Software Selection, Business Process Improvement and Project Management

noreply@blogger.com (180 Systems) — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 21:02:00 +0000

Top 10 ERP Systems

180 Systems has just released the System Analysis Tool, which will select the top 10 ERP systems based on an online survey you complete that includes company size, geography, language, industry, technology and functionality (generic, financial, distribution, manufacturing and professional services). There is no charge for this tool and we will keep your information confidential.

To see the vendors that have signed up and how it works, click on the expand button for "Current Vendors" and "How it Works".

Not all the ERP vendors have signed up yet but we expect many will soon once the word gets out about this new service. As we don’t charge the vendors anything for participation, we don’t see any reason for them not to sign up unless there is something to hide.

We would very much appreciate your feedback.

noreply@blogger.com (180 Systems) — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 20:52:00 +0000

Sage Launches Major ERP Upgrade

January 20, 2010 from Managing Automation - "The Sage Group plc today unveiled a major release of its Sage ERP X3 suite for mid-sized businesses that uses Web 2.0 and other new technology to give users real-time access to global data and collaborative tools in user-configurable dashboards...

Sage worked with a number of technology partners to design the X3 release. For example, the suite can be operated on Microsoft SQL Server 2008, and integrates with Microsoft Office to increase ease of use and accelerate user adoption. The system can also run on Oracle Database 11g R2. According to Sage, the X3 software can support several thousand concurrent users, process several hundred thousand transactions per hour, and synchronize data across customers’ sites.

Sage focused heavily on improving the customer experience in this release. Among the enhancements is new, multi-language Sage VisualProcesses software, which provides templates so that users can create their own customized interfaces. Users also can link to external applications and the web to access information and create financial and other reports quickly..."

180 View - X3 will be on our list of potential solutions for mid market organizations with complex and/or global requirements.

noreply@blogger.com (180 Systems) — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 01:51:00 +0000

The Quest for Canada’s Smartest IT

January 25, 2010 from Info-Tech Research Group –“Industry analyst firm Info-Tech Research Group has launched a nationwide contest to recognize and reward both Canada's smartest and greenest mid-market IT departments. Nominate yourself or a friend to 'Smart People' today, or stay tuned to the contest and nominees via Twitter.”

180 View – We just found out about this site from Joel Martin formerly Product Manager for Microsoft's Dynamics ERP products in Canada. I have a lot of respect for Joel who I once asked to speak at a CICA technology conference when he worked for IDC as a research analyst before Microsoft. The fact that Joel is involved leads me to believe in the Quest. If you know of a great IT project, I suggest you nominate the person responsible.

noreply@blogger.com (180 Systems) — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 01:46:00 +0000

ERP: can do better

October 2009 from Conspectus - “…Nearly half of firms (47%) are not using their enterprise systems’ full capability and could increase utilization if they had more time, training and/or budget…

In summary, for organizations that have made strategic ERP investments in recent years, now is the time to work those investments even harder. With a focus on data, discipline and systems flexibility, IT leaders can squeeze far more value from their enterprise software and stop leaving as much as a third of their investment on the table.”

180 View – It does seem strange that organizations would not use more of their ERP system if only they had more time, training and/or budget. If the benefits greatly exceed the costs, why would they not make the investment? But if it’s breakeven, then one would understand the reluctance.

We think a bigger problem in not utilizing the full ERP system is that organizations are stuck with old versions and don’t know what to do. Our opinion is that replacing a system should be a last resort because of all the costs to implement a new system. We suggest documentating requirements just as if selecting a new system, letting the vendor demonstrate their ability to meet the requirements and a business case to determine whether to upgrade/improve the existing system.

noreply@blogger.com (180 Systems) — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 01:40:00 +0000

Find Microsoft Dynamics VARs and Solutions

From Microsoft – “Find partner-built solutions that work with Microsoft Dynamics to meet the unique needs of your business and industry. Enter a search keyword or use the Advanced Search fields to create a custom search query...”

180 View – This site is a well kept secret by Microsoft. The advanced search includes country, industry, vertical, company size and location and will return Microsoft solutions and partners. You will probably be surprised at the extent of solutions and partners amd wonder why a solution or partner shows up. As well, you may wonder what is meant by the ratings or the number of references for a solution or partner. Nevertheless it’s the best place to look for Microsoft Dynamics solutions and partners. Other choices are calling Microsoft directly or taking a look at our ERP Portal for Microsoft partners.

noreply@blogger.com (180 Systems) — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 01:31:00 +0000

The future of ERP: Why the 'big ERP' approach is dead

November 23, 2009 from InfoWorld – “…"With ERP, you can't do a one-size-fits-all," Read says. "The corporate office of a $10 billion organization just has different needs than the local operations in Australia. And if you try to deploy [SAP or Oracle] everywhere, you're effectively going to be deploying an enterprise solution in a midmarket company, and the costs are going to explode.

Could there be a resurgence in "best of breed" app strategies for vertical-specific business areas -- whether that's on-premise or in the cloud -- without all the integration headaches of yore? AMR Research Chief Research Officer Bruce Richardson thinks so. "The Burger King approach -- 'have it your way' with SaaS, on-premise, BPO," Richardson says, "is going to force vendors like SAP, Oracle, and Infor to get very aggressive in offering other deployment models…

Industry consultant Reed sums it up this way: "'Empower me. Give me the tools to create differentiating processes that allow me to define myself from my competitors. And make sure that it's easier for me to do, so I don't have to hire 100 programmers. Give me the building blocks to put that together quickly, so that it's just humming in the background, and leave me free to focus on what makes us better than other companies.' That's what customers are expecting now and really want."

180 View – Large organizations often want their subsidiaries to adopt the same system in all the local countries. There are advantages including visibility of information such as inventory across the organization and all the subsidiaries. Other advantages would be likely be in the consolidation, reporting and forecasting process. But there can also be problems in forcing one of the high end ERP systems on a subsidiary such as increased costs, complexity, delays and company morale. Once again, a business case is recommended to determine best course of action.

noreply@blogger.com (180 Systems) — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 01:27:00 +0000

SAP Introduces Two-Tiered Support

January 14, 2010 from InformationWeek – “SAP has stepped back from its plan to move all customers to Enterprise Support contracts priced at 22% per year. Instead it will adopt a two-tiered system that reintroduces a Standard Support option set at 18%...”

180 View – In the past, most organizations did not worry too much about the annual support fee or only considered it in the final contract negotiations. Today, it has become an important consideration as buyers have become more sophisticated and ERP systems have matured. Buyers don’t want to go through another ERP implementation in their lifetime and the Net Present Value of the maintenance costs should be considered over a long period of time.

noreply@blogger.com (180 Systems) — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 01:24:00 +0000

The Evolution of Organizational Process

December 8, 2009 from Baseline – “Despite a multidecade focus, business-technology processes in many companies are unmanaged, invisible and unmeasured.

Consequently, they are executed haphazardly and inconsistently. This results in delays, errors, low quality and high overhead costs. Such unmanaged processes cannot detect and adapt to changing market conditions—and that can be fatal in today’s business environment.

There are countless reasons for this continuing breakdown. Principal among them is that many processes cross an enterprise’s internal and external boundaries as part of business networks and, therefore, they become the province of no one…”

180 View – It is true that one of the reasons for suboptimal business processes is that processes cross boundaries but the problem is not just that they become the province of no one. The problem is more likely that the various departments, profit centres, or business units often have their own agenda. As they are measured on what they do and not on the business as a whole, they can optimize their own processes at the expense of the enterprise. There are some suggestions in the article as to methods to improve business processes using “business technology capabilities”, which are helpful but don’t address the underlying lack of motivation problem.

noreply@blogger.com (180 Systems) — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 01:21:00 +0000

Back to Basics (Requirements Analysis)

January 4, 2010 from gannthead – “When I first started managing projects, I treated requirements as an input to the project--they would magically appear and tell me what the scope of my project was. It didn’t take me long to figure out that I was taking the wrong approach, that requirements gathering was actually an integral part in the execution of the project. But I am still surprised by how many organizations are unable to come up with good requirements…

…We still only have the functional requirements, what is to be delivered. The project team still needs to determine how those deliverables are going to be achieved…”

180 View – In preparing requirements for our clients, we try to focus on “what” needs to be done rather than the “how.” But sometimes it is believed that there is an optimal “how” and we will document it as a requirement too. For example, an organization may want to analyze their operations across multiple dimensions such as by department, region, manager… - consider this the “what”. One vendor could accomplish the requirement with a segment for each dimension in the account structure/coding block – an example of the how. Another vendor could accomplish the requirement using reporting structures or analysis codes, which for complex organizations is a much better way to get it done.

noreply@blogger.com (180 Systems) — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 01:17:00 +0000

Information Technology Governance- it's really just a corporate road-trip

180 View (written by Graeme Booth) – Unfortunately, IT Governance has been made to seem too complicated which, in turn, has led to unnecessary confusion. IT Governance, and corporate governance for that matter, really only consist of three sets of activities all of which cascade into important sub-activities and processes.

Set the direction for IT- this is the basis for business alignment and drives IT investments and decision making toward the achievement of corporate objectives- strategic planning to enforce alignment of business initiatives.

Support the direction for IT- after establishing where you are going, the organization needs to figure out how it is going to get there. Considerations include business and technology architecture, infrastructure, application architecture and portfolio, organization structure, policies et al. Systems management, often referred by the acronym ITIL, enters the fray at this stage- make the decisions and choose the tactics that enhance the chance of strategic success.

and finally,

Sustain the Direction for IT- operating procedures, management and operating controls, internal control and audit, COBIT. Clearly, if your environment is not resilient and cannot be managed, measured and monitored, the value from strategy etc. is significantly diminished. It's all about establishing accountability for IT processes.

Its like a road trip really- decide where you are going, choose the route, and try not to get lost along the way.

noreply@blogger.com (180 Systems) — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 01:12:00 +0000

Crisis fosters change in the relationship between IT and the Business

October 30, 2009 from Deloitte – “Scanning the dark clouds of the current crisis for a silver lining? Take a look at the relationship between IT and the Business. The difficult environment is providing an unprecedented opportunity for IT leaders to show their added value and significantly increase their impact at board level…”

180 View (written by Graeme Booth) - In the third edition of Deloitte’s IT-Business balance Survey, 2009 the author's contend that the current economic and business climate provides an "...an unprecedented opportunity for IT leaders to show their added value and significantly increase their impact at board level". Fair enough. However, what is less clear is how this worthy objective is to be accomplished. Much time is surely spent on talk of business alignment and strategy but organizations spend insufficient effort translating their strategic decisions into activities and processes that will directly support key corporate initiatives. And even when reasonable tactical decisions have been made, the measurement of results against critical success factors (CSF's) is lacking.

noreply@blogger.com (180 Systems) — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 01:07:00 +0000

Retooling Technology for Economic Recovery

December 9, 2009 from the Resource Centre of Industrial Distribution Magazine – “In October 2009, Industrial Distribution conducted a study on behalf of Microsoft Dynamics to learn more about industrial distributor goals, challenges and initiatives. Specifically, the study examines what role technology plays in achieving business profitability and growth…”

180 View (written by Lawrence Young) – This White Paper is based on a study done of 303 industrial distributors in October, 2009 by RBInteractive Research Group on behalf of Industrial Distribution magazine for Microsoft Dynamics. The purpose of the study was to learn more about industrial distributors’ current business goals, challenges and initiatives, and specifically what role technology will play in achieving business profitability and growth going forward.

The study cites the following key challenges facing today’s distributor:

Managing the realities of the current economic climate, which has led to intense competition and pricing pressure.
Dealing with excess inventory, as the same number of distributors compete for less business with more products considered commodities.
Retaining current customers and facilitating new client relationships.

Accordingly, respondents to the study are looking to improve efficiencies in their businesses that help to achieve their sales and profitability-related goals. Planned actions are focused in the areas of marketing, customer service and support, inventory forecasting & management, warehousing & distribution and e-commerce.

The number one action being considered or taken by respondents to prepare for the anticipated economic recovery is investing in technology (i.e. computer hardware and/or software applications). Whereas 2009 saw many of our prospects and clients putting technology-based projects on-the-shelf as they struggled to weather the storm of the recession, an increasing number of companies over the last few months have started to gear up for better times by evaluating and implementing new software tools and reengineered business processes.

However, we aren’t as sold on the study’s claim that 83% of respondents felt that the payback on their investment in technology would be two years or less (34% anticipated a payback of less than one year!). While we are not suggesting that the study misrepresented the responses of the respondents, we are concerned that the responses may not be reliable for several reasons.

First, only 46% of respondents even attempted to measure ROI, perhaps owing to the difficulty of doing so. As the study aptly points out, “There does not appear to be a “standard formula” used within the industry, with a wide array of views on what factors contribute to the measurement.”

Second, by definition calculating ROI ignores any benefit that cannot be sufficiently quantified so as to be measured (i.e. providing a better level of customer service will likely result in increased customer retention and therefore more sales and a better bottom line, but the calculation of ROI will ignore the value of this benefit unless the company is prepared to quantify the resulting improvement in profitability).

Accordingly, it is possible that some of the respondents to the ROI question may have used a method of calculating ROI that is not generally accepted and/or inconsistent with the method used by other respondents. Nonetheless, companies should consider using measures in addition to the ones included in traditional ROI calculations to justify whether or not an investment in technology is warranted. For example, these may include compliance to the requirements set forth by a dominant trading partner or regulatory body, such as internet portal or product traceability.

The article was sponsored by Microsoft and is somewhat self serving, but it does contain worthwhile information and it hopefully reflects that better economic times are around the corner.

noreply@blogger.com (180 Systems) — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 01:02:00 +0000

Graeme Booth

Graeme hired me about 14 years ago to work as a consultant in the risk management group at Price Waterhouse, which soon became PwC. I enjoyed my years at PwC and learned a lot. I have not seen Graeme very often since I left but always considered him a friend. Out of the blue, I got a call recently from Graeme and his timing was perfect in that I had been wondering how to grow my business and realized I need help. I always consult my brother Stephen on strategic matters, and arranged a meeting for all of us to meet. I then found out that Graeme’s office is in the same building as Stephen. Fate is knocking and I answer by asking Graeme to join me. Graeme not only brings new services to 180 Systems, but he will also be a huge help in marketing all our services. Please welcome Graeme to 180 Systems.

noreply@blogger.com (180 Systems) — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 20:31:00 +0000

BI/CPM survey 2009

December 2009 from CAmagazine and written by Michael Burns – “Welcome to this year’s survey on business intelligence and corporate performance management. We received 12 responses from BI/CPM vendors, up from 10 last year…”

noreply@blogger.com (180 Systems) — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 20:28:00 +0000

Inside Oracle Fusion Apps: 10 Questions With Steve Miranda

December 4, 2009 from AMR Research and written by Bruce Richardson – The answer to one of Bruce’s questions about what’s different in Fusion (Oracle’s soon to be released new ERP system) was – “In designing Fusion Applications, we wanted every part of the application to be business intelligence (BI) driven—every part—from the navigation, to the workflow, to the most basic transaction. We looked at every business task and from a role-based perspective, asked, “What do I need to know and what do I need to do? Here’s an example: A typical payables manager who uses our systems every day is presented with a menu that has a list of items: invoices, payments, suppliers, and bank accounts. The manager then needs to issue queries to process transactions. In a BI-driven system like Fusion Applications, we proactively alert the manager to what he or she needs to do: “You have five payments whose early discounts are about to expire,” “You have three suppliers on hold,” and “You have seven invoices awaiting your approval.”

Then once they start to process, we tell them what they need to know: the number of times that this supplier has delivered late, the quality of their service, and who gives the best discounts for early payments. Business intelligence becomes more than just metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) after the fact. [It] should help you do business…”

180 View – We like what we hear, and hope that Bruce will continue his good work under new management as Gartner just purchased AMR Research.

noreply@blogger.com (180 Systems) — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 20:25:00 +0000

2009 Finance Book Of Metrics

July 27, 2009 from CFO and sponsored by Deloitte - “No surprise, cost-cutting initiatives are more crucial than ever for executives: “Where will I get the most impact without negatively affecting our ability to serve customers?” “Where can I reduce costs without endangering our ability to rebound quickly when the economy improves?” “Are opportunities the same from one industry to the next?”

Measuring internal strengths and weaknesses — and comparing them against “best-in-class” performance — can help executives in their efforts to identify and mitigate gaps that have the potential to impair the performance of both the finance function and the entire business.

To quantify various improvement opportunities, Deloitte’s Global Benchmarking Center has conducted diagnostic studies of core finance activities:

• Transaction processing
• General accounting and external reporting
• Controls
• Tax and treasury
• Performance management…”

180 View – Unfortunately the metrics are based on a survey of global companies with an average of $2.3 Billion in revenues. The other problem with the report is that many of the suggested “effective practice attributes” (or best practices) sound like motherhood such as “Tools are fully automated, standardized and consistently developed” or “Management information system is fully integrated and automated, thereby allowing for centralized management and operating reporting.” As the report is an executive summary, perhaps there is more useful information in the detailed findings. In any event, Deloitte does provide a useful approach for improving business process.

noreply@blogger.com (180 Systems) — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 20:13:00 +0000

Aligning Business and IT to improve Performance

2008 from Ventana Research and published by BPM Magazine - “…Improving business performance is a goal that cannot be realized without mutual cooperation and alignment between business and IT. In collaboration, IT focuses on architecture, system administration, scalability and performance, security and infrastructure, while business evaluates the practical usability and capabilities of tools being considered and how effectively they can be integrated into organizational and business processes. All parties must ensure that both technical requirements and the business needs are well defined, harmonized and prioritized. Leaving everything to one party or the other can be a sure path to failure…”

180 View – The article’s title is really Aligning Business and IT to improve Performance on SAP but the content is mostly not about SAP and contains some useful advice such as “A related danger is that companies that have made significant investments in a large ERP system such as those from SAP reasonably wish to reduce the total cost of ownership (TCO) as much as possible over the life of the system. One failure-prone way to do this is to use the system for purposes beyond those for which it originally was designed or purchased”

noreply@blogger.com (180 Systems) — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 20:10:00 +0000

Cloud Computing Grows Up

December 22, 2009 from Forbes – “…Over the past year, cloud computing has captured significant attention of CEOs, CIOs and IT personnel alike, as businesses began to investigate the value of moving certain workloads to a cloud model. Facing mounting pressures to provide better services quickly, while reducing costs, many IT decision makers found the economics and capabilities of cloud compelling. Now with analyst firm Gartner's recent proclamation that cloud computing is the number one technology in its annual "Top 10 Strategic Technologies" list, clear that 2009 marked the maturation of this emerging form of computing…”

180 View – When you read the article, you may have some doubts about the “maturity” of the cloud which is still changing shape with the recent introduction of private vs public clouds and open source vs proprietary interfaces.

noreply@blogger.com (180 Systems) — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 20:07:00 +0000

CRM Vendors Prosper by Adding Value To Bottom Line

December 7, 2009 from CRM Daily – “…Worldwide CRM market revenue totaled $9.15 billion in 2008. That's a 12.5 percent increase from 2007 revenue of $8.13 billion, according to Gartner. Enterprise investments in technologies focused on customer retention, analytics and on-demand solutions drove the growth even as new strategies emerged in 2009…

CRM continued to grow through 2009 because it adds value to the bottom line of enterprises looking to do more with less. Three keys to CRM success in a down economy are perfecting low-cost customer service, analyzing and optimizing marketing, and finding warm sales leads through social-networking platforms. This combination, experts agreed, is making CRM software an indispensable tool in the enterprise…

Dow Jones has created a comprehensive mapping of key executives based on their work histories. When coupled with contacts listed in an organization's in-house e-mail such as Microsoft Outlook or opt-in social networks, including LinkedIn, the company said this mapping can provide a path of connections to decision makers. The relationship maps highlight connections of varying degrees of separation, from a mutual contact to a third-degree relationship…”

180 View – We included this article partly because of the metrics related to CRM’s continued growth but also because of the new trend re social networking such as the one described above with Dow Jones. We have not used this tool but it does sound interesting.

noreply@blogger.com (180 Systems) — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 20:02:00 +0000

Contrary Opinion: CRM is a Hoax

November 30, 2009 from SOA World Magazine – “I am going to get a lot of heat for this statement but, truth be told, CRM is a hoax. There is no such thing as CRM. It’s all smoke and mirrors, and you cannot nurture customer relationships (or any other form of relationship) using a bunch of bits. It’s a cop-out. I know of CRM market segments and sizes. I am well aware of CRM dissemination and popularity in corporate America. I don’t question its omnipresence in virtually all businesses in one form or another. My claim, however, is that it does not and cannot work as billed. In numerous cases, it is simply a waste of “feel-good”money…

Now, I’m not saying all companies who use CRM manage customers poorly. Some do get lucky. And others use it as a tool, not a means to an end, which is perfectly fine. What I am pointing out is that customer service quality seems inversely proportional to the resources spent on CRM at the corporate level. And that’s ironic. The problem is in the C-suite. These folks see CRM as a panacea but inherently, deep down, these people do not have customer service “genes”. They have Board of Directors genes, profit margin genes, or MBA ones, but they don’t know the first thing about worshipping customers – It’s a form of autism on their part.

Because in my experience, customer service is not something you can learn on the fly (although I suspect it is taught in business schools). And it’s not something you can acquire via software. Companies, like people, are either born with it or not. It’s a nature not a nurture trait. And no amount of software or resources will change the behavior of a company whose culture isn’t obsessively centered on the customer. It sounds obvious, and everyone talks about it, but most of the time, it’s nothing more than lip service. It’s a sham I tell you…”

180 View – I stumbled upon this blog by Jerome Pineau and thought it was one of the better articles I have read over the last few years. Although I don’t agree with Jerome’s conclusion that CRM is a sham, I do agree with him when he says it is a means to an end. CRM is just like any tool. For example, a carpenter can work wonders with a saw, but in the wrong hands, a saw can not only be a waste of money but also dangerous.

noreply@blogger.com (180 Systems) — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 19:11:00 +0000

Four Dirty Little Secrets of CRM Requirements Lists

December 7, 2009 from ComputerWorld – “In an ERP System, the core functionality has been well defined since the 90's. Some companies might need a different distribution module or a fancier scheduler algorithm, but MRP is pretty much MRP. An accounting system? You'd better not have a lot of creative requirements.

But a CRM system is used by those right-brained types who bring you revenue, and there is significant variation in functional requirements from company to company. Even the precise definition of "CRM" can be debated if you get enough consultants in the room. So it's all too common to have wide-ranging discussions about marketing automation, call center features, SFA, forecasting, order entry, e-commerce, customer support, and customer portals. This makes for a very long feature list to be evaluated, ranked, and budgeted for…

Secret 1 - Features are less important than User Adoption…
Secret 2 - Features are less important than Data Credibility…
Secret 3 - Features are less important than Platform…
Secret 4 - Features are less important than Reliability…”

180 View – We would like to share another “secret” – the writer of this article is also “the author of the new Prentice Hall book, "Salesforce.com Secrets of Success" and is the CEO of SalesLogistix, a certified Salesforce.com consultancy.” Although there is bias in the article, the author could have promoted salesforce based on its functionality. We disagree with the author in what’s important. We have found that the criteria to make the decision varies by company. In some cases, cost is key; in another company, support may be more important… We also disagree with the author’s view on ERP requirements. He is right that basic functionality is not something to worry about in most ERP systems, but ERP systems can differ greatly beyond basic functionality and the same would go for CRM systems.

noreply@blogger.com (180 Systems) — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 19:08:00 +0000

Five Tech Themes for 2010

January 1, 2010 from the New York Times – “It’s hard to believe that a decade ago, there was no Facebook, iPhone, Wikipedia or YouTube. Almost shocking, considering how those entities have shaped a culture around the Internet, disrupted business models and affected how and what information was shared through the Web.

So what big Web themes might we see emerging into the next few years? Based on reporting and informal chats with venture capitalists, here’s a quick guess at what might be big in 2010…”

180 View – The author’s list looks lame to me such as the 1st one which is “The third wave of mobile applications”. I thought one reader’s comment was right on - “It would have been impossible to predict on Jan 1, 2000 that Facebook, the iPod / iPhone, Wikipedia, and Youtube would be just around the corner and have such a huge impact. In fact whatever pundits were predicting in 2000 as having a huge impact in the coming decade was likely trivial compared to the unanticipated things just listed.”

noreply@blogger.com (180 Systems) — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 19:04:00 +0000

IT audits are useless

December 8, 2009 from InfoWorld – “…The problem is that the auditors themselves know so little about IT, so they often ask for something that's either useless or outright ridiculous, even as audits grow in importance. Now, the government is talking about creating more audits for Wall Street, but will extra work really do the trick?...”

180 View – I have been on both sides of the audit fence. Before becoming a CA, I headed up a large IT department and had auditors ask me ridiculous questions too. Later I did some IT auditing with one of the major audit firms and thought our firm at least asked better questions. One continuing problem is that technical people are often scornful of non-technical people who ask technical questions.

noreply@blogger.com (180 Systems) — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 19:00:00 +0000

Happy New Year

You have heard the music countless times by John Lennon in his classic “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)”. There are a number of videos with this song available such as the one at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8jw-ifqwkM but be prepared to be saddened by all the horrible images. I don’t think John Lennon would have approved of the video. It’s too negative without enough hope (or love). I think the most important message is in the first line of the song, which is repeated – “what have you done?” Hopefully we can all answer this question positively for our small circle of friends and family. However it’s a challenge outside that small circle, and there is so much that needs to be done. I wish you health, happiness and success in the coming year.

Here are lyrics to Happy Xmas (War Is Over):

And so this is Christmas, and what have you done?
Another year over, and a new one just begun.
And so this is Christmas, I hope you have fun,
The near and the dear ones, the old and the young.

A very Merry Christmas,
And a Happy New Year.
Let's hope it's a good one,
Without any fear.

And so this is Christmas, for weak and for strong,
For rich and for poor ones, the road is so long.
And so happy Christmas, for black and for white,
For yellow and red ones, let's stop all the fight.

A very Merry Christmas,
And a Happy New Year.
Let's hope it's a good one,
Without any fear.

So this is Christmas, and what have you done?
Another year over, and a new one just begun.
And so happy Christmas, I hope you have fun,
The near and the dear ones, the old and the young.

A very Merry Christmas,
And a Happy New Year.
Let's hope it's a good one,
Without any fear.

noreply@blogger.com (180 Systems) — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 17:06:00 +0000

Left with a legacy

October 2009 from Conspectus and written by Michael Burns – “Legacy systems usually get a bad press. Yet older systems often contain functionality not found in more modern ERP systems, and would be expensive to replace. As well, the legacy system often gets the job done, so many would argue that ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’.

On the other hand, legacy systems clearly lack the improvements made to software over the years, such as a graphical user interface, ad-hoc reporting tools and easy customizations like adding user-defined fields. In addition, the legacy systems are often maintained by ageing boomers, who may not be readily available now and will certainly be less available in the future…"