To get a better idea of how data sharing can benefit both manufacturers and customers, Dennis paid a visit to Chris Moore, Director, Hi-Technology Group Ltd., an SMB based in the UK and Slovakia. Hi-Tech has chosen to implement the ION extension from Infor in order to expand the service element of its business. With ION in place, once key customer agreements are entered into the system, Hi-Tech can show the client where the product is – at any stage.

Chris believes that Infor’s solution takes the guesswork out of the manufacturing process. That means visibility into where the product is from a scheduling standpoint – at all points. In the long run, that means better customer relationships.

As for future plans, Hi-Technology Group wants to push the data to mobile devices so that employees, salespeople and executives can look at the business from wherever they are in the world. As Dennis points out, that’s hardly the way business used to be done. There’s a whole new level of tech-enabled service capability now.

Show Notes

:37  Hi-Tech specializes in working with customers at any or all stages of the product process

1:19  Hi-Tech uses technology to interface with customers on the same level as larger companies

2:14  Infor’s ION extension takes guesswork out of the manufacturing process

3:09  How ION helps Hi-Tech provide a better customer experience

3:57  Data sharing allows customer and company to have a “level understanding of the product”

4:14  Hi-Tech hopes to push the data onto customer-supplied mobile devices

5:19  Pushing data directly to customers would add a significant service component – and value

When the Lotus Formula One Racing Team began evaluating new ERP solutions, they settled on  Microsoft Dynamics AX. Dennis caught up with Phil Kennard, Commercial Manager, Lotus F1, at Microsoft Convergence 2013 to gain some insight into Phil’s successful implementation of AX.

The guys discuss issues with implementing an ERP solution for a racing car team, which, Phil says, is just another company that makes widgets – albeit very fast, very sexy widgets. Due to the specialized nature of F1 resource restrictions – such as competition agreements that dictate which racing teams can use resources like wind tunnels and trap testing – Phil needed a unique solution. One key variable? He needed the ability to see where he stood regarding his usage agreements at the touch of a button. Under the old system, that process would have taken at least three days. As Dennis points out, that’s 2 and a half days too long.

As Phil sees it, the key challenge to adopting a new ERP solution lies in getting user buy-in – not an easy thing when you’re pushing to build race cars. So far, F1 users have responded well to the AX rollout approach.  Dennis and Phil agree to check back in a year for a progress report.

Show Notes

:42 The search to implement a new ERP solution

1:55 Reference checking was key decision making factor

2:29 Phase One implementation: finance, HR and payroll happened

3:28 No margin for error in the race car industry

4:16 2 ½ days saved in process monitoring time

5:26 Driving user adoption of AX

6:29 Team members with AX and other ERP experience helped push the implementation

7:18 The absolute focus required of F1 activities also helped ease the adoption of AX

At SAPPHIRE Now Madrid, Vincent Santacroce of Poste Italiane stopped by the JD-OD studio to talk  about how Poste Itialiane was able use SAP’s mobile platform  to rollout out a last mile solution to postal workers in Italy.

As can be expected, there was some natural resistance to new technology from mail workers – Santacroce explains how that was overcome through close collaboration, and involving them in the rollout process.  He discusses how the 500 person pilot was eventually rolled out to 12,000 postal workers (and counting).

In any project of this magnitude there has to be an ROI. Santacroce was able to provide both “soft” and “hard” metrics, from increased job satisfaction to a 15 percent increase in first time delivery rates.  Santacroce also discusses Afaria ‘s capabilities and how it matched up with Poste Italiane’s requirements.

Show notes

0:30 Rollout strategy with postal workers

1:02 How did the postal workers respond?

1:51 From pilot to broader business case

2:40 Mobile impact on the daily lives of postal workers

3.33 Measuring the benefits on the ground – 15% improvement on mail delivery

4:48 How Afaria meets device management platform needs

Supporting the food and catering industries means providing supplies in their freshest state. But there is the problem of serving a high volume of customers without becoming impersonal. New approaches to data – and giving customers more visibility into that data – can help.

To find out more, Dennis talked with Reynolds Catering Supplies about how they’ve achieved some of these goals with the M3 system from Infor. On site at Infor 2012, Dennis spends a few minutes each with CEO Tony Reynolds and Head of Business Systems, Richard Calder.

Reynolds wants to do business the way his grandfather did: Face-to-face for maximum customer support. With the sheer volume of customers he has, though, and with their needs increasing, Reynolds looked to Infor M3 to help him win the logistics wars.

Calder points out that, while M3 has performed very well so far, even more innovative solutions are needed. Sensor technologies, for instance, have potential but are still prone to error. And he says that there are still plenty of inefficiencies to eliminate, such as replacing handheld stock picking technology with hands-free, voice-activated devices.

:29 How M3 helps Reynolds Catering use data to create customer intimacy

2:03 Why businesses increasingly trust the data from Reynolds

3:01 Data solutions must keep up with complexity of demand

4:14 Sensor technology – promising, but poses new logistical challenges

5:53 ROI on using voice-activated picker technologies

In 2012, Hillarys Blinds made the move from Windows Mobile to SAP mobility and Android solutions. At SAPPHIRE Now Madrid, Julian Bond, chief communications and technology officer at Hillarys Blinds, dropped by the JD-OD studio to give us the inside view on what happened.

Bond discusses the phasing out of Windows Mobile and how, despite encountering a steep learning curve, the changeover to developing an in-house Android app has provided a strong platform for future development.

Developing in-house was a priority for Hillarys Blinds. Bonds explains how they identified internal mobile requirements and built on the SUP platform. Neglecting users in development is always a danger;  Bond shares the lessons learned.

Show notes

0:45 Hillarys Blinds’ mobility efforts date back to 2004

1:07 The motivations behind the new Android app

2:20 Feedback from the field on the new app

2:50 Challenges faced when developing for the Android platform

3:18 Security and device management issues

4:08 Advice for customers in the prototyping stage

Vaillant has been using SAP BW on HANA for about 6 months now and the results have been interesting to say the least. On the last day of SAPPHIRE NOW Madrid, we sat down with Mamun Natour, Head of SAP BI for Vaillant, and got his view of BW on HANA after go-live.

This was our most significant HANA customer interview to date for two reasons: Natour has had time to run the post-go-live numbers and truly assess the value. Also: this was the first BW on HANA customer story we have done where the BW on HANA system is running not in parallel, but as THE go-to BW system.

Some of the noteworthy figures he shared with us: from 12 servers to 3, from 35 hours to just 1 hour of report processing time, and 80 million euros to the good. Listen in on our conversation with to find out just what these numbers mean and how they were able to achieve them. We also got Natour to give his views on ERP on HANA, surely to be a big topic of SAP market conversation in 2013.

Show Notes

:42 Working with SAP BW on HANA – Has it delivered?

2:11 Key differences include simplified structure and easier administration

3:04 Infrastructure benefits: From 12 to 3 servers

3:38 Better analytics and reporting: From 2 days to 1 hour

4:47 Reducing working capital by millions

5:19 Would Natour recommend HANA to other potential users?

6:14 Thoughts on ERP on HANA – Does he see Valliant using it down the road?

It’s always worthwhile to talk to a customer that has gone live on new SAP products, in this case SAP Sales OnDemand. Even better when that customer can articulate why the product stood out and how the value was actually measured. We got both in this interview with Rolf Schumann, General Manager, Rieber.

While talking with Jon about Sales OnDemand versus other CRM tools, Schumann gets into some very interesting issues regarding CRM user adoption. For Schumann, ease of use trumps perfect functionality every time. He provides examples on how Rieber measured higher level of adoption and productivity by the sales team after go-live.

Show Notes

.56 Rieber’s business model: kitchen infrastructure

1.26 Rieber needs CRM tools that salespeople actually like to use

2.13 Why Rieber chose SAP Sales OnDemand

3.40 Easy adoption matters more than functionality

5.55 The actual value gained by adopting Sales OnDemand

7.20 What are the right measures for CRM success?

To get a customer view on enterprise mobility, we sat down with Tito Toivala of Sonera at SAPPHIRE Now Madrid. After Jon valiantly gets through some tricky pronunciations in the introduction, the guys dig into how Sonera’s telecommunications background has given the company an early start on mobility.

Tito talks about Sonera’s recent mobile projects and how they have measured the results in terms of increased productivity and end user adoption.  Tito advises SAP customers looking to get started with SAP mobility to identify processes that involve speed, huge transactions and broad employee needs. No conference interview would be complete without some banter, so Jon gets Tito to share his outlook for Windows 8 mobile.

Show Notes

0.43 Telia Sonera’s telecomm experience – a mobile advantage

1.28 Recent SAP mobile projects

2.15 How mobile apps improved business results

3.03 End user productivity – survey results

4.45 Advice to other SAP customers: start mobile small but “roll it out big”

7.05 Will windows 8 be successful?

Prior to his presentation at the Cloud Computing World Forum on the Future of Software, John Harris of GSK spoke with the JD-OD team about the impact of cloud. As the chair of the UK Corporate IT Forum, Harris has an on-the-ground view of how CIOs view the cloud.  Harris shares his view of how the cloud changes how we view and consume software. He also touches on the disruption this is causing CIOs (and IT departments).  As Harris puts it, “I’m not excited about the cloud because I can put a server up quickly.” He sees a much more transformational impact.

Show Notes

:40 Does the cloud make software irrelevant?

1:50 Why the cloud is disrupting IT departments

2:50 How should CIOs respond, and does security come into play?

3:45 “Open up the crown jewels to developers”

We always like to hear from customers. They provide the essential gut check for any technology and provide invaluable insights into what’s really happening on the ground.

In this conversation Den recorded with Camelot’s Allan Martin, business systems technical manager, we learn how HANA is changing the way the business looks at analysis and the opportunities it affords. For those that don’t know, Camelot is the UK’s National Lottery operator which is chartered with raising money for good causes.

Show notes:

0:33 – What is Camelot?

0:48 – What is Camelot looking for in its data?

1:16 – How difficult is the task?

1:58 – What is Camelot expecting from HANA and how is it being tested?

2:36 – What are the initial performance results?

3:06 – What are the current limitations?

4:10 – HANA takes all limitations away

5:01 – What kinds of new questions can be asked?

5:48 – How can we make business analysts more effective?

7:03 – What else can we do and how does it change the shape of business intelligence?

Disclosure: This is part of a project commissioned by SAP to surface innovation among the developer community

Mobile is a hot topic and in this discussion, Allan Davies, Asia Pacific CIO, Dematic Pty Ltd duscusses his company’s approach to the topic in an Infor setting.

Show Notes

1:16 – What is the mobile story for Dematic? Security v BYOD

2:06 – How do we get these devices onto the network securely and add a business value?

3:12 – What do you want to know when in the field?

4:14 – Where are you up to now? ION enhances mobile and other applications

6:05 – We can’t hold it back, so we have to accomodate everyone’s needs

7:14 – How ION helps in this context, driving efficiency and process not necessarily transformational right now

9:06 – Extending process out onto a mobile device

9:14 – This will take a year to reach current goals

SAP isn’t usually crazy about “R/3 rip and replace” stories, but this one’s a little different. At this year’s SAP Influencer Summit, Jon talked with Dr. Michael Skall, director with Lufthansa Revenue Services, about why his division of Lufthansa is considering replacing SAP R/3 with SAP Business ByDesign.

Skall shares the goals of the ByDesign pilot project and talks about some of the benefits he sees from ByDesign versus on-premise ERP. Three big factors? Less burden on the IT team, easier management of the system by business experts, and ease of extendability to more Lufthansa employees. Skall also explains why he thinks ByDesign represents the application of the future for SAP.

Show Notes

:30 Why ByDesign is under consideration to replace SAP R/3 in Skall’s division

1:45 Lufthansa’s reasons for starting with a ByDesign pilot

2:45 Where the project stands now – assessing processes

3:30 ByD – less impact on the IT team than R/3?

4:35 Using ByD to expand SAP to more users

5:30 What are the project green-light criteria?

6:20 Is ByD SAP’s software of the future?

During the SAP Influencer Summit in Boston, Jon sat down with Ian McCulloch, COO of Nukotoys, to get the backstory on the Nukotoys cloud ERP evaluation process and how ByDesign came out on top.  The guys talked about Nukotoys’ startup ambitions, why they focused on cloud ERP solutions, and how ByDesign stacked up against NetSuite and Oracle’s SME offerings in their selection process.

Also covered: lessons learned from the seven week ByDesign implementation process with partner ERP Logic, and what Nukotoys is looking in future ByDesign enhancements.

Show Notes

:29 Nukotoys – “silicon Valley’s toy company”

1:05 “A true greenfield ERP implementation”

1:50 Why Nukotoys only looked at cloud ERP solutions

3:50 ByDesign versus NetSuite and Oracle – the Nukotoys evaluation

8:15 Lessons learned from the seven week ByD implementation

10:00 How can SAP take ByDesign to the next level?

Frank Scavo, CEO of Computer Economics, describes himself as a buyer advocate, analyzing the ERP market with the customers’ interests in mind. So what did he make of SAPPHIRE Now Madrid? Dennis caught up with him after day one to find out.

Frank gives his take on the viability of SAP’s mobility strategy and whether or not a SUP-focused approach will engage developers. He also reviews Snabe’s keynote and how it compared to the messaging in previous SAP shows.

Show Notes

0:00 Does SAP’s mobility platform strategy make sense?

1:35 Is developing on SUP realistic for engaging a broad range of developers?

2:30 How can SAP provide a deeper level of value to its customers?

3:49 The past and the present: revenue model transitions

4:55 Frank’s reaction to Jim Snabe’s keynote

6:15 Does Frank feel more comfortable with SAP’s customer message after Madrid?

Turns out Deloitte isn’t just one of SAP’s HANA partners, Deloitte is also a customer drinking SAP’s HANA champagne on internal projects. To find out more, Jon talked with Christopher Dinkel, IT Leader EAG Deloitte Services, about what Deloitte has done with HANA so far and the lessons learned.

Chris tells Jon about the Contacts and Influencer HANA project he presented on at SAPPHIRE Now Madrid and why, in this case, speed and data integration had a beneficial impact on customer service. Chris also talks about how Deloitte measures the success of HANA projects and what he is looking for next from SAP.

Show Notes

0:00 Deloitte is drinking SAP’s HANA champagne with its own internal HANA project

0:50 Why does BI matter to Deloitte’s IT department and in its customer relationships?

1:30 More on Deloitte’s first HANA project, the Contact and Influence Finder, which integrates all the associated touch points Deloitte has with customers.

2:14 How does the speed of the Contact and Influencer finder impact the business?

3:29 How does Deloitte measure the success of these initiatives?

4:00 Deloitte’s Crystal Reports project

4:45 What’s on Deloitte’s wish list for future HANA improvements from SAP?

5:35 Deloitte’s use of unstructured analytics with HANA

6:05 What Dinkel hopes to get out of SAPPHIRE Now Madrid