As is happening with almost everything in business, COVID-19 is having an impact on ERP software systems and digital transformation projects generally – particularly with respect to an interruption or delay in software implementation projects. Some companies are postponing their implementation or drastically reducing the scope of their implementations.) While halting or postponing an implementation…
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…
The list of ERP software system train wrecks is legendary – and growing. Hardly a month passes without news appearing of another lawsuit being filed against a vendor or integrator by a customer who claims they wasted tens of millions of dollars – sometimes hundreds of millions – only to discover than an upgrade or…
Much of the business world has been focusing on ensuring it is compliant with California’s tough Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) that took effect January 1, 2020. But far less attention has been paid to a second law enacted by the state legislature that came into force at the same time regulating the data security of…
Over the years, we have written quite a bit about the many “train wrecks” that seem to plague a disturbing number of ERP software systems. We also have litigated many of these disputes on behalf of companies whose system did not meet the promises made by software vendors or integrators during the software sales process.…
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…
The general counsel at any sized company knows how to draft everything from employment contracts and leases to complicated sales agreements. But few are familiar with what Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software systems actually do let alone the traps lurking in these types of contracts. This isn’t surprising given that the lifespan of most ERP…
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…