Backblog

In our previous ERP planning tip, we discussed routings, the final data set-up requirement for making an item. In this tip, I dig deep into another critical data requirement – the need to maintain timely and accurate inventory counts and movements.

The past year has not been kind to Research in Motion Ltd., Canada’s leading technology company. The Waterloo-based maker of the BlackBerry smartphone has seen its share price nosedive in the wake of less than stellar launches of new products such as the Playbook, disappointing earnings guidance, and plans to cut its global workforce.

By now, you’ve heard about Google’s acquisition of Motorola Mobility. As the largest deal in Google’s history (a whopping $12.5 billion!), there has been, unsurprisingly, a flurry of debate and discussion. There may be some significant change on the horizon, but what does it mean for the industry?

What a tumultuous week in technology. Almost on the heels of the announcement that Google was buying Motorola, Hewlett-Packard announced the retirement of their recently released Touchpad tablet as well as a potential strategic change in direction from consumer technology products to business software with the spin-off or sale of their computer division. It is no small shift when the largest computer supplier in the world states they are planning on exiting the hardware market. Things are changing and fast.

Implementing a multi-provider sourcing strategy across multiple countries requires tight coordination between business units, finance, legal and internal contract management. Success depends on an appropriate commercial structure, well-managed multiple-provider service delivery, smooth invoicing and allocation processes, and optimal service levels.

As kids across the country begin heading their way back to school for the new academic year, CIOs and their respective organizations appear to still be getting schooled on the harsh realities of ERP implementations. In the last week, two fairly high-profile lawsuits made their way into the technology media: one involving a case against ERP software vendor Epicor and the other against Infor.

The term ‘Hacker’ has been rampant around the internet recently. Actually, it has been the dirty word of the internet since the 80’s and the classic hacker movies of the early 90’s. It’s not a word you want to throw around loosely; it scares people because the path of destruction can be crippling. Whether your 15 year old opened a scam email and infected your family computer, or a virus has taken down your entire system at the office – most people have witnessed the effects of an online security breach.

Dwayne Winseck examines the growth of the Canadian network media economy from 1984 to 2010.

Recently had the pleasure of comparing notes with Lisa Nirell, founder of EnergizeGrowth, and a blogger with FastCompany. Following are excerpts from our conversation.

Defined in basic terms, a “benchmark” of an outsourcing deal is simply a comparison of one set of numbers against another, with the objective of adjusting pricing terms to more closely reflect market standards. But benchmarking can and should be much more than a discrete exercise aimed at cost reduction.

Many of our clients hire us when they know they need help selecting and implementation a new ERP system. Often times, these clients know the general direction they want to go with their enterprise initiatives and simply need help navigating the options and implementing their chosen solution. This tends to be the sweet spot of our client base.

Healthcare is extremely political in Canada! No big surprise to anyone who has been involved in health administration or planning, perhaps because healthcare is viewed as a national right under the Canada Health Act.

Paul Lepage, Senior Vice President of TELUS Health Solutions, dicussed the current shift in healthcare in Canada in his presentation The Care Continuum at eHealth 2011 in May.

Stingray today launches a new online Canadian music service having addressed the major issue keeping services out of the country - the high cost of licensing.

In our previous ERP planning tip, we discussed the bill of materials (BOM), which discussion answered the following questions: which and how many components are needed to produce an item. This tip deals with routings, the final data set-up requirement.

One of the key benefits cloud computing promises to deliver is that of flexible, usage-based pricing for IT resources: use more, pay more; use less, pay less.  This model gives businesses transparency into actual consumption and eliminates – at least in theory – the problem of managing insufficient or idle capacity.  The result is optimized efficiency and a more agile enterprise.

We are constantly looking ahead. That’s why we have eyes in the front of heads, giving us the ability to look forward, to see what is ahead of us. This is particularly useful in an environment that changes so quickly, and the line between present and future is often blurred. In business, it is part of the job to look ahead, forecast for the future and be prepared for a changing landscape. The people with the corner offices are paid the big bucks to make these predictions and lead their companies to success. What does the future of your business look like?

To most reasonably informed Americans, there are some really basic things that its representatives in government should do, but lack the political will to execute. Without real reform, the middle class will continue to decline, forcing entrepreneurs to go to other markets, and the concentration of wealth in the hands of an increasingly smaller minority of people will accelerate the decline of the American Empire. Here are a few obvious steps that should be taken:

The federal government has launched a new anti-spam site at FightSpam.gc.ca.

The Ontario Court of Appeal has ruled that domain names are property.

Domain name disputes emerged as one of the first Internet legal issues in the mid-1990s as speculators recognized the value of domain names and the potential to resell them to the highest bidder. The growth of "cybersquatting" led to several unsuccessful attempts to establish a dispute resolution system.

Cloud ERP is clearly the talk of the ERP software industry. The marketing engine supporting cloud options such as software as a service (SaaS) and hosted ERP systems is very strong, even reaching into the consumer-facing side of things with Microsoft’s push into the cloud with Windows-based products.

Much is made of the importance of Cloud Computing, the endless options for what can be sourced to the Cloud, and the vast dollars that can be saved by moving services to the Cloud. But very little is said about what consideration should be given to specific financial structures and terms of a Cloud-based services agreement.

We all recognize that customer service isn’t what it used to be. We don’t expect personal attention anymore, we expect to serve and ultimately fend for ourselves – like online banking, or bagging your own groceries!

The following email was received from a private diagnostic facility in Toronto. While it may be tempting to point a finger at the “for profit” nature of private diagnostics, competitive markets tend to drive efficiency and non-performers simply go out of business. As more physicians adopt EMRs, the demand for ways to leverage EMRs and improve efficiency is bound to grow.

In our previous ERP planning tip, we covered time and quantity order-based modifiers to back-schedule supply requirements from demand. This previous tip dealt with the “when” and “how much” questions of planning. In this week’s tip, we cover the “what” questions of planning, which is represented by the bill of materials, or BOM (there is also an element of “how much” in BOMs).