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Apr 05

15 Years Ago I bought an ERP, What Are My Options?

Eric Peters Posted by: Eric Peters in Subscriptions | Comment (0)

Every day thousands of companies are trying to maximize the functionality of their  legacy ERP systems on very  tight budgets because upgrading the system  may not be a particularly feasible option. One solution to this problem involves adding a top layer of functionality and utilizing its [valuable] underlying components.

The history of ERPs is an interesting one; their impact on enterprises is and has always been obvious. They’ve always been a revolutionary asset to the organizations who implemented them early on. Simply put, they open up communication between all functions of an organization, and facilitate and improve business processes by doing so. Unfortunately maintaining these systems can be difficult and extremely costly.

ERPs are hefty solutions and are characteristically applied under the ‘one solution fits all’ axiom. These systems are made for any industry vertical, even if they require customization. Since ERPs are built to fit into any business, by default, your company has to fit into the ERPs set of functionality. This can lead to some issues years after the initial implementation.

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Feb 01

Seeing is Believing...especially in Agile development

Eric Peters Posted by: Eric Peters in Subscriptions | Comment (0)

I believe that to truly understand the agile development process, one needs to see an agile team in action; and perhaps even attend a daily “stand up” meeting.

I believe that same level of understanding applies to any good agile development platform, and Mendix is no exception.  Gaining the best appreciation for the Mendix platform typically occurs once agile developers see it in action. I can say (or write) “one click deployment,” “visual modeling,” and “integrated AppStore” until I’m blue in the face (or red in the fingers) – however, it’s a developers  ability to create a CRM system with Google Maps integration in less than 10 minutes that really does the talking (or typing). Once developers actually touch the product and begin to create with it, it is then that they truly understand – much like attending that first daily “stand up”.

Building and managing applications on the Mendix platform is a very visual process, from the initial modeling of the application within their own domain model, to deploying it for immediate feedback… However, reading and hearing about it can only prove so valuable – it’s something you’ve really got to see.

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Jan 18

Mendix Brings Sexy Back to Enterprise IT

Eric Peters Posted by: Eric Peters in Subscriptions | Comment (1)

The topic of consumerization of IT has been floating around the blogosphere for quite some time now, so I thought I’d write a post with my perspective on the matter.  From what I gather, consumerization of IT means that businesses, and users, are becoming more powerful with modern tools and plug-and-play apps – ones that are more consumer-driven by nature. This is good (more business agility) but can be a risk too, if not monitored/controlled by some higher vision/architecture.

Fast and Easy Adoption

The success of cloud applications for consumers often relates to the friction involved in adopting the technology. In other words, how easy is it to bring this new technology into my everyday life (and in this case, my professional life)? From the enterprise perspective, this adoption process is on a grand scale and requires a number of stakeholders to be involved – both from business and IT. Both business and IT people need to understand the added value of the application and how it will be adopted within the enterprise.

Several features of the Mendix platform allow enterprise IT to treat very complex mission critical applications as though they are consumer focused cloud apps. The influx of consumer applications in the workplace has given employees new expectations for the business applications they use on a daily basis. The reason I think Mendix applications fit into this category of ‘consumerized’ IT is that they are innately flexible enough to deal with these new expectations.

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Jan 04

Coaching Football and Agile Applications: It’s Game Time

Eric Peters Posted by: Eric Peters in Subscriptions | Comment (1)

Coaching Football and Agile ApplicationsMany business analysts and heads of industry find themselves in compromising situations. Their team is down and they can’t seem to move the business properly towards the goal. It seems your competitor across the field is always one step ahead, providing results and fan [customer] satisfaction. But how did they do it and why can’t you come back?

Game Planning

This powerful opponent of yours has come up with a great game plan. The product they use – whether it’s the right gloves, cleats, breathable uniforms, etc. in sports – or a better system from order receipt, to entry, to delivery in business – is fundamentally better… but why? Did this opponent read the weather forecast and plan for adverse conditions? Are they just more talented with players or products that are just better suited for the game? Do they have systems in place that allow for adjustment depending on what is working and what isn’t?

Adjustments

Many of us head into planning a certain way based on what we have and who we’re up against. Let’s say you’re going into the match against the #1 passing team in the league. You spent the whole week practicing your nickel pass defense with plans to stop their attack. But what happens when you get into the game and you realize that their third string ball carrier is a beast? He’s tearing your defense up all over the field. Do you continue to play the pass even though they are running on every single down? No, you need to adjust your game to play with them.

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Dec 22

3 Apps That Keep On Giving

Eric Peters Posted by: Eric Peters in Subscriptions | Comment (0)

‘Tis the season to think about giving – why not give the gift of business agility? Here are three applications that have outstanding return-on-investments. Happy Holidays…

1. Single View of Customer

What if you could see all of the data about a specific customer in one convenient dashboard view? No more signing into multiple systems to gather the customer’s data manually. With a ‘Single View of Customer Portal’ you can organize data from source systems so that your systems work for the people in your organization – not the other way around.

Renew Value in Source Systems

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Dec 02

Always Start with Why

Eric Peters Posted by: Eric Peters in Subscriptions | Comment (0)

Björn de Visser on November 30, 2010

Bjorn de VisserThe last couple of weeks a lot of people (customers and partners) have been asking me about the main difference in features between us and our competitors. I think that`s a rather tricky question. That`s something a client or partner has to determine for himself, right? I mean, before you know it, you are stuck in discussions about features, and just as Simon Sinek said in the amazing book ‘Start With Why’ – the features are merely a proof of your belief. It`s not what you do it`s why you do it. What`s your cause or belief. It`s not that discussions about features are not important, but I think the first step should always be to investigate if the organization you are doing business with shares your beliefs and values.

At Mendix we believe in enabling our customers and partners to realize true business agility. And we prove that everyday.

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