News & views - Page 2 of 19

Design, by Design. How PLM Modernizes Apparel Development

March 24, 2026 | 0 Comments | Jeremy Turner

Design is the backbone of every apparel company, but the sheer volume and pace of modern fashion make the design process more complex than ever. Working on multiple seasonal drops, replenishment programs and retail-driven assortments means that apparel companies can manage hundreds or thousands of new designs each year. Before a single style reaches production, it passes through design, merchandising, planning, product development, sourcing, and finance. Each team contributes sketches, BOMs, measurements, costing, vendor quotes and sample reviews. The amount of coordination and cross-functional collaboration can be monumental, which is why many have found implementing a Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) […]

When Technology Due Diligence Doesn’t Move the Needle (1)

When Tech Due Diligence Doesn’t Move the Needle

March 23, 2026 | 0 Comments | Amanda David

Most Technology Due Diligence reports are thorough. Painfully thorough. They catalogue systems, they map infrastructure, they inventory applications with the enthusiasm of someone counting grains of sand on a beach. And yet, after all that work, many of them do not actually change the deal decision. So, I ran a poll in the Forbes Leadership Think Tank community asking a simple question: Where does Tech Due Diligence most often fall short? Results were interesting… None of these surprised me, what surprised me was how evenly they reinforce the same underlying problem. Technology Due Diligence often answers the wrong question because […]

AI in M&A: Useful Intern, Terrible Deal Lead

March 18, 2026 | 0 Comments | Amanda David

AI is having a moment in M&A advisory. Depending on who you ask, it is either quietly transforming how M&A advisory firms operate or about to replace half the diligence ecosystem. Both statements are wrong, but one sells better. The truth sits somewhere in the middle. AI is helpful in M&A. It is not decisive. And it certainly is not accountable. Right now, AI shows up best as an extremely fast, extremely literal intern inside the M&A advisory process. It reads everything. It flags patterns. It never gets tired. It also has absolutely no idea why something matters. That distinction […]

Green Does Not Mean Safe in Technology Due Diligence

February 24, 2026 | 0 Comments | Amanda David

A green technology due diligence report does not mean low integration risk. In this short video, Amanda, Senior Consultant at 180 Systems, explains why stable systems do not guarantee stable dependencies – and why integration lives between teams, not platforms. [/vc_row] […]

Does Automation Lead to Job Layoffs?

February 22, 2026 | 0 Comments | Michael Burns

Andrew Coyne wrote an article in the Globe & Mail on February 12 entitled “The AI job apocalypse is coming. Or is it?” He acknowledges there will be layoffs but there will also be productivity gains, which has historically been a driving force in a growing economy. “AI’s technological advances may not cost workers their jobs, but enhance them, allowing each to produce more with the same effort.” I think they will also be able to focus on more value-added services, which could lead to new business and a growing company. It’s too early to know what will happen for […]

The Break-Up Before V-Day: How M&A Advisory Teams Carve Out a Business Without Tech Damage

February 11, 2026 | 0 Comments | Amanda David

While some relationships are solidified over Valentine’s Day, others are meant to end. Some end quietly. Some end loudly. And some end with a carefully negotiated carve-out, multiple lawyers on speed dial, and a shared ERP that refuses to let go. For M&A Advisory firms, carve-outs are the corporate equivalent of a grown-up breakup. Everyone agrees it is for the best. Everyone promises to stay professional. And then technology gets involved and reminds both sides why this was complicated in the first place. From an M&A Advisory and execution standpoint, carve-outs are not about separation alone. They are about survival. […]

For the Love of Scheduling, and Other Affairs in Field Service

January 26, 2026 | 6566 Comments | Amanda David

Scheduling in field service always starts with good intentions. Somewhere, usually the night before, a clean, logical schedule exists. It has neat time slots, sensible travel paths, and a comforting sense of order. Then the day begins, and scheduling immediately reminds everyone that it has a personality of its own. On paper, scheduling looks like a math problem. In real life, it behaves more like a relationship. It is emotional. It is unpredictable. And it has a habit of going off-plan the moment you stop paying attention. The first misunderstanding usually happens around availability. A technician appears free on the […]

Break it to them gently

January 15, 2026 | 505 Comments | Michael Burns

The linked song “Break it to them gently” has nothing to do with subject of letting the vendors know what is happening during the contract negotiation phase of a software selection project. By this time, the vendors have worked hard in responding to an RFP, prepared for/conducted demonstrations and have spent a lot of time trying hard to win your business. At some point, you need to let the vendors know what is happening. You could wait until the very end, but in our opinion, that’s not the right way. Preferred Vendor You want the preferred vendor to be competitive […]

The Value of Independent Consulting Services

January 15, 2026 | 799 Comments | Michael Burns

Most organizations don’t use independent consulting services to help with the selection of a new system. They may think they have the expertise already and that independent consultants will add unnecessary costs. Although we are independent in terms of vendor neutrality, we are clearly not independent in recommending independent consultants. However, we think that there is a misconception about the value independent consultants provide, which is the reason for writing this article. Save you time We have a proven methodology with the knowledge, templates and processes that makes the selection process go relatively quickly. Time delays occur while waiting for […]

The January Reality Check: Technology and the First 100 Days After a Merger

January 6, 2026 | 495 Comments | Amanda David

January has a way of sobering everyone up. The decorations come down, inboxes refill, and that ambitious end-of-year deal suddenly becomes very real. The contracts are signed, the announcements are out, and now someone has to make the merger actually work. This is where the first 100 days quietly decide whether the deal settles in nicely or becomes the thing everyone politely avoids talking about by March. Post-merger integration is often framed as a people and process exercise, but technology is the backbone holding the whole plan upright. You can have alignment workshops, leadership town halls, and beautifully worded vision […]