Software

Interview with Jay Baer on Social Media’s Internal Impact

Posted on 04. May, 2010
Categories: Agile Development, Enterprise 2.0, Interviews, Open Source, Social Media

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I recently did an interview with Jay Baer in which I discuss the internal impact of social media and networking. You can read the entire interview by clicking here.

My CS TechCast Interview on Disruptive Technologies

Posted on 26. Apr, 2010
Categories: Agile Development, Enterprise 2.0, Interviews, Open Source

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I recently did an interview with Eric Beehler in which I discuss disruptive technologies and my new book, The New Wave of Technologies.

When Vendors Attack (Each Other)

Posted on 31. Mar, 2010
Categories: Enterprise Systems, SaaS, Vendors

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If I buy a BMW, for example, do I have to get it serviced at a BMW dealership or can I go across the street? It’s my car. Is the same true if I buy enterprise software? The courts will have to decide.

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Technology Today #13: Ed Brill on Evolving Technologies

Posted on 03. Feb, 2010
Categories: Enterprise 2.0, Social Media, Technology Today, Vendors

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A few weeks ago, I wrote a post entitled When it’s Time to Abandon Ship. You can read the post and the comments yourself, but I was merely trying to convey the very real belief that many people have that a certain application is not terribly user-friendly for a pretty key function these days: email. Long story short, Ed Brill of IBM/Lotus Notes and I subsequently sat down to talk about different the evolution of applications.

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The Future of Enterprise Software: A Podcast with Vince Kellen

Posted on 26. Jan, 2010
Categories: Enterprise 2.0, Enterprise Systems, Technology Today, Vendors

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Thirty years ago, most organizations built their own accounting, HR, payroll, and inventory systems. These days, the vast majority of mid-sized and large organizations use third-party apps. At the same time, terms like Enterprise 2.0 are creeping into the vernacular of technology talking heads like me. To understand the changes taking place as we speak, I recently spoke with fellow Cutter contributor Vince Kellen, CIO at the University of Kentucky.

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Technology Today #11: Mitigating IT Project Risk with Craig Stephens

Posted on 25. Jan, 2010
Categories: IT Project Failures, IT Projects, Software, Technology Today

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A few months ago, ERP software vendor Epicor announced an interesting program designed to help its clients avoid IT project failure. The “Shared Benefits” program takes an innovative approach to addressing problems endemic to many IT projects. In this podcast, Craig Stephens (VP of Servies at Epicor) discusses the impetus and mechanics of the program.

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My Second IT Education

Posted on 20. Jan, 2010
Categories: Agile Development, Business Intelligence, Cloud Computing, Collaboration, Misc. Writing, Web 2.0

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My friend and fellow Wiley author Vinnie Mirchandani writes the popular and well-respected Deal Architect blog. In a guest post, I write about the “real world” IT education that I received working with so many experts on my second book. I also offer a few nuggets from the book on business intelligence, social media, cloud computing, agile software development, and mobile technologies.

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When It’s Time to Abandon Ship

Posted on 19. Jan, 2010
Categories: Applications, Open Source, Technology

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An interesting article in ComputerWorld the other day caught my eye. FewClix announced the introduction of a plug-in for the much-maligned Lotus Notes email application. This post explores the use of plug-ins in Lotus Notes and the overall topic of its UI and user-friendliness.

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Always Be Closing

Posted on 17. Sep, 2009
Categories: IT Project Failures, Vendors

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In my experience, many salespeople act as if they’re in another one of my favorite movies, Glengarry Glen Ross. As personified by Alec Baldwin’s Blake, many salespeople lamentably still adhere to an “Always Be Closing” mentality.

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When Vendors Enter New Territory

Posted on 29. May, 2009
Categories: Enterprise Systems, IT Projects, Vendors

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Vendors that rely on local VARs to sell and implement products face challenges when they attempt to sell “upstream.” In this case, Sage should immediately attempt to forge some type of partnership among its vendors to facilitate successful X3 implementations. Clients whose implementations suffer from a lack of coordination among multiple VARs will serve as anything but a case study for future X3 engagements.

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Client Options When Vendors Raise Annual Support Fees

Posted on 17. May, 2009
Categories: Enterprise Systems, Vendors

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Vendors such as Lawson and SAP have recently announced increases in their annual support fees to many already struggling clients. In any economy, organizations would meet these increases with skepticism. This article details options for organizations in response to these potential increases.

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The Impossibility of Making Everyone Happy

Posted on 18. Mar, 2009
Categories: Enterprise Systems, Vendors

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Training a class this week reminded me of the delicate nature of change. As vendors ostensibly improve their applications’ functionality and user interfaces, every end-user is not going to be happy. Within the same organization and across different ones, different people deal with different system-related changes in vastly different ways.

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When Vendors Decommission Applications

Posted on 10. Feb, 2009
Categories: Vendors

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A recent article in PC World caught my attention. While a vendor decommissioning an “older” applications is hardly news, rare is the organization that will try to fight this in court.