REPORT
The 2025 Top 10 ERP Systems Report
Our experts have highlighted ten vendors that can help your organization make data-driven decisions.
Learn more
Are Some Facts of Manufacturing ERP Useless?
Everyone likes to back up decisions we make and ideas we have with facts. It makes us feel that we did our due diligence, weighed options, and made a commitment based on valuable reasoning. But what happens with the presentation of facts is out of context or hinders...Must-Know Tips Before ERP Implementation
In our recently released 2011 Guide to ERP Systems and Vendors, I wrote a list of the top 20 tips I have collected over years of both participating in and observing ERP system implementations and other large IT projects. While I won’t go into the whole list...Going Vertical With ERP Systems
ERP software systems combine horizontal and vertical attributes to meet the needs of specific companies in specific industries. Because an ERP system is similar to a central nervous system for companies, those who implement ERP will want is reach to extend wide and...Roles: The Next Progression in ERP
Over the years, ERP has evolved from being less engaged in resource planning to become more of a business operations management system. ERP has progressed past being used for reporting and today is used for defining business strategies. It is found in almost every...Leaning Towards Better ERP System Utilization
There are those that say that once a business goes lean it should eliminate its ERP system. That is not true. At most, the business’s ERP system can be simplified – but not eliminated. A company still has to run its business: take orders, plan, purchase and receive...Shakeup Among Top ERP Systems?
When people think of ERP systems, most think of SAP, Oracle, and Microsoft Dynamics as the leading solutions. Among these top three, SAP is generally viewed as the leading ERP vendor in terms of real and perceived market share. Each of our recent annual ERP Reports...Preserving the Manufacturing Brain Trust
There’s an awful lot of accumulated manufacturing knowledge on the typical shop floor. Losing a skilled shop floor worker is a significant loss for the enterprise in terms of process knowledge. Manufacturers can only hope that there is sufficient documentation...In Search of the Right ERP Implementation Partner
When helping clients evaluate and select the right ERP systems for their organizations, choosing the software is just one piece of the puzzle. The next steps are to develop a comprehensive and realistic implementation plan and to identify the best ERP implementation...
How to Choose an ERP Rollout Strategy
Successful ERP implementations are launched from successful ERP rollout strategies. Defining an ERP rollout strategy at the beginning of your implementation is crucial. ERP rollout strategies include: Big bang approach Phased rollout Parallel rollout Hybrid approach...Bringing PR Principles Into Your Organizational Change Management Initiative
As Panorama has seen again and again, ERP implementations can be enormously disruptive to staff members. Feeling threatened, confused, or even angry, end-users can both consciously and unconsciously undermine the ERP initiative by telling everyone within earshot what...Five Most Common ERP Implementation “Gotchas”: Patience Truly is a Virtue
Maybe it’s not grammatically correct, but “gotchas” are those little mistakes that sneak up on you and ultimately ruin the project you’re working on. I think we’ve all had our fair share of “gotcha” moments and in turn, have learned from them. We at Sikich have...Forget About Technology: ERP Systems are All About Business
Purchasing and installing a new ERP software solution is a big investment. ERP systems cost a lot, take a long time to implement, and can be tricky to implement in a way that delivers measurable business value. To add insult to injury, and as outlined in our recent...Why is Organizational Change Management So Important to ERP Implementations?
One of the problems with organizational change management is that it is an often misunderstood concept that executives have trouble getting their heads around. When working with our clients, we find that executives often either 1) simply associate organizational...Effectively Managing the Moving Parts of Distribution with Microsoft Dynamics GP
If you’re a distributor in this turbulent economy, your main concerns include proper management of your inventory, keeping good track of your vendors, and having deep insight into your warehouse while maintaining a level of service that keeps your customers coming...Demo Day at Panorama: Infor
Fridays at Panorama are when we have ERP vendor demos. We recently met with Infor. Infor Global Solutions is a privately held U.S. software company that specializes in enterprise systems, including ERP, CRM, Enterprise Asset Management, and the like. Infor has four...King of Pain: Are ERP Systems as Hard as They Seem?
Our consulting teams are in the process of helping several companies across the country with their ERP selection and vendor contract negotiations. This is the point in an ERP software project where optimism runs high and the possibilities are endless: a new system to...Covering All Your Bases: The Importance of ERP System Training
Spring training is finally here! To a seasoned baseball fan, it means the anticipation of a World Series Championship, warm days and cool summer evenings sitting in the grandstands, hot dogs and peanuts, home runs and stolen bases. This time of year also makes me also...Lesson from the Super Bowl: Defense and a Good Running Game Win In Football and with ERP Systems
Yesterday’s Super Bowl demonstrated the reasons why it’s one of America’s most popular sporting contests and one of the most viewed events in the world. You had the pre-game hype, massive snowstorms in the host city, a matchup between two great...Deadliest Sin of ERP Implementations: Organizational Change Management or Business Blueprint Oversights?
I’m a big metrics guy, so earlier this week I revisited some of the many ERP polls on our web-site. Maybe it was me needing a quantitative fix until we publish our 2011 ERP Report, or maybe I’m just plain weird. In any case, I digress… One of the...
