Curb My Enthusiasm
When I saw this Forrester report noting that "41% [of companies] say they will rely on their ERP vendors for supply chain solutions" it dawned on me that mediocrity is alive and well in the software market. Not that there is anything wrong with SAP and Oracle, but neither vendor has anything near a complete solution to critical supply chain areas as multi-echelon planning and inventory optimization, supply chain risk management, trade management (despite what they may say), sourcing optimization / decision support, and contract management, among other areas, which are critical to managing complex supply chains in today's environment. Given these findings, I suppose we'll be hearing more stories like this in the future from this 41%. Regarding Forrester's headline that "Accenture comes out on top as a key supply chain consulting partner", I would turn off the Larry David re-runs and spend some reading time tonight to check out the supply chain field qualifications of the firm in question.
- Jason Busch
- Jason Busch
I called it the cult of corporate addiction.
Just as an addict often acts irrationally, making decisions that are often against his or her self interest. Many companies continue to act the same way when selecting business software. They know their next ERP investment may be bad for them. They know there are "healthier" options available. And they know that with each new investment, they are becoming more beholden to their dealer...er ERP provider. Yet they continue to buy that next module.
For example, when considering sourcing optimization solutions, the CPO at one of the largest food and beverage companies in the world once told me, "It will be three more years before [our ERP] vendor will have the optimization capabilities we need. And, by then, [the best of breed solutions] will be offering far greater functionality. But we've already invested more than $2 billion in [X ERP system]. There's really no way we can't select [this ERP provider]."
This mindset may make things easier on your IT department (although unlikely) but it won't provide a competitive edge in the marketplace.
The real question Forrester's finding raises: Is the flip side of this finding that 59% of enterprises finally realize that waiting for Godot...er...their ERP vendor to catch up on the functionality front is a losing proposition.
If the future of competition is not between companies but between global supply chains, then the winners will be those that augment their organization structures, processes, and strategies with truly innovative technologies that provide a competitive advantage.