ERP

Is an ERP implementation project just a project?

April 6, 2009

“Software projects are no different from other projects”. This statement is being repeated over and over at project management courses and seminars, even endorsed in books. It’s true that software (and ERP implementation, as a subset of software) projects have many traits in common with projects in other disciplines. But ignoring their specifics is almost [...]

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Liquidity, Cost Accounting and Kitting

March 30, 2009

It’s hardly any news for the lucky 21 countries which have had them by default for about two years, but for other 18 which haven’t, there is an alarmingly low awareness about three interesting NAV functionalities: Liquidity, Cost Accounting and Kitting. These three have been named Local Functionality, which means they are a part of [...]

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5th rule of agile ERP: interface where possible

March 23, 2009

One of the biggest absurdities about ERP systems springs from the very word we use so often when describing ERP: integrated. ERP is an integrated system: it integrates all data and processes into a single application. Different modules look over different aspects of data and processes, but a change in one module automatically reflects in [...]

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4th rule of agile ERP: avoid heavy customizations

March 20, 2009

You can’t avoid customizations. Vanilla ERP is a great first step, and a valuable tool for establishing common language between the customer and the consultant. But in the long run? Probably not. Pristine uncustomized ERP won’t be sufficient, because of the gaps between your way and ERP’s way. Sooner or later, gaps will have to [...]

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3rd rule of agile ERP: focus on value

March 19, 2009

- “We need a report which groups our sales by product components.” – “And we need it broken down by cost centers.” – “And it must show comparison with last month, quarter and year, and with budget and forecast, with indexes and trends. In linear regression.” – “And it must let you choose if it [...]

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2nd rule of agile ERP: deploy gradually

March 18, 2009

How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. Swallowing it all at once might be tempting as it has all the potential you need to get into the next edition of Guinness World Records. Likewise, trying it with an ERP implementation has all the potential you need to get into to the [...]

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1st rule of agile ERP: deploy vanilla ERP

March 17, 2009

“Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery of valuable software.” That’s the very first principle of the Agile Manifesto. The problem with ERP is that the first deliveries are all but early: they typically occur only after about twenty months. Twenty months is a heck of a long time. [...]

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5 steps to implement ERP the Agile way

March 16, 2009

In my previous post I’ve (what, again?) shared some statistics about success and failure rates of software projects in general and ERP projects specifically. It seems that ERP projects fare somewhat worse than generic software projects, which I stated might have a lot to do with how requirements are handled. Agile is an unpopular word [...]

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Is agile ERP implementation possible?

March 12, 2009

Agile has been gaining momentum among software development methodologies for past decade or so. Various researches and surveys consistently show that software developed under an agile approach is generally better than the software developed under waterfall approaches. At the core of any agile approach is an assumption that whatever the requirements might be at the [...]

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Panorama’s ERP Report reveals important facts

March 5, 2009

For a long time, the ruler of project reports was Standish Group’s (in)famous Chaos report, which analyzed IT project success/failure factors. While many of the Chaos report’s findings applied to ERP implementation, the report as a whole was primarily about software development projects. And as we all know, implementing ERP is not the same thing [...]

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Associazione Marittima di Sabioncello

February 19, 2009

A short story about maritime trading, steamboats and Microsoft’s Azure Services Platform in short to mid-term ERP and Microsoft Dynamics NAV perspective This is a story of a business which failed, and it didn’t have to. It had all the capital and resources it needed to grow, it held a solid share in an expanding [...]

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