Use Information to Empower and Satisfy

Software-enabled business processes can become too rigid and restrict a company's ability to do the right thing for customers. Here's interesting use of software analytics and business logic to empower the workforce to increase customers satisfaction levels. ...

... "Many calls are not resolved first time because the person who answers the phone is not authorized to do something – refund something or expedite it. Yet, all too often the data required to make the decision is available at that point. The status of the order, the customer and pricing rules are all known. " ...

Via B-EYE: Customer Decisions

End-to-End Process Design: ERP Implementation Approach

Ergon Energy implements ERP to replace collection of legacy systems, leveraging new business process design. ...

... "We started off with business processes and designed 19 new end-to-end processes that would conduct all the business transactions within the footprint of the ERP. " ...

Via Australian IT: Utility Industry ERP Implementation

SAP Users: ITIL Opportunity ...

Companies using SAP's ERP system have gaps in IT service management as defined by the ITIL standards. Referenced checklist is a source for self-assessment to identify strengths and weaknesses. ...

... "Of course, designing IT processes that conform to the ITIL can improve the quality of services only when it actually optimizes and reorganizes the IT service processes in a company. " ...

Via SAP INFO: Green Flag for ITIL?

Business IT Projects: ERP Implementations ...

Article summarizes key elements of successful ERP projects: committment, speed, scope management, empowerment, phased implementation with quick wins, data cleansing and standards, education and training. ...

... "So it is now perfectly possible to turn what might well once have been an unrewarding slog (likely to end in failure) into a structured project with manageable milestones and relatively quick wins for the business along the way. " ...

Via SciTech Today: Toward Better ERP Implementations

ERP Justification: Is it Worth it?

There's a discussion on IT Toolbox about the benefits and disadvantages of ERP solutions that is worth examining.

Some key points this jogged for me (and a few I've added) are:

• ERP improves enterprise visibility, collaboration, and integration. That's the chief selling point of ERP. If that's what your organization needs, ERP sounds like the right solution.
  
• ERP does NOT typically improve individual efficiencies, and should not be sold as such. It's important to set the right expectations up front on just what an ERP system will offer the company and what it will not offer most individuals.
  
• ERP can help achieve cost reduction IF it's replacing many manual steps.
  
• It's not a bad idea to offer SOME predetermined set of key pet reports to decrease resistance. Aside from that, scope should be kept tight.
  
• It's important to have someone running the ERP project with the clout to say no when everyone wants to retain their current way of working (getting past the "I've always done it that way" syndrome).
  
• It's important to ask: Does the company want and need to operate as an enterprise? In most cases, the answer is yes.

However, until the organization reaches "enterprise maturity," chances are it won't realize the full benefits of ERP. On the other hand, an ERP system can help facilitate an organization's maturity in that direction, if that's where they choose to go.

Just some food for thought. I'd be interested in others' experiences and thoughts on the topic.

ERP benefits and disadvantages - ITtoolbox Groups

Earned Value Management Trends, Best Practices, and Pitfalls

A few weeks ago, I commented on Part 1 of a three-part series on Earned Value Management on Projects@Work.

While Part 1 set the stage and illustrated some of the challenges of EVM, Part 2 of this excellent series offers some excellent case studies and learnings.

For instance, the US government agency, OPM (Office of Personnel Management) cites the following critical success factors:

- Continuous executive sponsorship (not just up front)
- Committment to funding for adequate tools and training
- Adequate allocation of project managers' time to manage using this system
- Piloting EVM in a small group of projects to illustrate success and fine tune the details
- Not underestimating the culture change management required, involving employees, managers, and timekeepers. Regularly maintained training and job aids are critical.

Another organization, Inter-Coastal Electronics, cites having shallow, simple WBS templates in their ERP system as a key success factor. They claim that a WBS that's too granular becomes too difficult to manage. I couldn't agree more.

I highly recommend this series to anyone attempting to introduce Earned Value Management in their organizations.

http://www.projectsatwork.com/content/Articles/230753.cfm

ERP Project: Keep Eye on Details ...

Firm publishes report on approach to challenging ERP business transformation projects. Current marketplace conditions are impacting the quality of ERP implementation talent even in the context of a strong methodology. This requires the client company to pay close attention to the project details. Be on the look-out for: Lack of transparency, limited bottoms-up planning to complement the top-down methodology, no iterim integrations with legacy systems to bridge gaps during the implementation, and missing current state analysis.

... "Based on its work helping numerous companies pull errant ERP projects back on course, DiamondCluster has identified circumstances that endanger projects and offers specific steps that can keep companies moving in the right direction. " ...

ERP Project: Keep Eye on Details: Via DiamondCluster: Red Flags Can Signal That ERP Integrators Are Off Course According to New DiamondCluster Report: Studies Show Many ERP Projects Still Run Significantly Over Budget and Behind Schedule. New DiamondCluster Report Explains Why and Offers Advice to Keep Efforts on Track ...

SAP CRM Projects: Barriers Acknowledged by SAP ...

In this article, SAP leader shares lessons-learned with SAP CRM implementation: the closer you get to the customer, the more different the requirements ... CRM software needs flexibility at the customer interface ... enterprise offerings are not flexible ... without early wins in the sales force and front-office, the workforce satisfies its requirements with other tools. ...

... "For many SAP customers, CRM adoption was scheduled in the second and third phases of an ERP project and by that time, customers were either worn out or not willing to undergo system disruptions ... " ...

SAP CRM Pojects: Barriers Acknowledged by SAP: Via SearchSAP: SAP acknowledges barrier to mySAP CRM implementations

SAP ERP NE Benefit Realization

Does SAP ERP equal benefits realization? Not according to study ready for imminent release. Don't remember showing that negative NPV at the governance meeting? Neither do I.

Realizing benefits from ERP projects is a challenge by itself, regardless of the vendor. With SAP's dominance in the industry, you would have expected it to be the pacesetter in realizing the meximum benefits from ERP implementations.

Does IT matter? It matters if you want to derive business benefits from your ERP investment. ...

... "It's a study by Nucleus Research, an independent reseach house that specializes in helping companies assess the financial returns on IT investments. The headline of the Nucleus Research study is a bit different than SAP's advertising tagline: SAP customers are 20% less profitable than their peers. " ...

Via Rough Type: Nicholas Carr's Blog: Does SAP sap profits?

IT Strategy Dream Job ...

Finally found my dream job ... SAP IT Strategy, Beer ... Only problem, it's complete. ... Andrea Stercken writes about the ERP modernization program at Krombacher Brewery, where the SAP suite was implemented to centralize systems and serve a broad set of standard business processes with transaction processing and business intelligence. ...

... "The brewers from Germany’s Siegerland have taken an important step along the way to their IT strategy with the new applications. At the end of 2005, Krombacher completed the conversion from SAP R/3 to mySAP ERP. " ...

IT Strategy Dream Job: Via SAPInfo: SAP in the Brewery ...

Business Process Governance: Setting Priorities ...

The convergence of benefits realization from ERP implementations and the drive towards operational excellence have placed IT at the epicenter of business process transformation. Good governance can ensure the leadership committment and focus necessary to achieve real change. Andrew Rowsell-Jones, Gartner, extends the approach for IT governance to the enterprise decisions necessary to drive enterprise transformation. ...

... "Process governance can be defined using the same tools for defining IT governance - but extended to include decisions about process priorities. These additions include the principles used to govern decisions about processes, and benefits realization, where C-level executives and at least one other business group, plus the CIO, have to call the shots. " ...

Business Process Governance: Setting Priorities: Via CIO: Change Is the Name of the Game ...

ERP Projects: Do Not Assume ...

With so much at stake with ERP projects, be careful about the assumptions you make. Les Johnson explores the assumptions that need better clarification and shared understanding before undertaking IT projects. ...

... "These words came back to me recently as I reflected on our ERP project delays and realized how many assumptions my team had made along the way. Assumption 1: That despite signs to the contrary, we could carry on according to the plan. " ...

ERP Projects: Do Not Assume: Via SearchCIO: When CIOs assume, they make...trouble?

Project Portfolio Management PPM: Service Providers ...

Professional service firms require project portfolio management (PPM) software that is comprehensive and integrated. The major ERP firms are delivering enterprise services automation modules. Neil Stolovitsky explores the special needs of the professional service organization. ...

... "PSOs want complete PPM solutions that address their business as a whole. For service organizations, efficiently capturing time, billing, and expense data is a key component to bridging projects and operations. " ...

Project Portfolio Management PPM: Service Providers: Via Tech Eval Centers: Project Portfolio Management for Service Organizations: Bridging the Gap between Project Management and Operations

Additional resources on project portfolio management for professional services:

Primavera Receives Strong Positive Rating in Analyst Firm's 2005 PPM for Professional Services Marketscope, Primavera, Project and Portfolio Management: "Primavera Systems, Inc., announced that Gartner has rated the company Strong Positive in its report, MarketScope: Project and Portfolio Management (PPM) for Professional Services, 2005, dated June 22, 2005 by Matt Light, Daniel B. Stang and Nicole S. Latimer-Livingston. According to Gartner, a company designated as Strong Positive is a solid provider of strategic products, services or solutions. Current customers should continue investments, while potential customers should consider this vendor a strong strategic choice. "

Via Tenrox: PSA software Professional Services Automation Solution: "Tenrox PSA software is a modular solution to automate project opportunity management, project initiation, workforce planning, time and expense reporting, project accounting, billing, invoicing, and executive dashboards"

Via Epicor Software: Epicor for Professional Enterprises: "Epicor is well positioned to face these challenges with you by delivering an intuitive and comprehensive enterprise service automation (ESA) application, Epicor for Service Enterprises. More than just professional services automation (PSA), it manages and streamlines virtually every aspect of your service organization - from bid management to engagement delivery and resource management to project accounting, portfolio management and beyond - all within a single solution. "

ERP Project: Benefit Opportunity Analysis

Nice example of opportunity analysis used to define benefits of an ERP project, ahead of vendor selection. ...

... "Among other benefits, the opportunity analysis process resulted in a series of easily measured KPIs (key performance indicators). For example, building error-checking tools into the data entry system would increase accuracy from 95 percent to 99 percent, reducing billing mistakes. " ...

ERP Project: Benefit Opportunity Analysis: Via CIO Today: Proving Your Project's Worth - Infrastructure ...

SAP Project Management Strategy: Public Education Industry ...

One of the keys to SAP / ERP implementation success is to develop a repeatable project strategy and build on that for future implementations of modules and feature/function points. Demir Barlas profiles a successful SAP project and change management strategy in the public education space, by Orange County Public Schools system. ...

SAP Project Management Strategy: Public Education Industry: Via Line56.com: SAP Education Benefits ...

... "The important factor going forward is that OCPS has already worked out a change and project management strategy that is in place for its upcoming functionality expansion. " ...

SAP has a history of delivering successful ERP solutions in public education. ...

Via SAP: Public Schools Improve Operations with SAP® E-Solutions: Intranet Resource Frees Teacher and Administrator Time for Better Education of Students ...

... "SAP Public Services Inc., a subsidiary of SAP America, Inc., which is itself a subsidiary of SAP AG (NYSE ADR: SAP), showcases the successful implementation of three K-12 customers that have selected SAP e-solutions to manage budgets, track student and employee records, and streamline district operations. Seattle School District No. 1, Oklahoma City School District, and Polk County Public Schools (FL), each chose a comprehensive SAP solution to more efficiently, transparently, and cost-effectively operate and manage their respective districts. SAP is the world's leading provider of e-business software solutions. " ...

SAP R/3 ERP Customers Have a Tough Decision to Make

From eWeek comes interesting news that many customers of SAP's R/3 4.6c are going to soon be stuck without maintenance support (by the end of 2006). Their choices seems to be paying a fortune for a new release that doesn't bring much in the way of functionality, moving to SAP's next generation platforms, or taking the opportunity to jump ship.

A leading alternate contender seems to be Oracle, whose waiting-in-the-wings Project Fusion suite (which combines the best of PeopleSoft, JD Edwards, Siebel, and Oracle's E-Business) could make organizations want to wait and see.

I'd add that others will probably use the opportunity to revisit hosted solutions, which can decrease infrastructure complexity (even if cost benefits are minimal).

Here's the report below...

R/3 Orphans-to-Be Contemplating Jumping Ship

SAP Project Fiasco Halted in Ireland after $170M over budget

Talk about a project management disaster! Computerworld reports that two SAP ERP projects for the Irish government, estimated at more that $380 million were halted by the Irish national health committee.

One project, an HR/Payroll project, had been started 10 years ago (it was targeted as a 3 year project) and ran into problems due to the complexities of the requirements. This project was budgeted at $10 million and was now targeted at $180 million.

The other was a Financial Systems SAP project (budgeted at $203 million), which wasn't as far along, but was apparently cancelled due to lack of trust after the HR/Payroll fiasco.

Both projects were being led by Deloitte and Touche. Here's the full report from Computerworld...

Irish agency halts work on two SAP application projects - Computerworld

ERP Projects; The Good, the Bad, and The Ugly

Want to know whether an ERP system can really help your business? When the payback will be and how much? What the hidden costs are? And, most importantly, why so many ERP projects fail?

Look no further than this excellent brief from CIO Magazine on the ABCs of ERP, where the pros and cons of ERP implementations are discussed in a concise, easy-to-read manner.

The ABCs of ERP - ERP Resource Center - CIO

Project Management Belongs In-House

It started with the ERP boom after Y2K. Massive software projects, such as SAP implementations, were led by consultants and typically came in over budget and behind schedule. While consultants can and should be a vital part of any project that involves new technology or unfamiliar areas, it's important for organizations to retain ownership of the overall project and not leave everything at the mercy of the consulting company.

Part of that is insuring that contracts are creatively designed with a combination of time and materials plus incentives (and/or penalties for not delivering on certain tangible objectives). Fixed-fee contracts only tend to work when the scope can be defined precisely and agreed upon. Otherwise, the consulting company may make unwanted sacrifices to stay within budget. Time and materials without any incentives or penalties (or at least a "not to exceed" limit) puts all the risk on your organization. Incentives work better than penalties as it facilitates more positive collaboration. Vendors will be reluctant to accept penalties unless scope and the means to achieve it is crystal clear.

This doesn't mean that pride should get in the way of benefiting from a consulting company's tried and true methodology, merely that the leadership, ownership, and accountability of the efforts should remain in-house. Part of this accountability is insuring the right contracts are negotiated.

This oldie-but-goodie below from CIO Magazine is from 2002, but is still relevant today. It explores further the pitfalls of consultant-led projects and offers some sage advise. Some things have changed since 2002, but one thing hasn't. Suffering from the residue, organizations are still struggling to get value out of their expensive ERP products. Don't make the same mistakes they did back at the beginning of the millenium. Take control of your projects.

Take Control Consultants-can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em - ENTERPRISE PROJECTS - CIO Magazine Jul 15,2002

Project Management ERP Integration: End-to-End Business Process

Project management tools provide an environment for project planning, scheduling, and tracking. Integration of project management tools with ERP and financial systems creates a powerful end-to-end business process for enterprise program management. Actual progress can meet actual costs in a hands-free manner for better visibility and decision making. Integrating systems is challenging business. Here is an interesting reference on third party middleware for project management and ERP integration ...

Via Impress Software: NB Power Goes Live with Impress Project Integration Application: Implementation of Impress Project I.App™ completed in record time to integrate Primavera® Project Management software with SAP® PLM Application ...

... "Project I.App integrates the business processes of project planning and enterprise resource planning (ERP) that would otherwise run independently of each other. Ensuring project data is consistent across all systems at all times, Project I.App eliminates the need for duplicate data entry and the risk of mismatched schedules and resources. Project I.App is a pre-packaged, out-of-the-box Integration Application that links SAP with major project scheduling and management products, such as Primavera, Microsoft Project, and TrackSoftware.NET. Accessible via a standard web interface, Project I.App includes a set-up wizard that is easy to use and administer and requires no programming knowledge. Project I.App was jointly developed by SAP and IMPRESS and is supported through SAP OSS. " ...

Impress Software provides packaged enterprise integration applications for SAP customers. Called I.Apps™, these applications enable quick and cost-effective deployment of streamlined business processes across multiple enterprise systems. Impress I.Apps are ready-made combinations of pre-defined integration elements. Coupled with tools that enable flexible implementation of custom and specific integration scenarios, Impress I.Apps allow integration to be completed at a fraction of the time and cost compared to traditional EAI development platforms. Impress customers include global leaders such as Bayer, DuPont, Halliburton, Nebraska Public Power District, Ontario Power Generation, Valero, and Total.

Integrated Solution vs. Best-of-Breed Software - Study finds ERP no panacea

Check out this interesting study of ERP vs. Best-of-Breed software. While the study focuses on supply chain software, the same issues apply to software in general.

Although we're in a consolidating market, this study (the most comprehensive of its kind) shows that Best-of-Breed still rates substantially higher in terms of value and quality, and that "integration" issues are sometimes overblown. Of course, in some application areas, integration issues can still come back to haunt you, so proceed cautiously.

They key is to determine who owns the integration. If one vendor commits to full ownership of all aspects of the integration, or you can support the integration in-house, it may be less of an issue.

Groundbreaking Research on ERP vs Best-of-Breed Supply Chain Software Finds Flawed Corporate Decisions Processes, Users Looking for Improvements from Both Types of Vendors

For more help on selecting Best-of-Breed vs. an integrated solution, see this excellent writeup.