News & views - 180Systems

This is Christmas and what have you done?

December 16, 2025 | 0 Comments | Michael Burns

John Lennon asks a good question, and hopefully we have done good deeds in the past year. Although we are not able to solve the many big problems in the world, we can all make a big difference to our families and friends as well as a little difference to all the people we meet briefly. I am fortunate to meet so many people who work for our clients or who are offering services to our clients. Our objective is to become a trusted advisor to our clients, and we try hard to make a positive difference. It’s harder on […]

Looking back

December 16, 2025 | 0 Comments | Michael Burns

180 Systems is having our best year with revenue growth of about 40% over last year. It’s ironic that we are growing so quickly now, when as some of you know, I have been doing this kind of work for a very long time. In fact, most of my colleagues, friends and even my spouse retired years ago. The reasons for growth have a lot to do with my partner, Alex Miles, who is young, smart and ambitious. We have also hired a great team – there are 8 of us now and hopefully you will have the opportunity to […]

The Canvas Behind the Field Service Showpiece (1)

From Shadows to Structure: The Canvas Behind the Field Service Showpiece

December 11, 2025 | 0 Comments | Amanda David

Field service looks simple from a distance. A customer calls, a technician arrives, the problem gets fixed, and everyone moves on with their day. In reality, it resembles a Rembrandt painting. What appears calm from across the room reveals far more depth and tension when you step closer. The surface may look tidy, but the truth lives in the low light. The most common field service problems rarely burst in like a spotlight. They behave more like the shadows Caravaggio and Da Vinci loved to paint, subtle and creeping in from the edges. They hide in small inefficiencies and only […]

Why Technology Due Diligence Matters Before a Merger (3)

The Holiday Surprise You Do Not Want: Why Technology Due Diligence Matters Before a Merger

December 11, 2025 | 0 Comments | Amanda David

Mergers often feel like the corporate version of the holidays. There is excitement, anticipation, big plans, and the optimistic belief that everything will come together beautifully. But just like the holidays, the part that looks magical on the outside usually hides a fair amount of scrambling behind the scenes. And while leaders gather around the deal table making lists and checking them twice, technology due diligence somehow gets treated like the last-minute gift someone remembers on the way to the party. A quick stop, a rushed decision, and a hope that everything works out. Spoiler alert: it usually does not. […]

The AI Boom is a House of Cards

November 19, 2025 | 0 Comments | Michael Burns

The Freepress published an article “Open AI’s House of Cards“, on November 17, 2025. There’s a lot to unpack in this article, but the highlights are: AI companies account for 80 percent of the gains in U.S. stocks this year. ChatGPT is only three years old, and its burn rate (the amount of money it loses each quarter) may be the highest in history. ChatGPT is more of an upgrade on Google Search than a productivity-raising miracle. The bulk of ChatGPT use is by people seeking practical guidance, information, or technical help. By contrast, according to an MIT study, 95 […]

M&A Without the Migraine

November 18, 2025 | 0 Comments | Amanda David

Everyone loves a merger until someone opens the shared drive. Suddenly, the spreadsheets do not match, half the files are named “final_v7,” and the CFO is wondering why there are three versions of the customer database. The headlines make mergers and acquisitions sound glamorous, but anyone who has lived through one knows it is more caffeine than champagne. The part that rarely makes the press release is the operational reality. The systems, data, and processes that quietly keep businesses running do not always get along. Integration becomes the invisible risk that can turn an impressive deal into a slow-motion headache. […]

Friends Don’t Let Vendors Drive Demos

November 12, 2025 | 0 Comments | Jeremy Turner

When I was in ERP software sales, I knew exactly where my product shined. In early demos, I led with the most advanced and polished features, often contorting the narrative to make my best tools and features fit the prospect’s workflow. I knew that if decision-makers left believing that my software was sophisticated and user-friendly, I’d already won half the battle. They would influence their team to think of my offering favorably, which would give me a leg up when I finally had to show end users the less attractive elements of the system during days-long, marathon demonstrations. It’s hard […]

A Project Manager’s Spooky Season Survival Guide

October 16, 2025 | 1 Comments | Nelofer Dawer

October is here — the season of pumpkins, cobwebs, and mysterious late-night project calls. While most people are decorating their homes with skeletons, ERP Project Managers are busy exorcising their own ghosts: scope creep, zombie timelines, and phantom data. So grab your pumpkin spice latte, light a metaphorical campfire, and let’s share a few ERP horror stories every PM knows too well… The ERP Horror Stories The Ghost Stakeholder They appeared at the Kickoff… and then vanished into thin air. No sign-offs. No feedback. But like any good ghost, they’ll reappear months later asking, “Wait, when did we agree to […]

We’ll Never Do That Again… Until We Do: Why Lessons Learned Matter in Project Management

October 14, 2025 | 1 Comments | Amanda David

There are two kinds of project teams. The ones who swear, “We’ll never do that again,” and then do exactly that again. The ones who run lessons learned and actually change how they work. Only one of these teams finishes with fewer scars and more cake. Lessons learned are the unglamorous secret sauce of project management. They are part detective work, part therapy, part continuous improvement. And yes, they can be funny, because if we cannot laugh at the time we deployed to production on a Friday, we might cry. The serious bit: what lessons learned actually do 1) […]

PM Guide for Back to School

September 18, 2025 | 0 Comments | Amanda David

Executive summary Operation Back to School launches at first bell. Objective: deliver small stakeholders to the correct building with shoes on feet, food in bags, and tears at or below acceptable thresholds. Success metric: nobody cries before 8:00 a.m., stretch goal includes the parent. Project charter Sponsor: whoever pays for the supplies. Project Manager: you. Business case: education is essential, and you need your laptop back. Objectives: T-0 arrival with correct backpack and a face that has met toothpaste. Repeatable morning routine with fewer than five escalations. Homework closure rate at or above 90 percent by Week 3. Scope control […]