Panorama Consulting

There are thousands of ERP consultants across the globe angling for contracts. ERP consultants can help you find the best ERP software solution for your company. We outline 3 traps to avoid when choosing an ERP consultant.

Purchasers of ERP software are more inclined to spend millions of dollars on new enterprise software knowing that others have spent countless years developing those best practices, yet industry focus doesn’t always matter. Given this contradiction, the consolidation of ERP vendors begs an important question: how relevant is it for ERP software to focus on a specific industry?

Much has been said about the demise of American manufacturing. There is a general sense that manufacturing jobs are being moved overseas to China, India, and other developing markets, yet from what we can tell, US companies and other developed multi-national corporations are still looking for ways to leverage ERP systems. Will these top rated ERP software solutions save American manufacturing? Read on to find out.

Our clients commonly complain that their legacy processes and software are so outdated that they aren’t able to meet basic business requirements, which leads them down the path of evaluating potential new ERP systems. However, as you dig deeper into these and other pain points of legacy systems, we often find that the real issue relates to operational scalability.

At the beginning of an ERP implementation, no one involved wants or expects to get caught up in a lawsuit. Despite the fact that, according to our 2013 ERP Report, most ERP implementations take longer than expected, cost more than expected, and fail to deliver expected business benefits, most organizations commence their projects with the best of intentions. Other than the occasional CIO or CFO who is afraid of losing his or her job, not many are thinking about ERP failure this early in the project.

Executive buy-in and support is one of the key success factors for any ERP implementation. Without it, your ERP project has very little chance of success. With it, your initiative has the ability to completely transform your business.

According to a recent poll by Panorama, easing the burden on employees is one of the key reasons why organizations across the globe implement ERP systems. But what is the benefit of making an employee’s job easier to the company? One word: productivity.

ERP systems that provide multiple ways of analyzing and presenting data are more likely to evolve with an organization as its needs evolve. In addition, they help organizations adapt to the power of available information as it is collected over time. Organizations also need to look for flexibility in terms of how data is delivered (e.g., traditional reports, executive dashboards, mobile applications, etc.).

One of the key benefits of software as a service (SaaS) and cloud ERP systems is that the technological deployment of the software can be easier than traditional, on-premise implementations. Easier access to the software, less need for an expensive IT infrastructure, and easier maintenance and upgrades are common reasons cited by executives and CIOs that choose cloud-based solutions for their organizations’ ERP implementations.

When most organizations consider the risk and cost of an ERP failure, they typically think about relatively smaller-scale risks. But while large companies implementing an ERP system may not need to worry about losing $440 million in 30 seconds as a result of their ERP failures, they do need to remember that budgetary overruns and lost business benefits alone can easily carry a multi-million-dollar price tag. Looking at Knight Capital’s dramatic ERP failure, it becomes clear that organizations that don’t effectively handle their ERP implementations can (and often do) end up paying a price almost beyond comprehension.

Over the past 15 years, I have seen my share of successful ERP implementations. The Panorama team and I have successfully managed a number of complex implementations over the years — ranging from SAP to Oracle E-Business Suite, to Microsoft Dynamics to Tier II ERP implementations — and have the battle scars to show for it. In addition to managing implementations, we’ve also been called upon to provide expert witness testimony and analysis for some of the highest-profile ERP and SAP failures in the industry, many of which you’ve probably heard or read about in recent years.

When it comes to ERP systems, the word “customization” is one of the most dreaded terms that an executive hears. In fact, I would estimate that at least 90-percent of Panorama’s ERP selection clients indicate a strong preference for zero or no customization. In other words, most CIOs and CFOs want to use the system out of the box without making any changes to the software code. There will always be configuration and personalization, which every ERP implementation requires, but when it comes to heavy-duty changes to the software, most executives don’t want to hear about it.

Cloud ERP systems are getting a lot of attention these days. SaaS ERP vendors – such as Salesforce, Workday, Plex Systems and NetSuite – and other cloud providers are demonstrating revenue growth that most traditional ERP vendors aren’t seeing. In addition, many industry pundits already have their epitaphs prepared for the allegedly inevitable death of traditional ERP software as we know it.

While many companies fail in their attempts to successfully implement their ERP systems, with reasons ranging from weak project management to a lack of focus.on organizational change management, a Sage study suggests that there are reasons to be optimistic.

You come across it all the time. You read it on the ERP vendor websites, you hear it from ERP software sales reps, and you see it in proposals: “Don’t worry about business process reengineering – our ERP software will tell you how your processes should work.”

It’s been a long time since ERP systems started becoming too complex, too costly and too risky for implementing organizations. While ERP failure rates are alarmingly high, data still suggests that the commoditization of ERP systems is occurring and SaaS tools are constantly emerging.

CFOs and CIOs of most organizations begin their ERP implementations with the expectations that their businesses will be transformed along the way. Using the power and flexibility of ERP systems such as SAP, Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics and Tier II ERP software, executives expect material cost improvements to their supply chains, more effective interactions with their customers, and better visibility to operational information.

ERP implementations more often than not run counter-intuitive to lean concepts. While lean and Six Sigma cultures focus on reducing waste and non-value-add activities, most ERP implementations are bloated with inefficiencies and cost overruns. Here's an overview of lean ERP and how you can successfully implement a lean model.