As SAP and some other vendors are forcing users of ERP software systems into the vendor’s proprietary cloud, a significant percentage of the world’s Chief Information Officers are concerned about the security of the data being stored there That’s one of the main takeaways from a survey conducted by KMPG and Oracle that was released…
These are thoroughly disturbing statistics that should make every ERP user shudder: A survey of more than 400 IT professionals conducted by Onapsis Research Labs found that 64-percent of ERP software systems suffered a data breach in the past two years. Onapsis reported that 90-percent of SAP’s ERP software systems remain vulnerable to a nasty…
It seems that a growing number of companies are coming to us to negotiate and draft contracts for an upgraded ERP software system. As part of understanding what we need to include in the contract, we ask the company’s CEO, COO, CTO or General Counsel why they are making the upgrade. Frequently, the answer revolves…
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…
Over the years, we’ve documented numerous cases of the failures of ERP software systems and other digital transformations; in some of them, we litigated the dispute on behalf of a client. In many instances, the blow-up resulted from a combination of factors where everything that could go wrong did go wrong. Some of the failures…
When an ERP software system implementation fails, sometimes it’s because the vendor told a potential buyer that its round peg would fit into the user’s square hole in order to make the sale. But maybe even more often, the failure is because the integrator either did not fully understand the user’s industry or business, the…
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…
Roseanne Roseannadanna, a popular character in the early years of Saturday Night Live, had a catch phrase, “If it’s not one thing, it’s another!” This seems to describe what happened with National Grid USA’s ERP software system integration and why Wipro recently settled a lawsuit National Grid (NGUSA) filed against it for $75-million. It appears…
Keeping the installation and launch of an ERP software system on track is a tough, complicated process. There are lots of ways an ERP software implementation project can be derailed, as I’ve written about numerous times at this blog and elsewhere. One of the ways to help keep the implementation moving ahead smoothly is for…
Far too many ERP implementations go off track, ending up in court. While many of the disputes could be avoided if vendors and their sales people didn’t promise the Earth, the sun, and the Moon to users to make a sale, the fact is this happens. When digital transformations fail, users expect to be compensated…