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Five Ways to Fail at ERP

Business software implementations are notoriously prone to failures, particularly Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems.   Many studies over the years indicate that 20-30% of such projects fail outright, while up to 70% fail to deliver the promised value within the time expected. While nobody sets out to fail, perhaps you may recognize some of these […]

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VIE Networking Relationships

Building and Maintaining Strong Relationships – The Key to Business Success

It has almost become cliché to say that success in business is directly related to people skills. In particular, I’m referring to people skills related to building and managing strong relationships with the right people. Most of us know this intuitively and want to improve the quality and quantity of our network, but attitudes and

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IT Managed Service Providers Contract Essentials

As more companies look to outside vendors for providing technology support, they are entering into contracts with Managed Service Providers (MSPs). There are some essential elements of an MSP contract that you should look for before signing anything. These are typically addressed in the Service Level Agreement (SLA) portion of the contract, but can be

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Three Key Actions to a Successful Acquisition

Integrating two companies is a project with many complexities that must be done right the first time. It is easily one of an organization’s top stressors and disruptors. Three key pre-merger actions you need to take:  Put due diligence on steroids  Assign a Program Manager  Integrate Communication Action 1:  Put Due Diligence on Steroids Due diligence

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Choosing a New ERP System – How to Work With Vendors Effectively

Making the decision to replace an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system is a major undertaking for any organization. The first step is to determine the desired features, budget, and timeline for the project. Next, you will need to engage a vendor to assist with the project. There are key actions to consider when developing a request

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3 Variables for Managing your Business Technology Portfolio

The formula for running and growing any business is fairly simple. There are 3 variables that you need to define to get the right answer for your business and the business technology portfolio. Goals: What do I want to accomplish over time? Strategies: What path am I going to take to get to my goals?

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IT is a Discipline, Not a Department

As management consultants, we hear how a lot of organizations feel about their information systems. Familiar complaints about the IT department include: “The department of NO” “Where good ideas go to die” “A black hole” Not surprisingly, these comments arise when the IT organization is dysfunctional and systems are unstable. However, some of the same

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A VIE CIO is a True CIO, and Speaks Your Language

A True CIO and vCIO are fundamentally different. Increasingly, mid-size businesses are outsourcing their IT support functions such as help desk, server and network management to an IT Managed Service Provider (IT MSP). Within their various service offerings, many of these companies also provide a function called vCIO, or virtual Chief Information Officer. They are

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