ERP on Tablet PCs

ERP on Tablet PCs is Now!

ERP on Tablet PCs is here now. Earlier we did an article on ERP on the iPad. With the amazing pace of technology, people can now use mobile platforms for accessing their corporate data. For some people, the iPad is a great tool, but others may have different views on using the iPad. Now there is an alternative. Small form factor Tablet PCs are available. Some of these are Windows-based and others are Android OS-based.

Imagine being a salesperson on the road and being able to review a customer account before the big meeting right from your car. Or during the meeting, being able to check stock on a particular item for the client right in their office! These are now completely realistic scenarios. Allowing the ERP on Tablet PCs to be a reality today.

Of course, it will have to gain support of the IT departments who are holding security as one of the highest priorities. Issues such as security will need to be addressed on a company-by-company basis to ensure that the corporate data is still well protected. But many companies are providing this data already on a web enabled portal, which would be perfect for ERP on a Tablet PC scenario.

We are seeing a lot of iPhone and Android apps being made for the phones, but these apps will also run ERP on Table PCs as well. So within a few years we should see a lot more of these apps available from all the major ERP vendors.

Here is a video review of the ViewSonic ViewPad 7 that will give you an idea of how powerful these technologies are now and it will give you an idea of how you will soon see ERP on the Tablet PCs.

ERP on Tablet PCs – ViewSonic Video Review

Click on the video to find out more information.

ERP on Tablet PCs

File as: ERP on Tablet PCs

Your 7 Step Guide to ERP Failure

So you want an ERP failure and you want it to be of epic proportions?  Okay, here are your top ways to assure you go down in flames in the most spectacular way.

Key things to ensure ERP Failure

1. Select the Software at face value based on the Vendor’s Promises.  In fact, the best thing you can do is to buy the software right there at the trade show.

2. Don’t even consider the business processes.  Fully adopt the software the way it works out of the box. Process ERP Failure.

3. Only include the users at the last minute and then for minimal training.  Use Mushroom Management to keep the users at bay. People ERP Failure.

ERP Failure
4. Pick an ERP Software on an operating platform to which IT has no knowledge. For example select an ERP running on Unix and put it into a Windows environment. Technical ERP Failure.

5. Keep executive level management out of the process and out of the project.  Use upward mushroom management** with executives about the status of the project.  Avoid their support at all costs.  

6. Avoid data cleanup.  In fact, push the data over to the new system with no review.   Forget any field type changes or consideration of system differences.

7. Only use the standard reports.  Those are good enough for your users.

**Mushroom management: noun, a method of “keeping them in the dark and feeding them lots of Sh!&”

 

Congratulations you are now on a path to ERP Hell!  Enjoy the ride.

Avoiding ERP Failure

In all seriousness, here are some resources to help you in you avoid ERP Failure:

Why New Systems Fail: An Insider’s Guide to Successful IT ProjectsERP Failure

ERP Software Selection Tools

ERP Project Management Articles

Project Manager Templates

ERP Implementation Articles

ERP Failure

Video: ERP Channel Partners – Can they Survive the Cloud?

ERP Channel Partners – Can they Survive the Cloud?

Don Fornes, CEO of our partner Software Advice, interviewed Microsoft’s Director of ERP Marketing, Guy Weismantel, about the latest updates to the Microsoft Dynamics ERP product line. The topic of discussion turned to ERP Channel Partners and how the cloud computing era will affect them.

Mr. Weismantel talks about how Microsoft ERP Channel Partners can adjust to the new marketplace where there is now hardware or software to install or maintain. Cloud computing brings a new way of doing business. Traditional resellers and implementors make money on both the licenses of the software, the hardware provided, and the service to install and configure the systems. But additionally, they should be making money from the value added services such as crafting the best solution for the client and providing an upsell opportunity. This is the area that will need to expand for these ERP Channel Partners to survive.

This is the third in a series of 7 videos that we will be posting.

How Can ERP Channel Partners Survive in the Cloud Era?

Microsoft ERP Channel Partners

Getting More Microsoft Dynamics Information

If you are interested in exploring Microsoft AX 2012 for your company, please select one of the two links below:

For information on other ERP software products, please see our ERP Software Directory for many more vendors.

ERP Channel Partners

For information on the Microsoft ERP Channel Partner Program, please see http://partner.microsoft.com
ERP Channel Partners

ERP Software automates renewal management.

ERP Software automates renewal management.
NetSuite Software Company Edition serves software companies that need to manage array of varying revenue models, including complex processes for supporting recurring revenue management streams. It brings automation and real-time visibility to management of renewals, billing, and contract management. In addition to unifying these processes, software delivers uplift and discount management as well …

Read more on ThomasNet

ERP investments to slow in 2011

According to analyst group Forrester, ERP investments will continue to slow in 2011, despite growth in IT spending. Almost three quarters of those surveyed said that they would not be investing in ERP this year. That is troublesome for the industry and even ERP giants such as Oracle are being conservative this year.

You can read the full article here.

We would like to see what your plans are, please comment on this article and let us know if you are seeing any ERP investments in your company.

Total ERP software demo


Total ERP have a demo video which can be downloaded from their web site, but it is 35Mb and is an executable file which may can concern untrusting users. The codec used is also not conventional, so really they’ve not done themselves any favours if they want people to watch it.

Find more out about ERP Software.

Adding Value to your ERP Requirements

ERP Requirements Refinement

When you start a system selection, you first need to determine which business process are the “value add” processes. In other words, which processes in the business add to the value of the service or product you are providing to the market. The customer is only willing to pay for those activities that help you produce, ensure quality, or account for your product or service. All other activities are waste.
ERP Requirements

When defining your ERP requirements, you need to be cognizant of these “value add” activities. These are the activities that should be captured in your requirements. Non-value-add activities should not be included in your ERP requirements. These do not produce results that create additional value to the product/service and these are only distractions when it comes down to the actual implementation.

ERP Requirements and Lean

All of this comes from Lean Manufacturing or the Toyota Production method. Essentially, as stated above, you want to eliminate “Muda” or waste in the process. Many firms have successfully implemented this in their manufacturing processes, but a smaller group have implemented this Lean system in their business office processes.

Consider this example. When defining your ERP Requirements you determine that there is an accounting process that has people spending 2 man days per month reconciling the cost of keeping track of the tools used in manufacturing. Does this process add any value to the actual production of the product? Possibly, but it sounds like this process can be reworked and possibly using the new ERP system you can eliminate this process and drive the data down to the actual transactions on the shop floor. You don’t need accountants researching the transactions. What you might need is a system that tracks the tools and their usage as part of the production process and can give a report on what these transactions cost. These transaction costs can then be factored into the pricing of the product, without the overhead of 2 man days of reconciliation.

The time when you are defining your new ERP Requirements is the perfect time to start looking critically at your processes and keying in on what brings value to the process. Then you can design your new system (both process and software) around those items that bring value to not only the customer but also the bottom line.

Lean Thinking: Banish Waste and Create Wealth in Your Corporation, Revised and Updated

Mapping your ERP requirements

When you are cataloging all of your ERP Requirements, you should write down all of your requirements (perhaps on a spreadsheet) and then give them an identifying number (such as R1, R2, R3, etc.) You can then evaluate each of these requirements with the business team to determine if the requirement is one that you want to carry forward into your deliverable of requirements that will be provided to the ERP software vendors. There is an excellent article on how to do this mapping, by author Brett Beaubouef, that describes this process.

He advocates that “Starting with the desired business results ensures that we drive to only those requirements that directly support true business value. First, it is an exercise that really puts into perspective the purpose of a business model (results). This exercise is not only useful to the project team but also the business stakeholders. Second, it is an approach that can help you justify why certain existing business activities are not being carried forward in the new business solution. Third, taking a business results oriented approach enables your project team to be more successful at focusing on the right business requirements and not wasting time on capturing requirements for non-value-add activities.

Another useful article that you may want to examine is the article 7 Ways to Fail in an ERP Selection

Keep in mind that some ERP Requirements that you identify may not seem valuable at first, but you need to review these requirements with the functional user team to ensure that key processes are not eliminated by mistake. There may be requirements that are a requirement because of a legal concern or perhaps a health and safety issue.

In the end, if you have successfully mapped out your business processes and defined these in your ERP Requirement list, then you will be a lot closer to selecting a system that actually functions in a way that brings value to everyone.

We hope that this will aid you in better defining your ERP Requirements.

ERP – Where to Start?

Starting an ERP selection and Implementation seems like a huge undertaking. It can be, but it can also be straightforward if you do things properly.

Where to Start with your ERP Selection and Implementation
Where to Start with your ERP Selection and Implementation

If you are a small to medium sized company, here are some tips to get you going:

1. ERP Vendors – who should you look at? There are many different ERP vendors. The easiest way is to use a free evaluation service such as SoftwareAdvice.com. Their advisors ask you some questions to profile the type of business you are in and then from that they can give you a short list of candidates to focus on. One good article you should examine is to help you understand how ERP vendors are categorized is “ERP – What Tier are you in?” You can also reference our ERP directory for a listing of various ERP vendors.

2. What questions should you be asking the ERP vendors? This is really a questions of how well do you know what you do. Take a look at “How to determine your ERP Evaluation Criteria” to learn more about how you should self examine your company to then have the criteria for evaluating the vendors. You can also get some free templates that will help you in evaluating erp vendors here on our site.

3. ERP Negotiation – How to reach a successful outcome? Negotiation can be stressful, but really it doesn’t have to be. It is a dance that the vendors go through everyday, so they know how to work it and how to make you come to their desired decision point. You can learn more about negotiation through various books, or you can start with this article on ERP Negotiation.

4. ERP Implementation Planning – There are a lot of details to implementing an ERP solution. Here are the Top 20 ERP Implementation tips. Find out also What makes for a successful ERP Implementation. You can also learn about four corners stones to any successful implementations with this article on RICE. Here is a great article on the 12 Steps to a better ERP Launch. Lastly, here is a tongue-in-cheek look at implementations.

We hope these links and articles will help you sort out resources as to where you can start with your ERP project. For more information, please also see our ERP Bookstore where we have a lot of useful books on ERP Selections and Implmentations.