The first part (Part II) of this blog series described the opportunities for software as a service (SaaS) or on-demand applications, especially in the current difficult economic milieu. Part IIa then analyzed the top five SaaS assumptions (misconceptions) recently outlined by Gartner.

Before any vendor can embark onto delivering a SaaS offering, it must thoroughly consider a number of harrowing SaaS technology choices and their implications. Thus, Part IIa also analyzed the decision’s impact on the functional footprint (scope) of the future SaaS product, after which the aspiring SaaS vendor must identify gaps within its in-house skill sets and define how to fill them.

This part continues with the other major remaining technical considerations before any vendor can embark on delivery of a SaaS offering. Read the rest of this entry »

If you’re currently involved with your company’s software selection and implementation project, then I’m sure you can appreciate how difficult this process is. From figuring out what you want your new system to accomplish, to “go-live”—and everything in between—enterprise software selection is no easy feat. In fact, it can be downright grueling.

To start your software selection project off on the right foot, you must first define all of your current business processes—and then document them. This task alone can take months. However, with the right methodology and tools, the time spent doing this can be cut down significantly. If you are using your own methods for gathering requirements, your list of business processes must be structured in such a way that allows vendors to easily apply them to their products and determine whether they can support certain functionalities.

Again, no easy feat!

Many organizations often start a software selection by first choosing a vendor and then working in tandem with the vendor throughout the process of identifying and modeling their business processes on software capabilities. This is all fine and dandy—but who knows your business better than the people who perform these processes day in and day out? You, your department managers, and IT staff. Why put the onus on the vendor to perform this task and then risk not being certain that everything your new system may need has been identified? Not to mention the cost this type of vendor service could carry!

So what’s a software selection project manager to do?

Let’s take a look at how you can build a comprehensive request for information (RFI) by first reviewing the basics principles of business process modeling (BPM) and how it correlates to the RFI. Read the rest of this entry »

Recently there were two great articles published on our Website touching the interesting problem of interactions between traditional manufacturing management and project management: The Business Model for the 21st Century Is Project-centric and Weather the Recession with Project ERP. I agree with the respective authors that the project-driven management approach can help companies improve their businesses in any kind of economic situation, whether during a recession or a booming economy. But in this blog post I would like to share some thoughts with you on other aspects of how project management can help manufacturing. Read the rest of this entry »

Part 1 of this blog series explained IQMS’ upbeat posture despite a hostile and depressed environment, while Part 2 analyzed the recent developments of EnterpriseIQ [evaluate this product], the flagship offering of IQMS. This final part will focus on IQMS’ most recent involvement in the user experience (UX) design developments. Read the rest of this entry »

The business process management (BPM) market is sizzling hot, with Gartner Dataquest estimating its compound annual growth rate (CAGR) at 13 percent in 2009. In fact, almost all leading BPM vendors have been buzzing about their unprecedented growth and profitability, especially amidst the ongoing economic drought.

It is truly difficult to argue against the need for companies from all walks of life to improve their business processes. Doing “better, faster, and cheaper” is the “slogan du jour.” Read the rest of this entry »

Two Brains—or Three or Four or More—Make Better Decisions than One…
Anyone working in today’s office or business environment has no doubt participated at least once in the ubiquitous group brainstorming session. Some may enjoy these sessions as a respite from cheerless, lonely cubicle life. Others, however, may just as soon remain ensconced in front of their monitors and keyboards, solitary workaday soldiers trudging through without distraction until five o’clock.

Unfortunately for the latter category of office worker, the results of a study about group decision making may be cause for more than the usual number of sighs. Summarized back in April 2009 on both the BNET1 blog and The British Psychological Society’s Research Digest blog, the study (conducted by Jessica Mesmer-Magnus and Leslie DeChurch) found that group decision making “will nearly always outperform the ability of any one of its members working on their [sic] own. This is especially the case if the group is formed of diverse members.” However, the caveat: group decision making is rarely efficient.

Read the rest of this entry »

15 years ago, you could forgive a company for thinking that a Web site was something they needed to have because everyone else had one. But by the end of the dot-com boom, pretty well everyone had realized that a corporate Web site was much more than just an online business card or brochure. Today, a company’s Web site is one of its most important assets, simply because it’s the first point of contact with potential customers.

Unfortunately, when it comes to talking to those potential customers, many companies are still missing the mark, and enterprise software vendors are among the worst offenders.Instead of talking to you, they’re talking at you. Here are 6 ways they’re doing it. Read the rest of this entry »

The first part of this blog series described the opportunity for software as a service (SaaS) or on-demand enterprise applications, especially in the current difficult economic milieu. But before any vendor can embark on delivering a SaaS offering, it must understand several misconceptions about SaaS.

Part two then analyzed the first two of the top five SaaS assumptions that Gartner recently outlined in its research.  Read the rest of this entry »

Part 1 of this blog series explained IQMS’ ebullience and growth despite a hostile and depressed environment, especially in manufacturing. IQMS attributes its continued success to its strategy of being the single source for virtually everything a target customer might need, including software development, sales and implementation services, training, and customer service and technical support.

Before delving into the flagship suite’s comprehensive functional footprint, it might be important to describe EnterpriseIQ’s [evaluate this product] technical foundation and performance, which IQMS touts as important parts of its value proposition. Read the rest of this entry »

The Cost of Learning—a Very Brief History

Training (or learning) has always been viewed as a cost center (representing a cost of doing business similar to other employee costs such as salary, commissions, and benefits). That’s why many organizations in the past have struggled with the challenge of justifying the cost of training in their budgets.

Today, organizations are making significant investments in technology—which includes solutions for training staff and further developing their career opportunities. Through e-learning, businesses can now reach many more people within their organization with a lot more content—for the same cost. It’s important to note, however, that while investments in e-learning do not reduce overall costs, they do allow these costs to be leveraged more efficiently across the organization. Read the rest of this entry »

Part 1 of this blog series set the historical background for supply chain management (SCM) evolution and presented the advantages and shortcomings of vertical vs. horizontal integration. The analysis then moved onto the generally embattled retail sector, where a select group of innovative retailers has found a “happy medium” approach to stay well above the fray.

Kurt Salmon Associated (KSA), the leading global management consulting firm specializing in the retail and consumer goods industries, dubbed this strategy “Act Vertical” in its seminal research study. The firm presented the highlights of the study at the National Retail Federation (NRF) Annual Convention & EXPO 2009 (also known as the Retail Big Show) in January in New York City. The accompanying slide deck can be downloaded here.

Part 2 of this blog series then outlined the five drivers for retailers to act vertical, and the three key tenets of the approach. The post explained in depth the following first two requirements for acting vertical:

1. Effectively bring unique and compelling products and services to consumers; and
2. Offer differentiating customer experiences through multiple, integrated channels.

This final part will focus on the need for retailers to collaborate and synchronize internally and externally with customers and suppliers, often via customized agile supply chains, as necessary. Read the rest of this entry »

A friendly colleague reminded me today that it’s been a while since I’ve posted news about our ongoing product rating updates. So here goes, continue reading if you’re evaluating software for any of the following types of systems.

• CRM
• ERP (manufacturing for discrete or process industries, ETO, distribution, and services industries)
• Financial systems
• PLM

Read the rest of this entry »

Whether you are implementing a new enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution in your company or you already have one—but did not pay very much attention to user rights and securities—there are some factors that you need to take into consideration.

ERP is a sophisticated system where simple mistakes can cause big problems. It is also an important investment for your company—and you’ll want to make sure users take good advantage of its features.

The way user rights and securities are set can make an ERP system efficient—or turn it into a tool for inefficiency. I’ll discuss the 10 most common mistakes administrators make during this process. Read the rest of this entry »

Part 1 of this blog series outlined Oracle’s recent (and seemingly genuine) change of heart and approach towards partnering. The analysis then moved into Oracle’s VAD Remarketer Program, which was launched about two years ago to allow partners to determine the best growth path for their business.

A Remarketer is a new class of Oracle reseller with the ability to resell only the products that fall under Oracle’s 1-Click Ordering Programs and strictly under standard terms and conditions. The current figures show over 1,200 recruited Remarketers with over 2,000 placed orders since the launch. Read the rest of this entry »

On October 9, I ran a contest asking readers to define ERP in their own words. Why? Because there are so many different definitions floating around on the Web that I wondered if users really know what they’re getting into when selecting an ERP system.

This problem was really brought home to me a few months ago, when I was asked to write a brief history of ERP (for an organization who will remain nameless). Read the rest of this entry »