R3Now.com – ERP, SAP, and IT Solutions for IT Decision Makers

Business and IT Alignment – Integrating Technology and IT Spend with Business

  Recently I was reading an article on CIO.com (where I also contribute).  The basic premise of the author was that IT is already integrated with business and all of the hype about business to IT alignment is overblown.  This is not entirely true.  As I commented: Traditional business schools teach two key concepts around business (once you have settled on a product or service) and those are value propositions and competitive pressures. IT (Informatio...

ERP and SAP Business Case for ROI, Business Benefit, and Success

Your company’s SAP or ERP business case should start before your RFP, and not just at a high level. It is important to take some time up front to get educated and develop some key understanding before ever issuing an RFP.  The more educated you are: The better the quality of the RFP. The better choice you will make at vendor selection (you'll be able to see past sales pitches to the substance). You'll be better able to make a more objective assessment during demonstrations and t...

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

Retool, retool quickly! Most companies want to use CRM applications as a way to “supercharge” their sales forces.  They want to gain some advantage with customer retention and acquisition, to manage the sales pipeline and to have better market insight.  But few companies realize these goals.  After going through some of the academic studies and literature about CRM implementation there is evidence to suggest that some companies see some limited benefit from their CRM implementations, b...