11/03/2008 by Justice Odei Som.

The ‘GO’ for a Packaged Software solution is one of the biggest challenges faced by organizations. While some parties will be advocating for its importance others will be more interested in the failure issues evident in history. The solution to this decision should always lie in a comprehensive business case the new system. The merits of an of enterprise systems implementation are as huge as the failure implications. If business managers only concentrate on the expected benefits thereby neglecting possible failures, it can lead to the collapse of the company.

Packaged Software adoption process requires as stated earlier requirements definition and other business drivers. These drivers could be seen as a migration from an already existing system to an enterprise-wide system. The ‘need’ is defined by the following migration processes:
 From Intra-Company to Inter-Company
 Reaching out to Suppliers
 Reaching out to Customers
 Reaching out to alliances
 Reaching out to Competitors
 Social Integration through global networking
 Technology of Extended Reach
 Beyond fax –Electronic Document Interchange
 Inter-Company Databases and Applications
 Online Collaboration

The migration process has impacted companies with both negative and positive consequences. The implications of cost and the accompanying benefits put most at risk. From above, it could be inferred that the highest point to attaining a competitive edge is by integrating all functional areas of the business. Research in business integration, have for the past been on the integration of marketing, R&D and sales. This proved useful but with the emergence of information system, it has been observed that integrating marketing with technical functions (IT) provide excellent results and also, increases company-wide initiatives. Also, without efficient interaction, an effective integration will not be achieved and it is enhanced by information flow. Organizational systems need to interact with both people and processes of the organization with all being in phase. Organizations are today operating in integrative environments that include competitors, suppliers and partners.

This makes it sound good, if customer data and the cost of developing new applications are available to many to share. The Packaged Software implementation decision could be from either the attainment of business process efficiency, technological push as depicted by the competition, or an information technology perspective. In any of the three scenarios, it will be better for organizations to define the need critically with reference to the current situation, future prospects of the organization, and a comprehensive business case.

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10/03/2008 by Justice Odei Som.

Selecting the right mix of software to enhance a business process is critical to corporate success. In this, organizations spend much time debating some of the requirements that they require to achieve their desired growth target. Much so others are constantly repeating errors that have become routine in their selection strategy.

By definition, a software selection project involves four main phases viz:

§         Need Identification

§         Requirements Analysis

§         Business Case Development

§         Vendor Selection

The trend has been that organizations due to cost constraints are bedeviled with a straight-move attitude that makes them encounter severe errors during implementation and Go-Live. Some requirements are either not well documents or undervalued while others are mistakenly included as essential though they are just desirable ones.

Following the principles and guidelines set at B.i.G consulting, organization can be certain that any vendor’s product that is elected as one meeting their desired need will for sure deliver the expected benefits. A software selection project should be accomplished with the right mix of stakeholders present to appraise each vendor that present a demo.  During a demo, there are certain issues that need to be addressed by individual vendor according to the requirements detailed in the business case. This could be complex but its worth the pain if the desired benefits are to be realized.

B.i.G Consulting assist organizations with this - working as external consultants.

www.bigconsultingservices.com

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25/12/2007 by Justice Odei Som.

Information technology (IT) is said to enhance business growth and also ensure profitability due to the reduced cost of operation encountered. This contribution is perceived to be the second most important issue for CIO’s (CSC, 2001). Strategic management researchers have studied this impact for decades together with the related theories but those that stand firm include the competitive strategy framework, which is based upon a market power imperative (Henderson and Mitchell, 1997). In this, IT is seen as a means by which the firm gains competitive advantage by altering the market forces that collectively determine industrial profitability (Porter and Millar, 1985). This enhancement is either seen in the reduction of the cost of operation or the degree of differentiation that IT brings.

 Another study of the influence of IT to firm performance also adopts a resource-based view that defines the capabilities and competencies possessed by the firm. These two theories comprise the most widely used theories in strategy in defining the impact of IT to business growth and strategic positioning (Henderson and Mitchell, 1997), though in the past both have been viewed as competing theories.  The resource-based view depicts the firm as comprising of ‘bundles of unique resources’ (Penrose, 1959). Also, to achieve a competitive position either through a reduced cost or differentiation, these bundles of resources need to operate in complex relationships, be inimitable, sustainable and rear (Penrose, 1959; Rumelt 1984). The two theories introduce two distinct ideas to strategy: competencies and capabilities, and also the understanding of the industrial structure. To operate and deliver in a niche, firms need to assume some strategic position within the market in which they operate. Putting these two theories together, it seems that resources are themselves valuable no matter what form they are seen. But according to Porter, this is too far from normal and that resources only become valuable if they are put into strategic use to fit the industry structures. Questions then arise as to the cost-benefits of an IT project let alone that of an ERP.

An ERP decision should be one that put the firm into a strategic position or niche and geared towards the attainment of certain ends. Currently, an ERP strategy could be strategic or an ad hoc adoption (a technochase). The decision need not be made by people who think they are powerful and that their decisions should be hitherto taken. ERP has the potential to altering the rules of competition by changing how the industry or a company operates, generates competitive advantage and providing opportunities to manage the customer life cycle  and experience (Porter and Millar, 1985), but these could be achieved on the condition that, the technology is used in a unique way. From the resource-based view, a resource possessed by most of the competition does not contribute to competitive advantage. Adopting an ERP solution strategically does not mean that the organisational problems will be solved automatically or processes themselves will improve, it needs the addition of change and people orientation to the new facility. This analysis is in line with the fact that IT resources alone do not provide competitive advantage (Powell and Dent-Micallef, 1997), the realization of which is by ‘leveraging complementary between business and human resources’.

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