Why your ERP is not delivering and how to fix it

One hour conference presentation regarding the major factors that give rise to ERP investment failure and how to achieve success.

Defines some fundamental principles that are of vital importance to any organization that is implementing or operating any Business Information System

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Conference Presentation

Information and Communication Technology Conference February 2011
Why your ERP is NOT delivering and HOW to FIX IT

Videos and presentation below

Part 1

Discussion of basic principles including:

-- Engineers do NOT design bridges to stand up

-- Vision

-- Strategy is the essence of the business and how it thrives

-- What is NOT an engineering approach

Part 2

-- Passionate about ERP and IT success

-- Talk about failure in order to PREVENT failure

-- Importance of Taxonomies and Precision Configuration can raise the bar from traditional 10/10 to 23/10 or more

-- Strategic Customization can raise the bar to 33/10 -- drops a typical ERP implementation to 1/10 on the new scale

-- Well implemented ERP should serve for 20 years or more

-- Substandard (sloppy) configuration is a major cause of ERP investment under performance

Part 3

-- IT and ERP are NOT moving so fast you cannot keep up

-- Mundane technology used strategically can be used to create GREAT value

-- 70% of IT and ERP projects fail outright

-- 19 out of 20 ERP implementations do NOT deliver what was promised

-- The factors causing IT and ERP failure
-- Mythology 30%;
-- Lack of executive custody 19%;
    -- Lack of strategic architecture and strategic alignment 15%;
    -- Sloppy configuration, lack of data engineering and taxonomies 14%;
    -- Soft issues and change impacts 12%;
    -- Lack of an engineering approach and lack of precision 6%;
    -- Technology Issues 3%

Part 4

-- Chart of accounts -- spaghetti codes

-- Maintenance nightmare

-- Business at risk

versus

-- Logical hierarchical code structures (taxonomies)

-- Examples of failed companies and lost customers

Part 5

-- When a business loses customers as a consequence of a weak ERP implementation the ERP has become more expensive than the organization can afford

-- The Critical Factors for success
    -- Executive custody 22%
    -- Effective change facilitation 20%
    -- Strategic architecture and alignment 19%
    -- Data engineering and precision configuration 17%
    -- Engineering approach 14%
    -- Business integration, training, process optimization 6%
    -- Technology 2%

-- Simulate the REAL world

-- Formal and rigorous laboratory

-- Executive custody is 50% leadership

View the full presentation:

Why your erp is not delivering and how to fix it - by dr james a robertson -- the erp doctor -- v 039 003-004

Download Why your ERP is not delivering and how to fix it -- Presentation in Power Point pptx format

Download Why your ERP is not delivering and how to fix it -- Slides in Adobe pdf format

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A concise executive briefing directed at informing executives and senior managers with regard to the REAL issues in business information systems and the measures to take to obtain greater value from their existing investments

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The strategic essence must lift out the fundamentals of the busines and particularly what is unusual, the elements that deliver competitive advantage and which are therefore the most vulnerable to inappropriate action

This is NOT the place for generic industry definitions or for long lists of standard software functionality -- development of the requirements specification requires a mature and highly experienced consultant with a solid understanding of strategic essence AND a solid understanding of systems and how systems integrate with the business to deliver high value outcomes

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Dr James A Robertson PrEng

Business Systems NOT delivering?

Call the Business Systems Specialist

Dr. James Robinson

Dr James A Robertson -- has been involved in the effective application of Business Information Systems, including but NOT limited to ERP, since 1987 and in the profitable and effective use of computers in Business since 1981.

Drawing on a diversity of experience, including formal military training in Quick Attack techniques at the Regimental Commander level, Dr Robertson has developed highly effective methods of investigating any sub-optimal Business Information Systems situation -- be it an established system or a stalled project or any other source of Executive frustration -- quickly and concisely diagnosing the root cause of the problem and prescribing concise practical actions that Business Executives can effectively act on see the Pulse Measurement page and also the Sample Reports page for redacted real reports.

He has also developed highly effective methods of strategically enriching systems to unlock the full potential of existing investments, see the Precision Configuration page and couples this to architecting small pieces of clever software that harness the full potential of your investment, see the Software page.

If you are having problems with your systems, your project or your IT Department, call The Business Systems Specialist
James@James-A-Robertson-and-Associates.com

Business System Failure is RIFE -- we offer insight into why this happens AND WHAT is required to prevent it.

Failure is at epidemic levels with massive damage done to client companies -- if you are NOT aware of the extent of the problem please visit the About Failure page for a catalog of major failures running to billions of Pounds and Dollars.

All evidence indicates that the established players do NOT know how to deliver stable, reliable high value solutions that WORK.

There HAS to be a better way!

This website provides information relating to that way with a large collection of white papers, presentations, standards documents, etc that you can use to start bringing the situation under control

We also offer high level advisory services with regard to the application of the principles advocated on this website

We offer an ENGINEERING APPROACH to addressing these issues

By Engineering I mean the formal, structured, highly disciplined, highly systematic, highly practical approach that consistently delivers results in ALL areas of human endeavor where formally trained and certified engineers are the ONLY practitioners permitted to operate -- think large buildings, factories, motor vehicles, aircraft -- highly complex systems that work at a level that we take it for granted that they WILL work and where failure is all but unthinkable and, when it happens, attracts immediate public attention and rigorous investigation directed at ensuring that such failures are prevented in the future -- in fact, everything that the management consulting industry that implements complex software systems is NOT

This approach is discussed further on the Engineering Approach page.

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In 2003 I undertook an in-depth analysis of all the information and experience that I had gathered with regard to the factors giving rise to Business Information System failure including ERP and general IT and classified this information into a number of categories including "The Factors Causing Failure" and "The Critical Factors for Success" based on this I developed a two day Course "The Critical Factors for Information Technology Investment Success" which is still offered today.

Based on this I wrote the book of the same name, which is available in electronic form here for download: