Articles

Podcast on SaaS and Cloud-Based BI

Posted on 12. Jul, 2010
Categories: Business Intelligence, Cloud Computing, SaaS, Tech Target

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In this podcast with Craig Stedman of TechTarget, I discuss SaaS, cloud computing, and BI.

MIKE2.0

Posted on 01. May, 2010
Categories: MIKE2.0

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In May of 2010, I agreed to join MIKE2.0 as a featured contributor. You can read my thoughts on open source information management, emerging technologies, and all things data.

How Not to Run an IT Project: A Case Study

Posted on 09. Mar, 2010
Categories: Cutter, Enterprise Systems

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The reasons for, and statistics on, IT project failures are well known and cited. However, because so many organizations attempt to hide their dirty laundry, rarely do we see an insider’s account of the precise points at which a project derailed. In this Executive Report for the Cutter Consortium, a case study examines these issues at one organization in the midst of a major system migration.

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DataFlux

Posted on 15. Nov, 2009
Categories: DataFlux

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Read all of my posts on the Data Flux Community of Experts by clicking on the “Continue Reading” icon on the left.

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Systems Breakdown Case Study: A Square Peg and a Round Hole

Posted on 01. Jun, 2009
Categories: Articles, Cutter, Enterprise Systems, IT Project Failures, Project Management

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Every organization uses software applications to support its business processes. Some organizations buy, some build, and some rent software as a service (SaaS). Buying and integrating proprietary applications are sometimes complicated by M&A activity. Acquired or merged organizations often use different applications and systems than their new owners.

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System Challenges in a Recession

Posted on 15. Apr, 2009
Categories: Articles, Data Issues

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These days, rare is the organization undertaking a major system initiative. On the contrary, many organizations are struggling to survive and carry out basic operations, trying to do more with fewer employees. This article focuses on system considerations for organizations in lean economic times with respect to enterprise systems.

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The Burnt Hand Teaches Best: Financial Firms Turn the Corner on New Systems

Posted on 01. Apr, 2009
Categories: Articles, Enterprise Systems, IT Project Failures

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While there is no secret sauce to building and implementing client-facing systems, financial firms tend to minimize failure rates by utilizing ISVs and extensively documenting business requirements. Seasoned ISVs allow firms to quickly create and roll out custom applications that can increase firm revenue, profitability, and ROI. With respect to enterprise and back office systems, however, financial firms should not try to build from scratch. They realize no competitive advantage from payroll vendors or employees. In this sense, financial firms tend to have many of the same issues as the rest of the corporate world.

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Traditional or Milestone Consulting: Which is Best?

Posted on 24. Mar, 2009
Categories: Articles, Consulting, Recession, Training

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In a traditional consulting arrangement, a firm deploys a team of full-time individuals at a client site for forty hours per week, typically four days at ten hours per day per consultant. Conversely, under milestone consulting, a client employs a consulting firm to check in with them on a regular basis, ensuring that the project is both meeting its individual goals and, from a broader perspective, remains on track. A client will often utilize a hybrid consultant–equal parts project manager, techie, and application expert–to visit on site every two weeks or so. Now that the definitions are out of the way, let’s discuss each in more detail.

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Suppressing values to minimize the number of tables in a Crystal Report

Posted on 02. Feb, 2009
Categories: Reporting

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A simple rule of reporting is that adding tables and views increases the amount of time for the report to run. Many first-time report writers believe that you have to add multiple instances of a table in order to derive different totals, such as month-to-date, year-to-date, etc. You don’t.

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One Report, Multiple Report Output Options in Crystal Reports

Posted on 02. Feb, 2009
Categories: Reporting

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This tip shows you how to create one Crystal Report with multiple display options.

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Avoiding Lawson Absence Management Mishaps

Posted on 30. Jan, 2009
Categories: Lawson

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Many Lawson clients will soon be faced with upgrading from Time Accrual (TA) to Absence Management (LP). According to my less-than-scientific methods, a great many clients have not yet made the plunge. The plank is burning; Lawson is decommissioning TA at the end of May 2010. In this article, originally posted in the Lawson Guru Newsletter, I describe one issue that many people encounter during setup.

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Cutter Executive Updates and Advisors

Posted on 20. Jan, 2009
Categories: Cutter

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In January of 2009, I began writing for the Cutter Consortium. This page contains links to my Cutter pieces.

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Crystal Reporting: A Case Study

Posted on 29. Oct, 2008
Categories: Reporting

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A client of mine recently had an interesting reporting request: Can you build a report detailing any changes in employee status and the personnel actions (excluding rehires and new hires) associated with them? Read this Crystal case study to see how the order of joins on tables is essential.

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Lawson FMLA Plans: Setup

Posted on 01. Oct, 2008
Categories: Articles, Lawson

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Lawson’s Absence Management (LP) allows organizations to do a superior job of reporting on employee leaves of absence compared to its predecessor, Time Accrual. This article shows you how to set up a Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) plan in LP. There may be other ways to do this, but I have found this way to be very effective in tracking employee leaves.