At the beginning of October last year, we held what has been widely regarded as our best customer event to date. Alongside guest speakers from within the SYSPRO community, Nick Peters, the Editorial Director at The Manufacturer magazine delivered a presentation which raised a very interesting talking point around how businesses react during hard times; such as recession or the ongoing Brexit uncertainty.

More often than not a business’ worst horror stories are a direct result of miscommunication between departments.

Picture a business such as a catering equipment company that makes industrial ovens, stove and fridges according to customer needs and requirements. This type of environment is project intensive and requires many parts of the business to be involved and work together for successful delivery. If the sales department forgets to tell the purchasing department there’s a new project underway, by the time purchasing does become aware of the project, time is tight and they are forced to use a different supplier from the one they regularly use or incur late penalties.

Hard to believe that there are over 100 000 information security breaches at listed companies every day.

South Africa has the benefit of the King Commission into Corporate Governance (or as it is described – Responsible Corporate Citizenship). This commission has progressed all of the way to King IV, or the 4th commission into Corporate Governance.

My daughter is currently completing her final year of high school. As a parent, I am extremely grateful for the way in which technology is being used to provide instant access to information concerning my child’s progress.

Take Moodle, for example. Moodle is a free and open-source Learning Management System that offers customizable management features to extend and tailor the learning environment. Basically, it is a nifty way for me to access detailed updates on her academic performance from my mobile device. And the best part of it? It is user-friendly, highly configurable and feature-rich – all the things that have come to be expected in the 21^st Century.

We cannot plan the project or meeting for that date, it’s month end. We definitely can’t do training now, finance is up to their ears preparing for month end. The last week and the first week of the month are no go dates as finance will be drafting financials. We don’t have that information yet, finance is still finalizing the financials for last month.

The thing that makes innovation so compelling, and exciting is the possibilities that come with it. Sure, it can be scary to take a leap of faith and try something new, but the simple possibility, even the smallest outside chance that it might work, is what drives many of us to ask, “What if?”