Yearly Archives: 2009

A look back: February 2009

  • Reading time:7 mins read

Another month is over, and in my recently established tradition, I’m taking a look back at the past month to give you an overview of developments around NavigateIntoSuccess.com.

This was both a great month, and a rough month for me. Rough, because I had terrible hosting issues, and great because in spite of that, you visited this blog regularly and engaged in discussions more than ever before. Thanks!

So, let’s take a short overview of what this blog did in February 2009.

Continue ReadingA look back: February 2009

How to prevent failure: project education

  • Reading time:3 mins read

According to Standish Group, top causes of failed IT project are these:

  • lack of end-user engagement,
  • unclear specification,
  • changes in scope,
  • lack of management support,
  • lack of planning,
  • unrealistic and unclear goals.

I haven’t seen too many failed Microsoft Dynamics NAV implementation projects, but those that I did see fail, have failed precisely for a selection of these reasons.

Take a closer look at the list above. Doesn’t it seem that the blame lays mostly on the customer? But is it really customer’s fault?

Continue ReadingHow to prevent failure: project education

Microsoft Dynamics NAV events and webcasts

  • Reading time:2 mins read

image There is a fantastic website that I haven’t been aware of yet: Enterprise Resource Planning: Accelerate Your Business Toward Profit, on Microsoft’s Events and Webcasts portal. Thanks to Fred Mackie for bringing it to my attention.

The website delivers huge amounts of on-demand webcasts for all four Microsoft Dynamics ERP products for existing and prospect customers, but also some valuable content for Microsoft partners.

Continue ReadingMicrosoft Dynamics NAV events and webcasts

Associazione Marittima di Sabioncello

  • Reading time:5 mins read

A short story about maritime trading, steamboats and Microsoft’s Azure Services Platform in short to mid-term ERP and Microsoft Dynamics NAV perspective

Barque "Eber", AMS, 1870 This is a story of a business which failed, and it didn’t have to. It had all the capital and resources it needed to grow, it held a solid share in an expanding market. And yet, they failed.

Associazione Marittima di Sabioncello (AMS), or Maritime Society of Pelješac, was a shipping company founded in 1865 in Orebić, a small coastal town of southern Croatia. They grew to a fleet of 33 sailing ships, they shipped worldwide, their business expanded so much that eventually they built their own shipyard. Allegedly, they were one of the biggest and most prosperous maritime merchant companies in the Mediterranean.

And then an innovation came along, which ruined them.

Continue ReadingAssociazione Marittima di Sabioncello

Why is add-on better than custom, any day?

  • Reading time:5 mins read

image Implementation is like marriage. For better or worse, you choose a piece of software, take it under your roof and commit to it for a long term, so help you God.

And as in marriage, if you want to live happily ever after with your new software, the my way or the highway attitude doesn’t help much—you must be open to compromise.

Last Monday, I argued for avoiding customizations if at all possible, an argument I stand by firmly. It’s like forcing your wife to color her hair pink. I don’t know about your wife, but mine doesn’t color her hair pink. If you like it pink, it’s probably something to think about before turning your yes in.

But NAV is NAV, isn’t it? It has what it has, and if I need it different, I have to customize it, right?

Wrong. You can compromise.

Continue ReadingWhy is add-on better than custom, any day?

Top 12 Microsoft Dynamics NAV features to defeat recession

  • Reading time:6 mins read

imageThere are three kinds of people: those who watch things happen, those who make things happen, and those who wonder what happened.

The world is in crisis. Some countries are hit harder than the others, some markets have sunk deeper than the others, but the effects of global economic recession are obvious, and if the crisis didn’t hit you yet, fasten your seatbelt—it surely will.

With the whole world wondering what’s going on, the winners will be those who learn to navigate the troubled waters and make things happen. This is much easier with a piece of good business management software, such as Microsoft Dynamics NAV.

Continue ReadingTop 12 Microsoft Dynamics NAV features to defeat recession

Microsoft Dynamics NAV Developer Center

  • Reading time:1 min read

Somehow I’ve missed it earlier, but a wealth of information for developers, architects and technical consultants specializing in Microsoft Dynamics NAV is now available on MSDN in the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Developer Center.

While some of the resources there still forward you to PartnerSource, which won’t work for you if you are not a Microsoft Partner, many links will take you to publicly available information, documentation and tools that you can use to sharpen your Microsoft Dynamics NAV technical skills. Spiced up with a digest of Microsoft Dynamics NAV technical blogs, it can be a good morning coffee companion. Definitely worth your click!

Continue ReadingMicrosoft Dynamics NAV Developer Center

Follow me on Twitter.com

  • Reading time:1 min read

Someone has tweeted about my blog yesterday. Was that you?

Seeing twitter.com in a list of websites sending traffic my way pumped a dose of adrenaline up my arteries: if you find this blog worth tweeting about, then it must be… well, worth tweeting about. Thanks!

The ultimate effect is this: I opened a Twitter account. That’s something that I have planned for a few months, but never thought I had time for it. How young and foolish I have been! It took me about 47 seconds to both open the account and tweet a Hello World of a sort.

I look forward to seeing you on Twitter. If it’s likewise, follow me on http://twitter.com/vjekob.

Continue ReadingFollow me on Twitter.com

Top 7 reasons why to avoid (much) customization

  • Reading time:6 mins read

image To customize or not to customize, that is the question. When you see a complex business process far from the standard ERP system, a knee-jerk reaction is to reach for customization tools and do the development.

Many ERP theorists say that ERP is only as good as it is an exact match for your processes. And they are mostly right about it. But majority of ERP systems are very generic (Microsoft Dynamics NAV included), and to exactly match your processes, they require customization. When it doesn’t work out-of-the-box, you customize it, it’s that simple, isn’t it?

It’s not, sorry.

Continue ReadingTop 7 reasons why to avoid (much) customization

Do you trust your vendor: 9 good reasons to reveal your project budget up front

  • Reading time:5 mins read

imageLast week I participated in a discussion about budgets and whether you should ask your potential customers their budget. It made me think: how often do customers reveal their project budgets before the consultants bid?

From my personal experience—not too often. What a waste! Of time, money, and opportunity.

Continue ReadingDo you trust your vendor: 9 good reasons to reveal your project budget up front