Blog Region Test

Most of our daily interactions are guided by what we expect from different types of relationships. With family we hope for reliability, security and protection. From friends we ask for loyalty and support. With lovers we demand excitement and intimacy. But it's the social commitment we form with our colleagues that interests me here, our collective expectation that everyone will “Get the Job Done.”

Over the last 2 years I’ve been involved with over 200 separate business that use SYSPRO and what I have noticed over this time, is that those businesses that have invested and understood the need for having a skilled ERP Administrator have thrived, whilst those which have carried on without considering the requirement for a dedicated Skilled ERP resource have struggled. This is because they have failed to identify the need to recruit a conduit that would allow them to embrace the beneficial process and system changes, and adapt to emerging technologies.

With the festive season just past, it got me thinking about a friend and colleague who in my opinion encapsulates the very essence of a human firecracker! I’m referring to Trudy Deuchar, Group Business Operations & Information Manager for the Jasco group of companies, who over the last two years has played a pivotal role in completely modernizing, and indeed revolutionizing Jasco’s information systems.

When I read a recent SYSPRO blog The Grace of Change, about a Seeker of Value, one customer immediately sprang to mind: Westlands Horticulture. A fast growing business, both organically and through acquisition, they always seem to be involved in one project or another with K3 SYSPRO. Finbarr McNamee, in his role as Group IT Manager is certainly the Seeker of Value within Westlands Horticulture. He engages with the business and gets to grip with the real business need, helping others find new, smarter and more effective ways of doing things. Finbarr drives the change through the organization in several ways.

Change is one of our greatest fears. As human beings we resist it, opting instead for the safety and security of old routine. However as we all know, change is inevitable. Paradoxically, it is also one of mankind’s greatest abilities and strengths. After all, we’ve only survived this long as a species thanks to our ability to adapt.

My previous blog was about the importance of leadership and executive buy-in during Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) implementations. Without top-down leadership, no one else in the organisation will buy-in either, and the company will not get much value from the software.

I may be turning into a grumpy old man. Last week my family gave me this dubious honour after a week, where I apparently complained about unruly children in my favourite restaurant (why are children allowed to run riot in public). This included the use of mobile phones in the same restaurant (clearly I was not in a good mood) and the use of "reply all" to emails at work (do I really need 10 copies of the same email).

The team that conquered Africa

For centuries, adventurers, speculators and explorers have found the allure of the unknown reaches of Africa irresistible. Many have tried to conquer Africa and perished - from James Bruce’s quest for the source of the Nile to David Livingston’s traverse of Southern Africa. Had they but known that the key to winning Africa was simply teamwork - so adequately demonstrated by Team SYSPRO over the past few years.

Napoli, August 23 AD 79

Dear mum,

I am so excited. I have just signed the tablet with the local estate agent to purchase that villa I told you about in Pompeii. My estate agent says it’s a fantastic property with great views of the mountain and you can also see the sea. He says that I cannot go wrong with the location because the villa is right in the heart of the town, not far from the market. I thought we could move in today but my estate agent says he cannot give me the keys because he’s been told that there’s a big barbecue going on today on the mountain and he doesn’t want to miss out. There’s certainly a lot of smoke coming from Vesuvius – they’ve clearly started cooking the meat - so perhaps it would have been fun to be there as well. But me and Fulvia have rather decided to spend the weekend relaxing on the Amalfi coast and we’ll move in on Monday.

Yours, Marcus.

Amalfi, August 25 AD 79