At the end of part III of this series, the software selection team at MegaResistCap had turned in their software selection votes to the company’s executive operating committee. Jim, director of information technology (IT), was anxiously awaiting the voting result, which was now being announced by Francois, the company’s chief legal counsel. Francois wasn’t one to mince words, and got right to the point: Read the rest of this entry »

In the first two parts of this series (part I, part II), Jim, director of IT at MegaResistCap, learned that the company’s recently rolled out enterprise resource planning (ERP) system would have to support global trade management (GTM) functionality more quickly than expected. He had sent an e-mail off to his chief information officer (CIO), Mike, suggesting a new project be set up and managed by the project management office, MegaPMO. Now, with some trepidation, he awaited the response from the CIO.

The week following Jim’s e-mail passed without a reply to his message. Was the CIO trying to distance himself from Jim’s message? Was the executive operational committee upset by the suggestion of another software project after they just got through the high-cost ERP rollout? Or did they agree with the suggested approach? Read the rest of this entry »

When we left Jim, it was 7 pm, Sunday night. Jim, director of IT at MegaResistCap, had received a message from his CIO. The company’s legal counsel wanted to know if their systems were able to support the company operating as a “deemed exporter.” (See Part I of this series.)

Jim knew he needed to work his magic and offer a solution or at least a direction to management—that’s why they paid him the big bucks. He put himself on a schedule for the evening:

1) Research, 7–9 pm;
2) Proposed solution steps outline, 9–11 pm.

It was also part of his position to stay on top of the latest industry directions, but he had lost touch over the last year and a half during the ERP rollout.

Jim started googling “deemed exporter regulations.” The US BIS Web site was informative but like all government Web sites, it was filled with acronyms, regulations, subregulations, and references that led to other government agencies that Jim thought only existed in spy novels. The not-so-subtle references also pointed out that the fines assessed for single civil violation can result in a $250,000 (USD) civil fine or twice the amount of the transaction. Criminal violations carry a penalty of up to $1 million (USD) per violation and imprisonment for up to 20 years! Read the rest of this entry »

Jim, information technology (IT) director of MegaResistCap Inc., was finally getting back to a reasonable schedule 3 months after the “go-live” date of the company’s new enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. He was hoping to spend the weekend in the garden, and was looking forward to checking messages on Sunday to get ready for a productive week. That was, until he saw the memo from the company’s chief legal counsel, forwarded by his chief information officer (CIO), Mike. Read the rest of this entry »

Is your boss the main reason you call in sick on Monday mornings? Do you need to “manage” your boss in order to get any work done? Do you find yourself in the position of having to defend your boss when talking to colleagues?

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Q: How many doomsday prophets does it take to change a light bulb?
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Having trouble sleeping at night? Lots of people are these days, and for good reasons.

The economy is in the dumps. Jobs are on the endangered species list. We’re steadily running out of oil. And terrorists are trying to kill us. Now, if all that isn’t enough to keep you awake at 4 o’clock in the morning, there’s always the fact that the planet is threatening to terminally overheat.

Yup, life can cause insomnia, but I’ve found the cure. Read the rest of this entry »

Part 1 of this blog series talked about the historical background of the JRocket Marketing Grape Escape(TM) event. Grape Escape has become a June fixture over past several years, after the high traveling season to major vendors’ events subsides and before everyone takes their summer vacations. It is a signature event that showcases the intimate analyst relationships (AR) and event expertise that JRocket Marketing’s president and founder Judith Rothrock delivers to her software vendors’ client base by giving them exposure to a selected group of industry analysts.

Part 1 also analyzed the news announcements by Jeremy Roche, CEO of FinancialForce.com, followed by the testimony from its customer Wi-Fi Alliance. Part 2 analyzed the Grape Escape 2010 news announcements from Meridian Systems CEO John Bodrozic and SYSPRO US CEO Brian Stein, followed by these vendors’ customers (Walt Disney and Lee Spring, respectively).

Part 3 analyzed major news coming from UNIT4’s Agresso product line, as presented by Shelley Zapp, CEO of UNIT4 North America, and followed by the company’s higher education customer, Augsburg College.

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Every June over past several years, after the high season for traveling to major vendor events subsides, and before everyone takes their summer vacations, a group of selected enterprise applications analysts have become accustomed to attending the JRocket Marketing Grape Escape(TM) event. “Grape Escape” is a signature event that showcases the intimate analyst relationships (AR) and event expertise that JRocket Marketing’s president and founder Judith Rothrock delivers to her enterprise software vendors’ client base. Read the rest of this entry »

Montreal, QC — April 1, 2010 — Technology Evaluation Centers (TEC), a world-wide leader in enterprise software evaluation, has released a new decision support system for pragmatic decision makers who already know what’s most important for their company: jDICE™ (just Decide—Ignore [Your Idiot] Customers and Employees).

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Here’s an often overlooked factor in ERP software selection, and it’s got nothing to do with ERP functions or features:

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‘Twas the night before selection, and all through the place,
Enterprise software was a decision we faced.
Our requirements are gathered, BPM is all done,
Now all that’s left is a choice; only one! Read the rest of this entry »

This happens either because customers did not want to pay for upgrades or customizations all year long, or vendors simply ignored their clients’ needs and requests. Christmas is the time of year when business software proves what it can really do because it’s used very close to its full potential , when sales and purchases are at a very high level. Read the rest of this entry »

If you haven’t read the blog post ERP Vendors, Are You Green Enough? that I wrote a little over a year ago, I recommend you read it first. After you’ve checked it out, I assume you’ll understand that I used a flawed and extremely simplified approach to “confirm” my impression of the correlation between the size of enterprise resource planning (ERP) vendors and the greenness of their offerings (see below for further explanation). About a year later, I used the same method to go through the same seven ERP vendors I had looked into the last time, and this time my focus was the growth of the green counts. My “conclusion” is that, on average, these ERP vendors have become 71 percent “greener” over the time span of roughly one year. Let me show you some data:

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The joke “If … Made Toasters” (here is one of many variations) has been circulating and evolving on the Web for quite a long time. The first time I read it was at least 10 years ago, but once in a while I still receive it in my inbox. Since we’re always looking for something different, I’m taking the initiative and starting a new topic in a similar pattern—how do people in different regions select software? Read the rest of this entry »