Cloud security: fact or fiction? Data is moving to the clouds at high speeds across all kinds of organizations. But is the data safer than it was when these organizations kept it locked away on their own premises? Unfortunately, cloud security is a complex — and much-discussed — subject that elicits many divergent views. The complexity arises partly because there are different types of cloud, which can carry different risks: The main ones are: software-as-a-service (SaaS): This includes Salesforce and Netsuite, as well as consumer services such as Facebook infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS): Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services platform-as-a-service (PaaS): Google […]
Cloud Computing
WHAT IS THE CLOUD? Where does the “cloud” come from? As webopedia puts it, it’s just a metaphor for the Internet. In cloud computing, you access applications and services via the Web rather than your hard drive. In other words, you use a network of remote servers accessible through the Internet (the cloud) to store, manage, and process data, rather than a local server or a personal computer. With cloud computing, the cloud provider maintains all the servers and other infrastructure, and you typically pay “rent” for whatever service or storage space you are using. With an application, for example, […]
ERP Contract Negotiation | How to negotiate an ERP Contract
An ERP system is a lifetime investment with annual fees in perpetuity. The vendor has standard contracts, which are tough to change, as well as the Statement of Work (SOW), which defines costs, scope, terms, roles & responsibilities… and can be changed: 1. Pick the right time to negotiate Start reviewing the contract when you are close to making your decision and the remaining vendors are doing everything they can to win your business. Don’t wait until the very end, because by then you will have given up most of your negotiating power. And remember, you’re not just negotiating prices […]
ERP Underlying Technology
You don’t want to invest in old technology but it is not always obvious whether the system is using old technology. There are good ERP systems with lots of customers that have been built with old technology. The developers of these old systems are often acquired by large vendors for their customers. The vendor’s strategy will be to migrate the customers of the older technology to the flagship products built with newer technology. The vendors try to make it easy to convert to the new systems but it will inevitably be difficult since some functionality will be lost, staff will […]
Blue Link Review
Our review was written by Michael Burns based on an interview and demonstration by Blue Link in April 2013 Introduction Blue Link Associates Limited is a small Toronto-area company with about 20 employees that competes against NetSuite, some Sage products, and certain industry specific solutions. How can such a small company be successful? When it was first created 21 years ago, Blue Link carved out its niche by providing the “perfect fit methodology” – its own version of customization, which includes fix-price updates calculated as a percentage of the original customization. But a few years ago, it realized the only […]
NetSuite Review
Our review was written by Michael Burns and published in the InfoWorld in June 2012. We have extracted the 1st few paragraphs of the article below and the remainder is available at InfoWorld by hyperlink from the heading below. NetSuite One of the pioneers in cloud computing, NetSuite launched a cloud-based ERP system at a time when SaaS was widely considered risky to both the security and the availability of an organization’s data. Now it is generally recognized that the SaaS provider will probably have more technical resources and expertise than the average organization looking to invest in an ERP […]
PSA Whitepaper
Software Selection for Project-Focused Businesses Business software systems are similar when it comes to basic functionality, but you need to look under the hood for the functionality specific to project–focused businesses (PFBs).This white paper will discuss the major functional differentiators of a PFB system as well as other criteria to consider when making a vendor selection decision. This white paper was sponsored by Deltek. Table of Contents in the white paper Key Functional Differentiators Implementation Process Vendor Viability Technology Support User Groups Cost Click here to obtain the white paper. Software Selection for Project-Focused Businesses Business software systems are similar […]
Replace Legacy Systems?
Don’t know what to do with your legacy system? Legacy systems often contain functionality not found in 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’s not broken, don’t fix it”. Introduction On the other hand, legacy systems lack the improvements made to software over the years such as a graphical user interface, ad-hoc reporting tools and easy customizations such as adding user defined fields. As well, the legacy systems are often maintained by aging boomers, who may not be readily available now and […]
ERP for Life
ERP for Life Not long ago, selecting a new ERP system every 5-10 years was the norm. Organizations did this to stay competitive and because ERP systems were still relatively new. Introduction Vendors were able to attract new customers because they leaped frogged the competition with new features. But now, the more successful products have matured and much of them offer the same basic functionality. Today, organizations typically don’t select and implement a new system unless they have no choice. They have no choice because they are using a legacy system that is no longer supported or their existing system […]
ERP contract Negotiation
How to negotiate software contracts It’s not just about negotiating the price. Vendors will negotiate on large contracts so take the time to get it right. Full article from CAmagazine published in January 2011 A major acquisition such as an ERP system should be considered a lifetime investment.It’s not just a software purchase; it’s a contract that includes maintenance fees, which will exceed the cost of the software in four to five years. A good dose of due diligence is in order not only in testing the software and assessing the vendor, but also in reading the contract. Pick the […]