Tech companies are notorious for believing that the solutions they propose to a potential user’s pain point are the best answer anyone ever thought of. Especially when it comes to ERP software systems, too often many developers, vendors and integrators ignore or overlook the reality that the technology they sell is actually a business solution,…
There is no question that for many users of ERP software systems, a cloud-based solution can provide cost savings in everything from reducing the need for acquiring and maintaining on-site hardware to making backup and disaster recovery simpler and easier. The rising popularity of the cloud by businesses generally coupled with things such as SAP…
We often write about the mounting number of failed digital transformations, especially those involving an ERP software system. More often than not, the underlying cause of the failures involve either the vendor or integrator biting off more than they can chew. They misrepresent the capability of their ERP system or their experience at integrating a…
After retiring from a wildly successful career running Ford and then saving Chrysler from bankruptcy, Lee Iacocca was asked by an interviewer how American automakers could have allowed their globally dominant position in the market to be eroded by foreign car companies. Iacocca replied, “There is nothing more vulnerable than entrenched success.” It’s not just…
Corporate financial wizards are expert at creating realistic expense budgets that project exactly how much will be spent on everything from paper clips to building a new facility and expanding into new markets. But even the best MBA analysts from the best grad schools have trouble accurately budgeting the cost and time for an SAP…
In mid-May 2019, I spoke at a two-day conference on avoiding problems with SAP S/4HANA ERP software , integration and implementation projects. Many users run into the same kind of problems with their SAP S/4Hana software implementation. As an ERP attorney whose career includes working on the vendor side of ERP as well as negotiating…
For organizations thinking of upgrading a legacy ERP software system or implementing one for the first time, it is always useful to take a detailed, analytical look at what is happening in the world of digital transformation – both qualitatively and quantitively. As an attorney who negotiates and drafts ERP contracts and represents clients in…
If a graduate business school at a major university ever wants to write a case study on how not to do ERP, they need look no further than U.S. National Grid Co.’s series of decisions surrounding its buying, implementing and launching an SAP program for its power generating and distribution operation. It did nearly everything…
After allowing its ERP customers to plug third party software into SAP’s software for a number of years without saying so much as “boo,” the German company is cracking down. It just announced a series of significant pricing changes for its ERP software system licenses because, the company claims, its per-user model never anticipated a…
Although an “amicable settlement” was reached nearly a year ago, news of the agreement between Anheuser-Busch and SAP did not slip out until the brewer published its annual report in late May. At stake was some $600-million in damages SAP was seeking, claiming that the huge American brewer allegedly made unauthorized use of some applications…