silos, you ensure everyone is working toward the same goals.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">While many ERP consultants take a functional approach to business process mapping, Panorama uses value chain mapping. Make sure your ERP consultant takes this integrated approach.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Fewer Workarounds</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Ideally, business process management will remove 90% or more of the workarounds your employees use to complete tasks. Employees use workarounds when processes are poorly defined. Sometimes, the current technology cannot support efficient processes anyway.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">When mapping your business processes, be sure to differentiate between workarounds and actual processes. You don’t want to include workarounds in the business requirements you submit to ERP vendors as each requirement may add additional implementation costs. You can remove workarounds by designing new processes that negate the need for extra steps.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Another cause of workarounds is a lack of effective employee training. Fortunately, an ERP implementation is a great opportunity to train employees. You can use process documentation to design customized training materials. Training should be recurrent enough to support long-term retention and customized enough to address each employee’s unique processes.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Continuous Improvement</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Business process management provides a foundation for building a center of excellence, which allows you to continuously improve. During business design sessions, you can develop key performance indicators (KPIs) to regularly measure performance improvements and project cost savings, such as decreased turnover.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">While most organizations only measure improvements immediately after go-live, many benefits are achieved overtime, so you should continue to measure improvements years after go-live. This is especially true if you have a center of excellence since you will always be improving processes.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">While continuous improvement is essential, it can be mismanaged. It’s important to involve the IT department in process changes as your ERP system should continually be configured to support new processes. If your technology cannot support these processes, employees will use workarounds and create new inefficiencies.</div>Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09426320976359221672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7887704474232037027.post-74989969389090442832018-11-17T03:12:00.000-08:002020-02-24T03:43:55.789-08:006 Tips for Assessing ERP Implementation Risks<div style="text-align: justify;">What would you do if your ERP implementation went over-budget? What if it caused an operational disruption? You would have to react quickly and deduce the reasons for failure. Once you get your project back on track, you’d have to make up for lost time.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img alt="6 Tips for Assessing ERP Implementation Risks" border="0" class="thumbnail" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="750" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_dOMaTsyGXOHNA3TuujOixyNAgyFm1K2iWKvBPnQuKoanvjnaD-KwOrcO_fp4KLHnsNrBn-3sc-uOsMslrBjuc2B4qfM2s03gzbEL42GyfhXu-F_Oi8qqq25KcI85U_bHNKEcE28OP7yD/s1600/6+Tips+for+Assessing+ERP+Implementation+Risks.jpg" title="6 Tips for Assessing ERP Implementation Risks" /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This scenario is probably making your stomach churn. No one wants to waste time and money. That’s why many organizations take a proactive approach to risk mitigation. They develop a risk management plan before selecting ERP software. They also assess their project plan to ensure it has the right activities and right level of detail, and they perform continual assessments throughout their project.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Why Assess Your ERP Implementation?</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><ul><li>You’ll have a comprehensive view of your project activities, performance and risks.</li><li>You can detect errors early and proactively prevent errors.</li><li>You’ll minimize implementation risk and cost.</li></ul><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>How to Assess Your ERP Implementation</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Conduct Stage Gate Reviews</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Stage gate reviews ensure the quality and completeness of your project plan. At the end of each implementation stage, the executive team and project team should determine if every deliverable for that stage is complete before moving on to the next stage.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This is also the time to assess the quality of work. Are you addressing business aspects, such as change management, or are you just focusing on technical aspects? What methodology and templates are you using? As you identify risks, you can include them to your risk management plan.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Stage gate reviews can reduce your likelihood of needing project recovery services, which is a last resort for many organizations. Even organizations pursuing digital transformation can inadvertently skip key project activities and find themselves in need of project recovery.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Assess Your Project Management and Governance</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Effective project management can mitigate many project risks. A good project manager knows who’s in charge of managing the project budget and timeline and has a good understanding of the roles and responsibilities of project team members. If this doesn’t sound like your project, it’s not too late to develop strong project governance. Panorama’s ERP consultants provide project auditing services that help organizations stay on-budget and realize expected business benefits. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Focus on Organizational Change Management</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">When assessing your project plan, you might notice it’s a little heavy on technical activities and little light on people-related activities. Do you have a plan for identifying and mitigating change resistance? Do you understand the impact of change on each department and individual employees?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Your project plan should include change management activities that promote two-way communication and drive awareness of project goals. Communication works best when it’s informed by employees’ needs and concerns. By investigating the reasons for change resistance and determining the skillsets employees lack, you can develop a change management plan that addresses the entire organization – at the department and individual level.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Focus on Business Process Reengineering</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Your project plan may be lacking a focus on business processes. If so, business process reengineering may be a good addition to your project plan. Business process reengineering ensures a new ERP system has the functionality to support your organization’s goals. Involving subject matter experts helps you determine business requirements and identify opportunities for process improvement.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">For every process you improve or redesign, change management becomes more essential, so be sure your project plan considers the interdependency between business process reengineering and organizational change management. For example, you’ll need to document the change impacts of each redesigned process.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Assess Your Data Migration Plan</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Organizations that develop a data strategy prior to implementing ERP software are more successful with data migration. The process is still arduous, but it doesn’t cause operational disruption. These organizations spend time defining the scope of data conversion and assessing data cleanliness.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A best practice for data migration is setting milestones and conducting multiple conference room pilots. Aim to have 25% of your data converted and cleansed for the first conference room pilot, 50-75% for the second and 100% for the third.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Assess Your Level of Customization</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Software customization is costly, so it’s important to plan for it early in the project to avoid going over budget. While assessing your project governance around customization, you may find a lack of project controls.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Good project governance for customization includes predefined customization limits and a formal approval process for change orders. Executives should have the final say when it comes to additional customization. They will decide if it’s worth the extra cost by investigating the reasons behind the change order – did it originate from employees’ resistance to process changes or is it aligned with the organization’s digital strategy and competitive advantage?</div>Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09426320976359221672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7887704474232037027.post-89819575882549198032018-10-31T03:35:00.000-07:002020-02-24T03:43:56.155-08:004 Data Security Tips for Your ERP Implementation<div style="text-align: justify;">New digital technologies, like AI an IoT, are augmenting the business intelligence provided by ERP software. While this business intelligence helps organizations improve the customer experience, it also presents new data security challenges. With great business intelligence comes great responsibility.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img class="thumbnail" alt="" border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="750" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZcB0nKhEfcqEKf8ZviC41iWHU0-Ia3pfnuNvRzLwg8_s08uG2lh5i5txdd6BIwcGmmvEw_dkr2ue1-kuWjpxp7RROtzZIXHAbqtyV4Ep1zVjNa8pCUCL9gOaZElSTjduBzAxjftkkCoya/s1600/4+Data+Security+Tips+for+Your+ERP+Implementation.jpg" title="" /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Better customer intelligence is generally beneficial to both the organization and the customer, but sometimes, it can be a burden. For example, a data breach can cost your organization millions in legal fees and lost business. You may also lose customers if they feel their privacy is threatened, not by a security breach, but by how you choose to use their personal data. Mitigating these risks requires an understanding of potential security threats and applicable compliance issues, such as HIPPA and GDPR.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">How can you be proactive in identifying risks while still supporting revenue-generating initiatives across your organization? Here are four tips for enabling an innovative, but vigilant, ERP implementation team:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Evaluate your organization’s culture.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A customer-centric culture promotes data security because it encourages employees to listen to customers’ data privacy concerns and share them with executives. Let’s say you’ve implemented a new CRM system, and several customers are expressing privacy concerns. Your ERP implementation team should be the liaison between customer service reps and executives to establish a data management process and define security standards.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It’s important to develop a change management strategy that promotes a culture where data security is the responsibility of everyone in the organization. ERP software integrates data across the organization, so several departments likely have access to customer data. Improved data access is essential to digital transformation, so restricting data access isn’t the answer – better security is.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Understand the role of the chief information security officer (CISO).</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Your CISO can enable your digital strategy by leading cultural changes, such as encouraging open communication and prioritizing education. In terms of education, CISOs should regularly host cyber security trainings and provide educational materials in a variety of formats multiple times per year. Cyber security training is also an essential pre-implementation activity.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Open communication is especially important between the CISO and other executives. By scheduling regular meetings with privacy and legal teams, CISOs can build strong relationships across the organization. A foundation of trust makes it easier for CISOs to prove the value of data security by presenting credible data and suggesting possible next steps. This proactive approach is enabled by predictive analytics – CISOs should use business intelligence to protect business intelligence.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Develop strong governance processes.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Your CISO needs complete visibility into the organization’s supply chain and ERP selection process, so they can evaluate new technology from a data security perspective. By developing a vendor management program, CISOs can keep tabs on various ERP vendors and their associated security risks. Predictive analytics is useful here as well. It enables CISOs to quickly detect when an implemented system violates the organization’s security profile. Even the top ERP systems in your industry may have vulnerabilities.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Strong governance processes also help ensure legal compliance, especially with the International Organization for Standardization’s (ISO’s) IT security management standards. A security solution, like HyTrust, can serve as a compliance litmus test.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Be especially wary of IoT security.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The internet of things (IoT) plays a major role in ERP implementations for many organizations. Industry analysts predict that IoT and ERP will become an increasingly popular combination. IoT improves data insights and operational efficiency, so it’s not hard to see why organizations are drawn to it. If you’re considering integrating IoT with your ERP system, there are several security concerns of which to be aware.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">IoT devices are vulnerable to cyber attacks because they communicate with other internet-connected devices, making them prime targets for hackers who want access to multiple data sources. IoT devices aren’t only a convenient target, but they’re an easy target – most organizations aren’t prepared for an attack and don’t have adequate protections in place. They don’t realize that a device managed by a third party may not have the same level of security as technology hosted on-premise.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A lack of due diligence on the part of the IoT provider is another reason hackers target IoT. Hackers know that many IoT providers haven’t taken the time to enhance their security as they were too eager to get their devices to market before competitors.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">How can a CISO protect customer data stored and/or collected by an IoT device? One option is implementing an IoT device management platform, such as Amazon Web Services. These platforms enable you to install crucial software updates on all your IoT devices. Your ERP project team can also protect data by designing optimized business processes that reduce errors.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Convincing Your Boss to Invest in ERP Data Security</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It’s not easy to prove the ROI of cyber security. Justifying the investment, requires an understanding of the threat landscape, attack probability and potential losses. With this information, you or your CISO can convince executives that ongoing cyber security is necessary to support the organization’s goals.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The implementation of a new ERP system is a great opportunity to discuss cyber security with executives. New technology brings new security threats which need to be addressed if you want to realize value from business intelligence and customer data. Consider hiring an ERP consultant to help you develop a cyber security business case.</div>Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09426320976359221672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7887704474232037027.post-24540077108779240722018-10-30T03:38:00.000-07:002020-02-24T03:43:56.521-08:00Top 6 Reasons for ERP Failure<div style="text-align: justify;">When recovering from a failed ERP implementation, the most common question organizations have is, “Who is at fault?” Organizations struggle to answer this question as the project involved many stakeholders, from the project team to the ERP consultant to the ERP vendor. A better question to ask is, “What were the root causes of failure in the overall project execution?”</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img class="thumbnail" alt="" border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="750" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyfTzRi0r2j0PTBIfhndl7-e_KLjOjDUGRymxXEJpnr4T8YSLBlBJYlmmaBRmNAaqF1EJ23JzQpCqsOqWO0RVnZpCxnXDnFNxmPL-AW9AqRqhMAHN2gG_lYZkXAiJ2khe01_RtrXBcMm9M/s1600/Top+6+Reasons+for+ERP+Failure.jpg" title="" /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">We’ve learned several lessons from helping organizations with ERP project recovery and ERP litigation. Following are six common reasons for ERP failure:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Technical Focus Instead of Business Focus</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The most successful organizations view their ERP implementations as business transformations rather than technology projects. They understand that a new ERP system has much more impact on the business than a Windows upgrade. ERP implementations have a significant impact on employees, business processes and the organization’s overall strategy. However, many ERP consultants are more focused on technology than people and processes. In contrast, our research shows that software functionality is actually one of the least important criteria for ERP success. So, stop thinking so much about SAP vs. Oracle, and start thinking about people and processes.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Unrealistic Expectations</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Embarking on an ERP implementation with unrealistic expectations is often the beginning of ERP implementation failure. Some ERP vendors lowball implementation cost and duration, which forces organizations to cut corners or absorb unexpected costs. Project plans should be realistic and not overly-aggressive. How can you tell if your plan is realistic? Start by determining the critical success factors that will make or break your project. What has worked for other organizations of similar size and industry? What challenges do organizations usually encounter? Chances are you will find that change management and business process reengineering are critical success factors that ERP vendors overlook. The recent SAP failure at Lidl demonstrates the importance of realistic expectations. The retailer defined strategic goals at the beginning of the project but didn’t consider the success factors necessary to achieve these goals. Seven years and 500M Euro later, it became clear that the budget for a successful implementation was more than the company could afford.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Lack of Executive Buy-in</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The executive team may have approved the project budget, but their job is far from over. They need to form an executive steering committee to clarify the overall digital strategy and make decisions about resource allocation, timeline, budget and benefits realization. Executive involvement ensures the ERP implementation doesn’t become a technology project but fits into the organization’s overall strategy. Organizations that use ERP software to enable a long-term digital strategy are more likely to realize benefits, such as improved customer service and sustainable competitive advantage.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Insufficient Business Process Reengineering</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Some ERP vendors will say you don’t need to focus on business process management because their software is built with industry best practices and can be implemented out of the box. While best practices may be appropriate for some areas of your organization, they may erase your competitive advantage in other areas. Focusing on business process reengineering prior to selecting an ERP system helps you design future-state processes that will determine your functional requirements. Today’s ERP systems are far too flexible to provide clear direction on how to run your business. Organizations that fall into this trap end up automating their existing processes rather than optimizing them for efficiency and competitive advantage.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Lack of Change Management</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">If there’s one thing that’s sure to prevent ERP failure, it’s organizational change management. In each of the 30+ ERP lawsuits for which we’ve testified or written expert reports, change management issues contributed to project failure. These organizations didn’t build a change management team and viewed change management as simply an end-user training exercise. They could have invested in organizational assessments, employee communications and customized training, which would have ensured that their employees effectively used the new ERP software and followed new processes and procedures. You can’t force employees to embrace change; it’s their choice and they may choose to resist it. Usually, this is subtle and non-malicious, but it can still undermine your ERP implementation.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Too Much Software Customization</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Most organizations begin ERP implementations expecting little to no software customization, but in our experience, most clients end up needing at least moderate customization. While some customization is always necessary, customization gets dangerous when you customize functionality that should be standardized. For example, many back-office processes are not competitive differentiators, so standard software functionality is usually sufficient. If employees are pressuring you to customize processes like this, it’s a sign of change resistance. Decrease the resistance instead of increasing the customization.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Hiring Inexperienced Resources</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Your systems integrator and your ERP consultant should both have relevant ERP experience within your industry. This goes back to the point about realistic expectations. How will you know what’s required for success unless you review lessons learned from similar organizations? An ERP consultant with industry-specific experience understands the challenges your organization might face and can ensure you have access to the right expertise. National Grid recently experienced an SAP failure due to the inexperience of its systems integrator. The systems integrator did not have experience implementing SAP in the US utility industry, so their work caused technical defects within the system that led to significant operational disruption. Systems integrators can easily misrepresent their capabilities, so it’s important to ask for relevant references.</div>Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09426320976359221672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7887704474232037027.post-70400742710114140282018-10-29T03:41:00.000-07:002020-02-24T03:43:56.883-08:00How to Prepare Your Organization to Select ERP Software<div style="text-align: justify;">When organizations decide to implement ERP software, they often jump right into ERP selection without taking the time to prepare. They assume they can select the right technology by simply evaluating software features and benefits.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img class="thumbnail" alt="" border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="750" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmIm6aN6-F7mGYrOc429DT1SM1B09tSk74-YKz4C7ymxuyKOg0LWBuxECo8mxnXnJ_0MlUu2y_9qsvVMPW8bTQ4QeBCeT0Nj5CYSp9KiPy_mvtEvV2Pb45OPReGEayj5ZHKvqWKFxQOiMC/s1600/How+to+Prepare+Your+Organization+to+Select+ERP+Software.jpg" title="" /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">However, there are many activities that should precede ERP selection. Before you start thinking about ERP vendors or perusing top ERP systems lists, consider focusing on these seven activities:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Ensuring Organizational Alignment</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The key to a successful ERP selection is ensuring that stakeholders across the organization understand and agree with the organization’s strategy objectives. Then, you can consider how you might use technology to achieve objectives, such as improving the customer experience, creating new business models or generating new revenue. This isn’t the time to focus on specific technologies but to establish a foundation that ultimately will help you evaluate ERP vendors based on their ability to enable your strategy.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Developing a Business Case</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">What business benefits do you expect to realize from new ERP software? What are the expected costs? Knowing the answers to these questions is critical to justifying an ERP investment when executives ask about ROI. To really win them over, you should outline exactly how new technology will enable your organization’s strategy objectives. Most ERP failures can be prevented by ensuring stakeholders understand technology’s role in digital transformation.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Mitigating Change Resistance</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">As soon as you’ve made the decision to implement new ERP software, you need to inform employees. You may not know what specific technologies will be involved, but it’s never too soon to start communicating about the overall goals of the future ERP implementation. By evaluating your organizational culture and employees’ openness to change, you can develop an organizational change management strategy that helps employees embrace change. Encouraging employee buy-in is not just about increasing system usage. Employee buy-in is critical long before implementation. For example, employees can provide useful input during the selection process. Building enthusiasm before selection can maximize their future engagement.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Defining Business Requirements</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Many organizations do not have clearly-defined processes, but as they embark on their ERP project, they realize the necessity of business process mapping. Documenting current business processes helps you prioritize functional requirements and identify opportunities for improvement. While no ERP system will address every business requirement, process mapping gives you an idea of which requirements are most important. Process mapping also helps you understand who owns processes and data, so you know who to involve in the selection process. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Transforming Business Processes</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">While some processes may only need incremental improvements, processes related to your competitive advantage may need a complete overhaul. In other words, they need business process reengineering. This is an approach to business design that focuses on breaking down functional silos and providing end-to-end process understanding. It involves thinking about the purpose of each process and the hand-offs between functions. Ultimately, this approach builds process efficiencies that will guide your selection of ERP software. If a system can’t support your optimized processes, then it’s not right for your organization.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Understanding Deployment Options</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Do you want to house ERP software within your IT department or host it externally? Complex organizations that need heavy IT control, gravitate toward on-premise deployment, while organizations that need less control generally outsource their IT functions. Here’s some of the terminology you might encounter as you’re evaluating deployment options:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Cloud ERP</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Software hosted in an external environment that is either single tenant or multi-tenant</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">SaaS ERP</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Software managed by a specific vendor in a multi-tenant cloud environment</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">On-premise ERP</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Software hosted within your organization</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Hybrid Cloud</div><div style="text-align: justify;">A combination of on-premise hosting and cloud hosting</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Managed Services</div><div style="text-align: justify;">All platforms and technologies hosted by external provider</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Developing an IT Strategy</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In addition to deployment options, there are several other IT strategy decisions to make before ERP selection. For example, you’ll need to determine an integration strategy – do you want a single ERP system or several best-of-breed systems? While best-of-breed ERP systems can help you build competitive advantage, they also create technical complexities, integration challenges and data issues. Many organizations implement single ERP systems since they enable standardization, which can reduce change resistance. However, single ERP systems don’t allow you the flexibility to choose the best software for each of your functional areas. This means you might need more software customization, which is costly.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Selecting an ERP System</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">These seven activities will help you establish a foundation from which you can effectively evaluate ERP vendors. Now you have the necessary information to analyze the functional and technical fit of any digital technology on the market. You know what criteria are most important to your organization, so you can narrow down your potential options until you find the technology that supports your digital strategy and improves your competitive advantage.</div>Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09426320976359221672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7887704474232037027.post-84888725483865583932018-10-28T03:46:00.000-07:002020-02-24T03:43:57.245-08:00What is Your ERP Consultant’s ERP Negotiation Methodology?<div style="text-align: justify;">During the ERP software selection process, many organizations struggle to understand and compare vendors’ statements of work. Some of these organizations hire ERP consultants to help them navigate the cost variables and negotiate favorable terms.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><img alt="" border="0" class="thumbnail" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv0vHBeDcZQ5-SNCqZszoLpyWY2MdQRbE8zbLdUjF6sPJnpe78EbffGajs6qZWaWRRqoScYyp52kFIZUYSeMM0_Qv1CSBzcYMiUufxcEqBDcoEOfs_yHrzuUP7F_Pz7OFgh7eEe1pM-3oB/s1600/What+is+Your+ERP+Consultant%25E2%2580%2599s+ERP+Negotiation+Methodology.jpg" title="" /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">However, choosing the right ERP consultant can be just as confusing as selecting an ERP system. Any ERP consultant can claim to deliver vendor negotiation services, but not all consultants have an effective methodology. When evaluating an ERP consultant’s vendor negotiation methodology, consider whether it includes these four activities and deliverables:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>1. Strategy Development</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">An ERP consultant should collaborate with you to develop an ERP negotiation strategy. Ideally, they’ll ask you about your goals and priorities. For example, is it more important for you to reduce operational expenses or reduce capital expenditures?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">They’ll also help you determine which contract terms are most important to you. These may include terms, such as:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><ol><li>Licensing payments should be spread over deliverables.</li><li>Organization will spend x amount per year.</li><li>Subscription costs will not be increased for x years.</li></ol><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>2. In-depth Price Comparisons</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The most valuable deliverable an ERP consultant can provide is a negotiation workbook showing apples-to-apples comparisons of your top contenders. You may have found that vendors’ quotes are not easy to compare. Vendors’ statements of work make various assumptions, such as:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><ul><li>You’ll use all software functionality right away</li><li>You’ll use x amount of out-of-the-box functionality</li><li>You’ll need x amount of customization</li><li>You’ll take x implementation approach</li><li>You’ll use mostly internal resources</li></ul><div style="text-align: justify;">A negotiation workbook helps you understand statements of work based on your unique requirements instead of vendors’ assumptions. Your ERP consultant should help you understand your requirements by facilitating activities, such as:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><ul><li>Determining an ideal level of software customization, and ensuring you’re only customizing when absolutely necessary (i.e., to improve your competitive advantage)</li><li>Understanding how many internal full-time resources you can reasonably dedicate to the project and how many vendor resources you’ll need</li><li>Understanding how long it takes to automate workflows in the system and how complicated it is, as well as who will be configuring workflows</li><li>Determining which activities should be included in each project phase</li></ul><div style="text-align: justify;">Below is a sample negotiation workbook. The spreadsheet allows “what if” scenarios (i.e., what if you get a 30% discount):</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>3. Total Cost of Ownership Analysis</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A long-term view of cost is just as important as a short-term view. The ideal ERP consultant will provide a three-year total cost of ownership analysis – or use whatever timeframe makes sense for the length of your ERP implementation. This analysis should be included as part of the negotiation workbook. The analysis considers factors, such as:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Payback period</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Panorama clients typically recoup the cost of their ERP implementation within three years.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Benefits realization timeframe</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Panorama clients typically realize full business benefits from out-of-the-box functionality within 9-12 months.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Deployment model</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Most ERP vendors encourage a cloud-hosting model and a SaaS licensing model. Organizations that deploy ERP software on premise typically host it in the cloud.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Licensing structure</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The number of users and types of users will affect your cost if you choose a user-based pricing model. Many ERP vendors underestimate the number of users to make their system seem less expensive.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Implementation approach</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Will you use a phased, big bang or hybrid approach? If phased, will you phase per function or per module? Make sure your ERP vendor doesn’t expect you to buy all licenses upfront.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Software costs vs. service costs</div><div style="text-align: justify;">You should aim for a ratio of 2:3 for software costs to service costs.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Software configuration</div><div style="text-align: justify;">How long will it take you to configure each of your business processes? Are there any process dependencies (processes that need to be set up before other processes)?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Resource rates</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Panorama clients typically pay $175-225 per vendor resource. If you negotiate this too low, you may end up with rookies on your team.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>4. ERP Negotiation Guidance and Coaching</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Your team has made large purchases in the past, and you don’t want ERP consultants taking control. The ideal ERP consultant will take a collaborative approach and be flexible enough to respond to your unique needs: they can negotiate on your behalf, prepare you for negotiating with ERP vendors yourself or attend calls with you.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Whichever method you choose, you should aim for cost savings of 30-60%. Your savings will vary depending on your organization size and your chosen ERP vendor. Some vendors don’t go below a 20% discount. You can achieve additional cost savings overtime by ensuring maintenance costs are based on purchase price rather than list price.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Panorama clients typically go through three to four rounds of negotiation, which can last anywhere from three weeks to several months.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>The Right ERP Consultant</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It’s not easy finding an ERP consultant that focuses on all four of these activities. If you’re not convinced these activities will save you money, take a look at these case studies:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><ul><li>Panorama recently negotiated more than $15 million in savings on licensing costs alone for a large, multi-national client.</li><li>Panorama negotiated cost savings for a client that could not afford their top-choice vendor and was about to settle for their second choice.</li><li>Typically, Panorama clients achieve cost savings that are ten times the cost of the negotiation services. And Panorama’s performance warranty ensures every client gets a significant discount on their software purchase or they don’t pay us a dime for our time spent negotiating on their behalf.</li></ul>Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09426320976359221672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7887704474232037027.post-53707643453489219992018-10-27T03:49:00.000-07:002020-02-24T03:43:57.606-08:00How to Manage Change During a Merger or Acquisition<div style="text-align: justify;">Any type of change is traumatic, but few things are scarier than a merger or acquisition. Whether you’re doing the acquiring or you’re being acquired, this process can be stressful for everyone involved. Managing change related to a merger or acquisition is necessary for both the short- and long-term health of your organization. While mismanagement can lead to lost productivity in the short team, it can also weaken your company from within and make it vulnerable in the future.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img class="thumbnail" alt="How to Manage Change During a Merger or Acquisition" border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="750" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-kom61qv5wEITJ2sbzwU1RHtpXm8TxSZuhzOTgo4xK6dTM2SNDHTQKG9evTRO_gunpzFOqdG5og2oMWdxdZrF3bC50SdQz7ajjwgLAU0R5a8tghMBrVRftD1Hwc-IWRO_cynLFjIiag9y/s1600/How+to+Manage+Change+During+a+Merger+or+Acquisition.jpg" title="How to Manage Change During a Merger or Acquisition" /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">To effectively manage change, you should focus on your most valuable resource: your employees. Here are five tips to help you prepare for the major change of a merger or acquisition:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>1. Identify Skill Gaps and Overlaps</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">When you join forces with another organization, the first thing on employees’ minds is the status of their jobs. To avoid this panic, you should address employee concerns long before change occurs.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">And long before you communicate with employees, you should spend time defining how your organization will look post-merger. This will provide visibility into skill gaps and overlaps. If you clarify the situation as quickly as possible, you’ll find it easier to manage change. Less concerned about their jobs or their future, employees will slowly turn back to the task at hand.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>2. Focus on Organizational Culture</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Bringing together two different organizations is going to combine two different types of organizational cultures. This could cause problems, but it doesn’t have to. In fact, culture can be one of your most effective tools in managing change – it can autocorrect for things you simply cannot control.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">To avoid culture clashes, you should meet with teams throughout the organization to decide how processes will look post-merger. A strong business process reengineering methodology can help you establish a process framework prior to merging with another organization. Focusing on culture before a merger or acquisition will make it easier for you to incorporate new employees into your organization and facilitate your transformation.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>3. Make Communication Easy</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">During times of change, rumors are your worst enemy. The last thing you want is employees gossiping about what they think is going to happen post-merger. This not only takes people away from work, but it hurts workplace morale, which can have a negative impact on the health of the company.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It’s important to establish clear and open lines of communication with employees throughout the acquisition process. Consider developing an organizational change management plan and holding weekly meetings to discuss the latest news related to the merger and to answer any questions people may have. This simple step ensures everyone is on the same page and gives you the chance to dispel rumors while keeping everyone calm and working towards a common goal.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>4. Establish Purpose</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Many organizations use mergers and acquisitions as a growth strategy. The idea is that if you can combine highly-profitable companies in similar but different markets, then you can increase efficiency and profitability. This can be a smart strategy, but only if stakeholders are aligned.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">To ensure alignment, you should communicate your strategy and explain how it aligns with your organizational vision. If acquiring a certain company gives you access to a new market, then make your intentions clear.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>5. Collaborate</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Organizational change can often feel as though it’s being imposed from the top, and this can lead to change resistance. It’s important to make the transformation as collaborative as you can.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Recruiting integration teams is a great way to spread the workload of change management, and it makes people feel more involved in the process. Participating in integration teams gives employees another way to stay informed about organizational changes.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">While preparing for change is important, unforeseen challenges always arise. You should develop a plan but remain flexible as you navigate change. Keep these tips in mind, as they will make your merger or acquisition more successful.</div>Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09426320976359221672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7887704474232037027.post-86104336320159455522018-09-21T16:51:00.000-07:002020-02-24T03:43:57.968-08:00Top Five Things To Do Prior To Beginning Your ERP Implementation<div style="text-align: justify;">One of the high points of any digital transformation is the moment you’ve decided to replace your old legacy systems and consider ERP implementation. During the software selection stage of a project, chances are you’ve evaluated and maybe even already selected new systems with the potential of improving your business and making employees’ jobs easier. You’ve also likely come to the realization help is on the way and you can finally move into the 21st century with your enterprise software.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img class="thumbnail" alt="Top Five Things To Do Prior To Beginning Your ERP Implementation" border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-o8KcOuhrFJyYehO-4UeHTxENXESghtWIZumDVCszmP703xcqQ9D_n9PHw92xLtklDVAVEvJN0FbWOv1j-VmFg08A4q8YpwDaSzTEomcEi6orzQbwHzoyVWRIWsYlLvU7LJRzt0iRpFjk/s320/Top+Five+Things+To+Do+Prior+To+Beginning+Your+ERP+Implementation.jpg" title="Top Five Things To Do Prior To Beginning Your ERP Implementation" width="320" /></div><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">All this excitement and momentum can be a good thing and it’s important to have a solid plan on “how” to move forward. Too often, companies let the project momentum speed towards implementation without first assessing the situation, assembling a realistic implementation plan, corralling resources and doing a number of other things that need attention prior to commencing the implementation. To position you and your team for success, here are the top five things you should do prior to starting your implementation:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Validate the scope and timing of your ERP software purchase</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Once you’ve decided on the best software solution(s) for your organization, it’s important to validate what exactly you’re purchasing. Too often, companies experience a disconnect between the software viewed during demos and the ones purchased via your software. Be sure you are purchasing the right modules, bolt-ons and user licensing types for your organization. Remember, you don’t have to buy all the software up front; you can always negotiate the timing of the purchases to coincide with your deployment schedule. One way to navigate the complexities of an enterprise software contract is to enlist the help of an independent, third-party ERP consultant to help negotiate an agreement that makes the most sense for you. ERP consultants are keenly aware of current software pricing and price flexibility (think discounts) that may not be offered when buying direct from a software vendor or reseller. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Source Your Internal and External Implementation Project Resources</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Your software vendor sales rep may want you to start your project right away since doing so will optimize their compensation, but it’s important you only do so once you have the right team in place. There are a number of business, IT and consulting resource considerations (internal and external) to be identified and sourced prior to beginning. Roles and responsibilities should be defined for the program manager, internal and external project managers, organizational change leads, business leads and a host of other roles.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Build a Complete Implementation Project Strategy and Plan</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Software implementations require focus, effort and planning well beyond what a system integrator, vendor or VAR can provide so it’s important to develop an implementation plan incorporating all the critical components required for success. Some of these components will come from your software vendor and you will want to augment these with critical tasks outside the purview of most ERP vendors and consultants. For example, organizational change management, business process improvement and program management are just three areas commonly overlooked. Be sure to enlist the help of agnostic, third-party consultants to help define/develop a well-honed implementation strategy and plan that’s the most suitable solution for your company’s unique situation.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Begin Key Implementation Critical Path Activities</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Even though most ERP implementations take more time than expected, delays aren’t typically caused by technical or software issues. More commonly, there are other critical path activities delaying projects, even if the software is fully configured and tested. For example, issues related to people, business processes and data are much more likely to delay your project and create cost overruns than the software. It’s important to focus your early efforts less on software configuration and more on those critical path activities, such as data migration, organizational change planning and defining business process improvements.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">5. Define your implementation project charter</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Once all the above have been completed, a fifth area of focus should be to define a clear project structure and governance. Ensuring you have the right structure and controls in place, will enable you to optimize limited resources and maximize your ROI during implementation. A formalized project charter, including your plan, project roles, project governance and controls is the best way to accomplish this.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Considering most companies go ten or more years between major system updates or changes, ERP implementation experience is not usually a core competency. Recognizing this is not a weakness but a strength. An independent consultant like Panorama provides a unique value proposition. While clients often think of ERP consultants as software selection pros, the expertise goes much deeper. A few of the smart reasons for considering outside help include having a partner that can assist you with validating your overarching strategy, helping to predefine the business benefits, build the business case and help define KPIs. Enlisting the support you need during a complex ERP implementation can help you through the project, give you strategies to deal with the situation and give you a perspective you probably won’t otherwise have.</div>Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09426320976359221672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7887704474232037027.post-88857685306386631622018-09-21T16:46:00.000-07:002020-02-24T03:43:58.329-08:00Your ERP Implementation Best Practices Guide<div style="text-align: justify;">Many of the project teams we work with seek an <b>ERP implementation</b> best practices guide. That’s because now more than ever, it’s critical to have knowledge of the best practices and best enterprise technologies available on the market today. Having this information will improve the outcome of your ERP implementation project. Because hundreds of manufacturing and distribution enterprises have looked to Ultra for up-to-date expert guidance, this blog assembles an ERP Implementation Best Practices Guide. The following five areas below link to various resources and articles that give you further details on best practices in ERP implementation.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img class="thumbnail" alt="Your ERP Implementation Best Practices Guide" border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="683" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcZivxRd94Zu-WSSDXR_ogpvCpfBUQWaYgrUh2-WBJvZR1FIvw4qBHXQwneTpjlMR44TpQZqDbSiOaFXfG-ow3z0mQJRXhxJgeb2H7HQhXtxWXOaeeOQ2mR7UwL47ZMMusSASGabE0tl3D/s320/Your+ERP+Implementation+Best+Practices+Guide.jpg" title="Your ERP Implementation Best Practices Guide" width="320" /></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Start with Insight</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">First things first – as you embark on an ERP project, the first resource from your ERP implementation best practices guide is to identify and select independent guidance and experience. At this juncture, it’s important to understand how a software implementation vendor differs from an independent consultant. The primary mission of the software implementation vendor is to configure the software and reach the go-live status. The goal of the independent consulting organization is to focus on business process transformation and industry best practices.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">From the beginning of the project, an independent consultant makes sure that the desired future state and business transformation goals are built into the solution. The consultant identifies any gaps between generic software and industry best practices and then drives gap-closure activities to satisfy the business expectations.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Choose the Right Methodology</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Our second resource from your ERP implementation best practices guide involves choosing the right ERP implementation methodology for your company. Recently, we’re seeing two different implementation methodologies: the traditional method and the turnkey method. Best practices require that you fully understand your chosen methodology. The traditional method involves the ERP implementation team working with the vendor consultant to plan, educate the team, design/configure and set up the system and new business processes, conduct conference room pilots leading to a go-live, plan the cutover process and support the go-live.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Avoid Pitfalls</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The third resource from your ERP implementation best practices guide is to be aware of what a failed ERP implementation looks like, and how to avoid them. Failure often comes from a lack of organizational change management. Business transformation through new or updated enterprise technology will never take place without effectively managing change across three key organizational areas: people, process, and technology. Change management planning from the very beginning is essential.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">When the future state vision is fuzzy and poorly developed, the ERP is likely to fail and ROI will never materialize. Far too often we see new systems implemented that essentially mimic the old system and “the way we’ve always done it.” The future state vision, which the team identifies through detailed process mapping, must be shared among all departments and locations to encourage buy-in and team acceptance. Finally, ERP failure comes from data conversion problems. When companies don’t know how to get the data out of the system or use it effectively for improved operations, forecasting and decision making, even the best ERP project is doomed to fail.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Consider the Steps</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The fourth resource from your ERP implementation best practices guide is to consider 3 critical ERP implementation steps to achieve success. From reviewing business processes before implementing a new ERP solution, to creating a communication plan that is effective and timely, knowing the proven steps will ensure a successful implementation.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Take a Phased Approach</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Finally, our fifth insight from your ERP implementation best practices guide drills down into a phased approach to ERP implementation strategies is the most effective approach. Enterprises need implementation strategies that result in full utilization of the new system’s functionality and benefits. Using a phased approach speeds the rate of adoption and gets a manufacturer up and running faster and with fewer disruptions to operations.</div>Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09426320976359221672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7887704474232037027.post-24196004787308963782018-09-21T16:42:00.000-07:002020-02-24T03:43:58.697-08:00Five ERP Software Trends to Watch in the Distribution Industry<div style="text-align: justify;">In the distribution industry, ERP software is crucial for ensuring accurate inventory management, reports and demand planning. ERP software vendors are always looking for ways to improve and enhance their distribution functionality. Here’s a look at five ERP software trends to watch in the distribution industry:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img class="thumbnail" alt="Five ERP Software Trends to Watch in the Distribution Industry" border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="750" height="128" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgajuID1BrCEqOaMjMSbSbompKfn8E_p4zfWHnjEvubmPipUBMIbyCIs7ik6hixO_8VzZ5sVUuQc9SIgMEOJnOluJ4JtkEDL34XWmp9LVcmQtLUfH_0fJSNQcEIjuD0UlRa826ya0CFsQBU/s320/Five+ERP+Software+Trends+to+Watch+in+the+Distribution+Industry.jpg" title="Five ERP Software Trends to Watch in the Distribution Industry" width="320" /></div><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Distribution leaders will focus on migrating to intelligent ERP systems.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Today, industry leaders want top-of-the-line ERP software systems. Instead of choosing ERP software that merely records data and has a basic forecasting ability, they want software that is loaded with all kinds of capabilities, believing this will give them a competitive edge. From artificial intelligence (AI) to machine learning and advanced analytic abilities, you can expect many organizations in the distribution industry to migrate to intelligent ERP systems. These systems have excellent real-time forecasting and analyzing capabilities, allowing users to more efficiently and effectively make business decisions.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Small to mid-size distribution companies will take advantage of more advanced ERP system software choices.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The days of smaller and mid-size companies relying on free or basic ERP software are over. These companies are now investing in ERP software that offers more than just the bare minimum. They want robust software with essential capabilities, such as forecasting.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Many distributors will focus on ERP software’s accounting capabilities.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In a survey conducted by SelectHub, 89% of respondents selected accounting as their ERP software’s most important function [1]. Distributors want software that allows them to account for every aspect of distribution, as well as their company’s finances. In addition, they will be looking for ERP software vendors that not only provide what they need right now but what they might need in the future. There is a move in the distribution industry to migrate to ERP vendors that continuously look for ways to improve and enhance their software.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>There will be a push for in-memory computing.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Instead of storing data in disk-based databases, in-memory computing uses random access memory (RAM) for data storage. This allows for the regular caching of data, which gives distributors the ability to quickly access information. In-memory computing also ensures that reports are more accurate in “real time” and allows for the timely viewing of aggregate data.</div>Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09426320976359221672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7887704474232037027.post-19699783777059507172018-09-21T16:41:00.000-07:002020-02-24T03:43:59.061-08:00Five Surprising Takeaways from the 2018 ERP Software Report<div style="text-align: justify;">Today we published our brand new 2018 <b>ERP Software Report</b>, which summarizes the results from nearly 300 recent ERP implementations across the globe. While the data tells a similar story to years past, it also contains a few surprises. First, it’s important to understand where we gathered the data. The average company in our sample generates $439 million USD in annual revenue, with a majority of organizations based in North America. Organizations in the study were in industries of all types, ranging from manufacturers, retail and distribution companies, construction firms, and a range of other industry verticals.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img class="thumbnail" alt="Five Surprising Takeaways from the 2018 ERP Software Report" border="0" data-original-height="511" data-original-width="907" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw5SICwTvQgexs-zQSiT1vQJtKl1mnT9TZgRSyhjwSE1lKz36KUzEVLErPvM95U62VGbkiwMoTZu5iwfYLC6KzZF68R-32qiLqYs8k8x_Bm-Wq_Vda3oucDoiWjXYYjJH35DVSQdcl4GZX/s320/Five+Surprising+Takeaways+from+the+2018+ERP+Software+Report.png" title="Five Surprising Takeaways from the 2018 ERP Software Report" width="320" /></div><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">We summarized and analyzed this broad data set to arrive at some conclusions regarding trends in the industry, challenges companies face when implementing new ERP software, and lessons learned. This is the twelfth consecutive year that we have conducted the annual study. Some results aren’t surprising to those of us that have been in the industry for a while. Others were a big surprise to the Panorama team and I. Here are five surprising takeaways from this year’s ERP Software Report:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Cloud ERP software adoption may have finally reached a tipping point.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">We saw a very large increase in cloud ERP software adoption this year compared to past years, with this year’s mix of SaaS and cloud deployments increasing to 85%, compared to 15% on-premise deployments. While this number may not be striking on the surface, it is a big difference from last year’s data, which showed less than 50% of organizations were deploying cloud and SaaS solutions.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The fact that the leading ERP vendors are pushing SAP S4/HANA, Oracle Cloud, and Microsoft Dynamics 365 cloud solutions so aggressively may finally be paying off for them. So, which is more surprising: the fact that cloud and SaaS adoption has reached 85%, or the fact that last year’s number was so low?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>The grand illusion of lower ERP implementation costs.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Past years have shown that the average total ERP implementation costs anywhere from 4% to 5% of a company’s annual revenue. This number includes a project’s all-in costs, including software licenses, implementation costs, hardware upgrades, organizational change management, training, backfilling internal resources, and any other costs associated with the transformation.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This year, that number decreased to 3.6% of annual revenue. While this may sound positive on the surface, it actually reveals a flaw in our data: since most deployments are cloud solutions (see point #1 above), initial costs are naturally going to be lower. However, our implementation cost data only captures the initial implementation costs – not the ongoing costs. In most cases, cloud deployment costs less money up front, but can increase longer-term outlays due to higher annual subscription costs. It is important to take this data with a grain of salt.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>ERP implementations are taking longer and resulting in more operational disruption.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Despite lower up-front costs, ERP implementation durations are increasing. While the total average duration increased a relatively innocuous 16.9 to 17.4 months, those that took longer than expected increased from 59% to 79%. Again, this can be largely attributed to the increase in cloud deployments, which creates a false sense of implementation speed and ease and results in unrealistic expectations along the way.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Operational disruptions saw a similar increase. Those that experienced a material disruption following go-live – such as being unable to ship product or close the books – increased from 56% to 66% last year. This isn’t comforting to most executives and points to some of the lingering deficiencies in the abilities of most ERP consultants’ and vendors’ ability to manage implementations well.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Despite relatively high satisfaction with ERP software vendors, overall ERP implementation satisfaction levels plummeted to 42%.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Customer satisfaction with their chosen and implemented ERP software increased to 68% this year. However, satisfaction with their overall implementations plummeted from 81% to 42%, which suggests that more companies are either struggling with their deployments and/or managing to unrealistic expectations surrounding those initiatives. Thought leadership such as Ten Tips to a Successful ERP Implementation, provide guidance on how to manage your digital transformation to success.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Organizational change management still reigns as the biggest challenge to a successful ERP implementation.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">For the second straight year, organizational change management was atop the list of top reasons why projects took longer or cost more money than expected. Ironically, many organizations think they will actually save time and money by cutting this important corner, but our research tells a different story. You are more likely to find that you have underinvested in managing organizational change, and those that do find that they implement faster, less expensively, and with a higher ROI than those that don’t.</div>Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09426320976359221672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7887704474232037027.post-75030466168528473952018-09-21T16:38:00.000-07:002020-02-24T03:43:59.425-08:00Top Predictions for the ERP Software Industry in 2018<div style="text-align: justify;">We are at a pivotal juncture in the world of ERP software and enterprise technology. This may be the first time in my career when there was so much excitement and uncertainty in the enterprise software space. On one hand, major vendors are promoting exciting new flagship technologies. On the other, many CIOs and other executives are nervous about the relative immaturity of these new products. In many ways, 2018 will bring exciting new trends to be aware of. In other ways, the coming year will bring more of the same. Here are my top five predictions for the ERP software space in 2018:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img class="thumbnail" alt="Top Predictions for the ERP Software Industry in 2018" border="0" data-original-height="315" data-original-width="560" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLjUkA4hA1t0s0opSOo1_pONN62HBG9aYG2DiRz9ckbDOZ2k64H5RvI1bqovteRVR6aRFfvWkj-QM9889A_XnAcJewPp9zapEpcxeJMr_PpcTMHtzs52iLCN9YiT6VJ4GWCSs7zyjHnnR4/s320/Top+Predictions+for+the+ERP+Software+Industry+in+2018.jpg" title="Top Predictions for the ERP Software Industry in 2018" width="320" /></div><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Capital investments in digital transformation initiatives will continue.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">With the global economy continuing to improve, more companies scaling for growth, and capital investments continuing to gain momentum, more companies will be more likely to invest in their digital transformation initiatives. Other contributing factors to this trend: more companies are reaching the end of their legacy system lifecycles dating back to Y2K system replacements, and more industries are going through major, market-driven transformations (think: the retail industry grappling with the disruption of Amazon and the e-Tailing trend). All of these factors will lead more companies to revisit their enterprise system strategies going into the new year and beyond.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Cloud ERP software will reach a tipping point.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The trend toward cloud systems has been gaining steam for several years now, but this is the first year where major vendors are all doubling down on their cloud offerings. SAP S4HANA, Oracle Cloud, Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Infor Cloud vendors are all examples of the flagship products being aggressively promoted by the top ERP vendors. The only thing complicating matters? The relative immaturity and lack of proven track record of these systems, along with executives’ continuing comfort level with on-premise deployments. The coming year may be the year where one of these two conflicting pressures win out and cloud systems are either more widely accepted – or the trend proves to be a short-lived fad. (Watch for our upcoming 2018 ERP Report to see if cloud adoption regains momentum after giving up market share last year).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>More organizations will be forced off their legacy ERP systems.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">As more ERP vendors (link to /erp-vendors/ page) increase their investments in cloud solutions, they will likely continue paring back R&D in some of their legacy products. For example, products such as Oracle EBS, Microsoft Great Plains, and Epicor Prelude are likely to see rapid deterioration of focus and support for these products as they are sunset. Vendors will be less likely to introduce new functionality or provide long-term support for these dated products, leading many organizations to conclude that they have no choice but to migrate to more modern enterprise technologies. When combined with trends #1 and #2 above, executives are more likely to reconsider their platforms of choice moving forward into the long-term.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>More companies will say “no” to ERP software.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Due in part, to #3, while on one hand we predict more organizations moving toward new technologies, we also see more executive teams being skeptical of ERP systems (link to /erp-software/ page) as we have known them over the last 20 years. Organizations are too painfully aware of the historic and ongoing challenges with the enterprise software status quo, so they will be more likely to consider alternatives to big, complex, monolithic ERP systems. Potential alternatives include less risky upgrades, more attention to business process reengineering, and point solutions. Whatever the exact alternatives pursued, the coming year’s focus will be on fixing more immediate operational issues and pursuing more low-hanging fruit.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Organizations grow increasingly allergic to organizational change management.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This is one of the most interesting (and surprising) trends that we are seeing in the market. An increasing number of organizations are becoming seemingly allergic to the term “organizational change management” – while at the same time recognizing the need to address the people side of their digital transformation initiatives. On one hand, they recognize the risk of not addressing organizational change, but on the other, they are jaded by past org change failures.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In other words, organizational change management has a branding and PR problem. This starts with calling is something more specific, such as people enablement, workforce transition, business process implementation, and whatever other words of choice fit. However, words are just words, so it is even more important that organizations recognize the need for proven organizational change expertise and toolsets – something most ERP vendors, consultants, and system integrators aren’t good at.</div>Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09426320976359221672noreply@blogger.com0