Previous Opinionizers 2007
Information Utility
| | When electricity first came to industry, most companies built and operated their own power plants. They did so for two reasons. |
Birdbrains
| | What can a flock of birds teach us about running a business? The entire flock moves in unison. They move quickly and fluidly. They can turn on a dime. They can dive, twist, turn, or climb. But who’s controlling them? |
The Revolution in HCM
| | Over the past twenty years, information technology has revolutionized Marketing. The same is about to happen to Human Capital Management. |
Connect the Dots 2
| | In the last years of the last millennium, a new category of software emerged to capture the imagination of the ERP industry. Now it’s happening again. |
Connect the Dots 1
| | Want to strike fear into a supply chain planner’s heart? Just say those three magic words: “Where’s my order?”
|
Predictions
| | Can you predict the future accurately? If so, perhaps you should buy your ERP software from a BigCo vendor.
|
SaaSy
| | Is an SaaS solution right for you? It’s a question we ask our customers frequently.
|
Fears for Tiers
| | Which is better for you as a customer: Your ERP vendor views your company 1) primarily in terms of your size? or 2) primarily in terms of the industry you’re in? |
Happy Cows
| | Your cows are having a bad day. You can’t just fire them. They don’t respond to bonus payments. How are you going to satisfy your customers? |
Is ERP a commodity?
| | Every now and then, we hear someone say, “ERP is a commodity”. We try to be polite but we can’t help but thinking, “What planet are they from?” |
Business GPS
| | Assume for a moment that your company’s Board of Directors allocates € 3 million to invest in improving your business processes. |
Did you catch that weight?
| | How much is your inventory worth? Is it appreciating or depreciating? When do you have to sell it to achieve the best possible return? How should you finance it? |
Posters
| | Did you ever notice that the BigCo ERP vendors put a lot of posters in airports? They must have a lot of money to burn. Could it be your money? |
Is it Licit to Laugh?
| | Umberto Eco’s novel, The Name of the Rose, is set in a medieval monastery. Much of the plot revolves around a burning theological question: Is it licit to laugh? |
Risk
| | Which of the following is less risky? A) Buy an ERP solution from a BigCo ERP vendor, or; B) Buy a similar ERP solution from Lawson? |
Boutique versus Big Box
| | So how does a company like Lawson compete against the BigCo ERP vendors?
The short answer: in the same way that a Boutique retailer competes against a Big Box retailer. |
Are we a midmarket vendor?
| | We’re often referred to as an enterprise software vendor that serves midmarket companies. For many pundits, we’re a “midmarket vendor”. Is it true? |
Process Integrity
| | Quick. How many companies do you buy software from? And where’s the center of the universe?
|
Smart Shoveling
| | What do shoveling coal and using an ERP system have in common? |
Suits
| | The automobile industry is very collaborative. Companies rarely sue each other. The big players believe that the best way to create value is to make the pie bigger. |
All in All
| | Did you know that Mercedes Benz® produces over 60 different car models? Why would they do that? Why can’t they use their engineering prowess to design an all-in-one vehicle that satisfies everybody? |
SOA – Live Free or Die
| | So what about the old stuff? That’s a question we often hear from companies when we talk about service-oriented applications. |
SOA What?
| | We’ve never had a business executive call us to say, “Gosh, I’d sure like to buy some of your SOA”. |
One Year On
| | A year ago this week, when we merged Intentia and Lawson, one of our objectives was to create a legitimate alternative to the BigCo ERP vendors. So, how are we doing? |
Measuring Green
| | We went to an industry forum not long ago and heard a CEO of a major company say that his company’s goal was to “reduce our carbon emissions by 50% in five years.” |
Software as Pizza
| | We all know how to order pizza from the pizza service. You look up the number in the phone book (a standard directory of services). |
Crime Prevention
| | Assume for a moment that you know a crime is about to be committed. You’ve figured out the clues, worked all the angles, and you know exactly what’s going to happen. |
The ERP Encyclopedia
| | Have you read the entire encyclopedia? There’s a lot of useful information in there but there’s also a lot of stuff that you probably just don’t need to know. |
Video Games
| | Quick: what’s the best video game system on the market today? Is it Sony’s Playstation®, Microsoft’s Xbox®, or Nintendo’s Wii®? |
What’s Next in Retail
| | We recently attended an A.G. Edwards® conference on retailing. All the presentations were uniformly excellent. They were also uniformly uniform. |
Is the Forklift Dead?
| | Is the forklift dead? Enterprise software vendors traditionally shipped major upgrades every two to three years. |
The IT Footprint
| | It’s fashionable for companies to talk about their environmental footprint and how to reduce it. But what about their IT footprint? |
Aircraft Carriers
| | When we learned that SAP® was preparing to invade the mid-market, we asked ourselves, “How many mid-size companies need an aircraft carrier?” |
Prove your innocence
| | How many Class I recalls does the FDA launch each year? An average of 188. That’s one Class I recall – potentially causing illness or death – every other day. Nervous yet? |
|
|