Solution

What is your ERP, a commodity or a solution?

  • Post comments:4 Comments
  • Reading time:6 mins read

imageYears ago, when I didn’t know what consultant was, let alone thought about eventually becoming one, I was sitting in a cafe in Zagreb with then my boss and now my friend Marko, sipping cream with coffee and mostly sharing random thoughts. He then introduced me to a commodity-convenience-solution concept which shaped a lot my customer approach and my work.

You might be a customer of an ERP. Or you might be a company offering implementation services to customers. In any case, this post is for you—how you think about your ERP implementation project(s).

(more…)

Continue ReadingWhat is your ERP, a commodity or a solution?

10 reasons that make design absolutely necessary

  • Post comments:6 Comments
  • Reading time:14 mins read

Unfinished buildings, by net_efekt (on Flickr)Design is one of a kind. Other phases in Sure Step are understood and accepted as good and necessary. But design, do we really do that? Is it really necessary? Who’s going to pay for it? Does the customer really need all those documents? Instead of writing documents, you could have it developed in the same, or less time. And so on and so forth.

As a matter of fact, if you asked me to pick one single most important phase in a Sure Step project, then it’s the design. No second thoughts here, whatsoever.

Here I list the ten most important reasons that I believe make design absolutely indispensable.

(more…)

Continue Reading10 reasons that make design absolutely necessary

Sure Step in action: business process change

  • Post comments:3 Comments
  • Reading time:6 mins read

Service Providers (or colloquially partners) often refrain from undertaking organization or process changes during implementation projects of Microsoft Dynamics solutions. And it comes as no surprise: there are many risks related to it, and customizations are taken as a more traditional approach.

Customizations are easy to predict, they do come at risk, but at least the risks are known and often easily managed entirely within service provider’s organization and reach, while organizational change is unpredictable, and often exceeds consultants’ knowledge, experience and expertise.

However, with or without intention or consent, organizational change will always happen. No solution has ever been 100% fit, and since the customer must do their business with the solution, the remainder from fit to 100% will always and without exception be satisfied with an unmanaged, unintentional, but evolutionary process change.

Instead of leaving it all to chance, Sure Step offers much better ways.

(more…)

Continue ReadingSure Step in action: business process change

I don’t know

  • Post comments:0 Comments
  • Reading time:6 mins read

image

You are consulting for a customer, and they ask you:

– “There is a problem with setup for this item, when I calculate the requisition plan, the system suggests purchasing it, while I have it on another location, and I’d like it to suggest transferring it from that location, instead of purchasing it. Can you fix it?”

Assume you aren’t completely sure in the answer. What do you tell them? What do you do?

(more…)

Continue ReadingI don’t know

Top 5 qualities of a great Microsoft Dynamics consultant

  • Post comments:10 Comments
  • Reading time:8 mins read

image My last two posts have been a detour from my regular themes, into something that might remind you of human resources. I’ve explained what Microsoft Dynamics consultant does, and how it looks through phases of Sure Step implementation, and I promised to conclude this journey with explaining what I believe to be the 5 most important qualities every great Microsoft Dynamics application consultant must posses. So, here you go.

(more…)

Continue ReadingTop 5 qualities of a great Microsoft Dynamics consultant