How Important is Industry Vertical Experience in a Digital Transformation?
“Do you have direct experience in our space?” As consultants, we hear this question every day. Clients often want to know how important industry vertical experience is to a digital transformation or ERP implementation. Recently, I have been asked if we have experience with: Baby food manufacturing Tier 2 defense manufacturing Public, Fortune 500 pharmaceuticals […]
Should We Adopt Our Parent Company’s Tier I ERP System?
Over the last few weeks, we have helped two companies navigate a common challenge: whether or not to adopt their parent company’s tier I ERP system. Tier I ERP systems traditionally refer to products such as SAP S/4HANA and Oracle Cloud ERP. Some might say that Microsoft Dynamics 365 and/or Infor CloudSuite should be considered […]
Why Oracle Cloud ERP and eBusiness Suite Isn’t Among the Top Digital Transformation Technologies
The other day we published our list of top ERP systems for 2019. The ranking is intended to provide a general, technology-agnostic comparison of the leading digital transformation technologies. Many were surprised that Oracle Cloud ERP and eBusiness Suite were not among the top digital transformation technologies. Oracle as a vendor generally ranks #2 in […]
Top ERP Systems for 2019
Disclaimer: Third Stage Consulting is an independent ERP consulting firm. Third Stage has no financial ties to ERP vendors, either directly or through parent companies or affiliates. Accordingly, the below analysis is completely technology-agnostic and 100% free of vendor bias. As we enter the home stretch of the year, many of our clients are knee-deep […]
Independent Comparison of SAP S/4HANA vs. Microsoft Dynamics 365
In years past, most of our larger clients would hone in on SAP vs. Oracle as their primary focus during their ERP selection processes. In more recent years, we saw an uptick in organizations considering SAP S/4HANA vs. Oracle Cloud ERP vs. Microsoft Dynamics 365 as more evaluated the three industry leaders. Even more lately, […]
Why Cloud ERP Has Finally Reached the Tipping Point
I’m a skeptic of buzzwords, broad over-generalizations, and biased opinions. But it’s time for me to finally admit it: cloud ERP has finally reached the tipping point of adoption. Over the last several years, I have blogged about how cloud systems are overrated. I wrote about how on-premise still had its place for the foreseeable […]
Negotiating ERP Implementation Failure
I had two conversations with prospective clients in the last few days seeking help with their ERP implementation failures. With recent news of the SAP failure at Lidl and the SAP failure at National Grid, these conversations caught my attention. Overview of the ERP Implementation Failures The first was reaching out for help with ERP […]
Do you really need help selecting ERP Software?
This is a question that has been around since the early days of consultants offering help with selecting ERP software. It has been a growing and very lucrative business over the past couple decades, and companies have certainly needed assistance in navigating the array of available solutions and vendor promises.So, the easy answer is yes, […]
ERP Software Selection – Simply Not What It Used to Be
For those who haven’t gone through an ERP software selection for years, you may recall months on end, hundreds of thousands of dollars and painful, complex methodologies. Well, times have changed. In most cases, once you get to the point of selecting a software for your organization, it’s fairly straight forward. We recommend that organizations […]
Tips to Streamline Your ERP Vendor Evaluation
Too often, organizations and their consultants get caught up in analysis paralysis during their ERP vendor evaluation processes. I have seen too many teams engage in drawn-out and confusing processes that aren’t worth the time, cost, and effort invested. Lack of vendor knowledge, deficient industry knowledge, and inability to drive efficient decisions can be a […]
Unveiling the Truth About ERP Software Selection : It’s Time to Streamline the Process
Having been in the ERP consulting industry for 20 years now – and having launched two consulting firms focused on this space – it may seem strange to hear me say it. But, it’s true: you may want to consider ditching your complex selection project. With the number of options in the market, it’s easy […]