business value proposition Archives - Page 4 of 4 - Innovate. Integrate. Transform. Run.

CRM, ERP, BI, and IT Investment — Where Do You Find the Business Benefit?
CRM, ERP, BI, and IT Investment — Where Do You Find the Business Benefit?

CRM, ERP, BI, and IT Investment — Where Do You Find the Business Benefit?

By Bill Wood|September 19th, 2009|

Most companies want to use CRM applications to "supercharge" their sales forces. They want higher customer retention and acquisition than their competitors, managing the sales pipeline and having better market insight. But few companies realize these goals. After going through some of the academic studies and literature about CRM implementation, evidence suggests that some companies see limited benefit from their CRM implementations, but they are not happy overall. These anecdotal accoun [...]

Opportunities for SAP Innovation
Opportunities for SAP Innovation

Opportunities for SAP Innovation

By Bill Wood|September 19th, 2009|

What if someone like me -- an independent consultant -- came along and said “SAP, I’ve got some really great ideas on how you can dramatically change the application for far greater success in the marketplace”? What if this change make the application more useful, and would not cost that much in developer time or resources? What if this change could be done almost completely with pre-existing functions, functionality, and code that SAP already has but has not done a good job themselves of integ [...]

Realizing SAP Business Benefit
Realizing SAP Business Benefit

Realizing SAP Business Benefit

By Bill Wood|August 26th, 2009|

When implementing or upgrading SAP, too often I encounter vendors and consultants who believe they are more qualified than they actually are. Think of backyard mechanics who changed the oil on someone's cars and checked the tire pressure a few times, then somehow think that qualifies them to do engine overhauls on Formula 1 race cars. Similarly, why do you expect old-style implementation vendors and consultants to transform your business into a competitive powerhouse by only addressing cost-foc [...]

Change How You Look at SAP to Create ROI
Change How You Look at SAP to Create ROI

Change How You Look at SAP to Create ROI

By Bill Wood|February 20th, 2009|

After participating in several ROI-focused projects, I learned many lessons. A few of those projects achieved great results, but unfortunately many more were mediocre. I will begin a series of articles on how to achieve value and ROI from an SAP implementation. For many years, a lot of literature, guidance, case studies, success stories and methods has discussed using SAP to automate processes and reduce costs. Unfortunately, a company may struggle to find help to achieve revenue and profitabil [...]

Using SAP to Improve Revenue and Profitability
Using SAP to Improve Revenue and Profitability

Using SAP to Improve Revenue and Profitability

By Bill Wood|January 17th, 2009|

For years, CIOs have been under pressure to cut costs, improve operational efficiencies, and automate the enterprise. CIOs who implement SAP have largely been effective at streamlining the back office. They have also succeeded at optimizing the extended supply chain because SAP supports execution activities well, therefore reducing costs. However, times are changing. For IT and SAP to successfully grow revenue and profitability, a business needs to understand where technology fits into the puzz [...]