REPORT
The 2025 Top 10 ERP Systems Report
Our experts have highlighted ten vendors that can help your organization make data-driven decisions.
Learn more
What Do the Recent ERP Failures All Have in Common?
The last several weeks have seen a string of high-profile failures, ranging from mid-size companies such as Lumber Liquidators to large government entities such as the Cities of Portland and San Diego. As we outlined in our Top 10 ERP Predictions for 2011, the rate of...Attention CIOs and IT Managers: Get Ready to Walk the ERP Tightrope in 2011
As outlined in our recent blog Top Ten ERP Predictions for 2011, we predict a few seemingly contradictory forces that will be in play as CIOs and executives grapple with their ERP system initiatives. For example, at the same time we are predicting that ERP project...SAP Implementation Gone Bad: Learning From the Mistakes of Others
Tier I ERP systems are generally more robust, complex, and as a result, more difficult to implement than Tier II counterparts. SAP implementations, in particular, get a bad rap because of the large, high-visibility companies that have tried and failed to implement...Five Benefits of Six Sigma During an ERP Implementation
Six sigma initiatives and ERP systems have both been around for a long time. Companies like Motorola and GE made six sigma part of the business mainstream in the ’80s, while Baan made ERP software equally important at the corporate level in the ’90s. A lot...Five Mistakes That Will Make Your ERP Implementation Feel Like a Bad Horror Movie
I’m a big fan of horror movies, and Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. It’s the time of year where many of us (or our kids) dress up like scary characters and watch scary movies. As much as I love Halloween, slasher movies, and a good scary mask in...ERP Boot Camp: Arm Yourself, Prepare for Battle, and Make Your ERP Implementation Project Successful
Embarking on an ERP implementation can feel like going to battle: the process can be grueling and time consuming, money and jobs are at stake, and the odds are stacked against you. In months past I’ve blogged a lot about ERP failures and we have heard a great...When are ERP Best Practices and Industry Pre-Configurations Good For Your Business?
One of the key reasons that companies implement ERP systems is to incorporate best practices into their business operations. Pre-configured ERP systems for a specific industry can bring embedded business processes, functionality, and configuration to the table. After...Key Reasons Why Only 23% of ERP Implementations Go As Expected
In a recent poll, we asked participants to gauge how their most recent ERP implementation went. Perhaps not surprisingly, only 23% said that it went as expected, with another 12% saying that it went better than expected. On the other hand, 42% said their deployments...Like Football, An ERP Implementation is A Game of Inches, But Where Is The Goal Line?
I’m a huge fan of professional football (American football, that is). Perhaps the thing that fascinates me most about the sport is how much each play matters, and how within each play, every little thing matters. If an offensive lineman protecting the...Where’s my Advil, I Have an ERP Headache!
Grab the Advil! I have a headache. A really big, oversized ERP headache. The Swinging Door of ERP Consultants As a former implementation lead on the client side, I can attest that the practice of replacing consultants at every stage of an ERP implementation was...Five Things to Remember in Your ERP Implementation Plan
If I listen to the hype from some ERP vendors, ERP implementations are a cakewalk. According to these sales messages, pre-configured industry solutions, data conversion tools, and generic training materials allow a company to have their ERP software up and running in...Break on Through to the Other Side: Moving Beyond ERP “Go-Live” to Competitive Edge and ROI
We are often asked by clients why our estimates for ERP implementation durations differ so much from what they hear from sales reps. While ERP vendors can usually provide anecdotal examples of customers that have implemented ERP software in a very short time span or...Canary in a Coal Mine: 13 Signs That Your ERP Implementation Project May Be in Trouble
I’m a big fan of ’80s rock. I am also guilty of quoting more than my share of classic rock songs in my blog. So when I heard “Canary in a Coal Mine” by The Police on the radio the other day, I instantly thought about ERP projects. The song...When Preparing for an ERP Implementation, Remember to Have Your Vitals Checked and Your Anesthesiologist Ready
Many companies look at an ERP implementation as just another IT project. “Get the software in and make it work” executives say, “it’s not surgery!” It actually is more like surgery than they may think. If the process is a failure, there is a very good chance that this...Accelerating ERP Implementations
Accelerating ERP implementations have been an elusive goal of ERP vendors, implementation partners, and customers. For five years I worked for the #2 business software developer focusing on accelerating implementations. During those five years I chased the dream and...Winning is Everything: Five Lessons from a Successful ERP Implementation
A few weeks back, we highlighted some of the lessons shared by one of our clients that had recently engaged in an ERP selection and implementation process. In the podcast interview, this particular client shared several lessons learned from the selection process. In...Get a FREE Evaluation of Your ERP System
So when you implement an ERP system, what do you expect from it? To improve your business performance? To make your employees’ jobs easier? During our research, we have found that, besides business or process improvements, some companies implement ERP at the request...The Mother of ERP Implementations
Ever Thought You Might Need Another Mother? When you select a ERP consulting company to manage your ERP implementation, they should essentially become the mother to your enterprise software. Like mom, they are your allies. They represent you, stand by you, become the...Generating Business to IT Alignment for a Successful ERP Implementation
An ERP implementation is the implementation of a business solution. In order to be effective there must be alignment between business and their IT partners (internal IT organization, implementation partners, etc.). Collaboration is a key enabler for alignment....
