Lessons from the SAP Transformation Problems at Haribo
The last year has been a difficult one for digital transformations and ERP implementations. After high-profile digital transformation failures at Lidl and National Grid, we now have news of SAP transformation problems at Haribo. Long story short: Haribo is a German candy manufacturer that manufactures gummy bears and other candies. In late 2018, they began […]
The Importance of ERP Go-Live System Testing
By Sam Graham A standard piece of advice when implementing an ERP system is that it should never go live without exhaustive and comprehensive testing. Even small companies implementing Tier 3 systems, are urged to carry out ‘Conference room pilots’ to ensure that there are no nasty surprises come the big day. But the latest […]
Digital Transformation Mandates for CXOs in 2019
As 2018 winds down and we look to the future, it is a good time to reflect on what we can do to be more effective in the coming year. The past year was a great one. On one hand, enterprise technology evolved in a significant way to help deliver potential breakthrough enterprise capabilities. On […]
Should you Adopt ERP Implementation Best Practices?
A majority of marketing around business and technology refers to the concept of “Best Practices.” Software vendors such as SAP, Oracle, and Microsoft have also adopted use of this term almost to the point of exhaustion, claiming there is no need to worry about business processes during a software implementation since they bring “best in […]
The Risks of Deploying SAP S/4HANA
SAP S/4HANA is a viable ERP solution Before discussing the risks, it is important to address the good news. S/4HANA is a viable product, with a very high rating in the top ERP systems of 2019. In addition, there are a number of lessons learned from successful SAP S/4HANA implementations. SAP has a robust software […]
How to Define your ERP Contingency Budget
It’s no secret that ERP projects often run over time and over budget. There are countless case studies, whitepapers, anecdotes and even lawsuits that share horror stories of unexpected costs and scope extensions. Even with the best planning and due diligence, the unforeseen occurs. The recent ERP failure at Lidl and the National Grid vs. […]
Defining your Digital Transformation Project Dream Team
Eric Kimberling recently posted a blog surrounding the potential dark side of digital transformation and how the increased power of technology can cause complications even greater than faced in the past with vanilla ERP implementations. One of the greatest risks of a complete digital transformation is not having the right team and skill sets to […]
ERP Implementation – Big Bang or Phased?
By Sam Graham If anything positive can be taken from recent ERP disasters (Lidl, National Grid, Waste Management, etc), it is that these failures happened before those systems went live. Compare that with, for example, the Hershey debacle (now frequently used as a case study in how not to implement ERP). It would appear that […]
Top 10 ERP and Digital Transformation Predictions for 2019
This has been an amazing year so far. Technology has continued to evolve while many organizations begin their digital transformation journeys. Some have been successful so far, while others have struggled. On a personal level, our company began working with 15 new clients in the last 6 months since spinning off from our last company. […]
How Your Systems Integrator is Rigging Your Digital Transformation
Most digital transformations are rigged. It was 20 years ago when I started in this space, and it still is today. I started my first consulting company (Panorama Consulting) back in 2005 because of the lack of unbiased independent ERP consultants in the market. That company at one time filled a need that wasn’t being […]
The Last Mile of Digital Transformation
Over the last two weeks, I have been intrigued by two data points: 1. A recent article by a well-respected colleague about the outdated nature of ERP software, and 2. Work we just started with a new client – a very large US-based manufacturing and distribution company – whose digital initiatives extend well beyond ERP […]
How to Avoid ERP Failure
By Sam Graham Benjamin Franklin once said that in this world only two things are certain; death and taxes. Were he alive today, he would probably have added a third: continuing analysis of ERP project failure. We had hardly moved on from the Anchorage disaster before we read about the National Grid SAP failure, and […]