The Little Geeni

Key No. 3 – 7 essential criteria for selecting your ERP solution and technology partner

Once you’ve made your decision as to why you are considering an ERP implementation (covered in article #1 in this series) and investigated the total cost of ownership (article #2), there are several aspects you should consider in detail when selecting a specific system for your situation.

The seven most important of these are

• Functional compatibility with current and future business requirements
• Total cost of ownership
• Operational Metrics
• Flexibility
• Time and ease of implementation
• Vendor support and relationships
• Industry expertise and customer references

A survey by the Aberdeen Group (June 2007) found when it asked respondents what criteria were most important in selecting an ERP vendor, “remarkably little variation was visible across company size … functionality is the clear top priority for all companies, followed by total cost of ownership”.

1. Functional compatibility

The first question you need to ask is: what applications can accommodate your business needs?

As Christina Soh and Siew Kien Sia point out (MIS Quarterly, 2005), vendors create enterprise systems based around a number of common structures – “ES packages are not custom-built for each implementing organisation”.

”Vendors must make many assumptions about organisational requirements in such areas as organisational policies, structures, standard operating procedures, user knowledge, and interfaces. These assumptions manifest themselves in the processes and features in the ES package”, which the authors refer to as ‘package-embedded structures’.

”ES vendors claim that their package-embedded structures reflect best practice, However, many customers have found that these configuration options do not meet all their specific needs, and many question whether the ‘best practices’ truly do apply to all organisations.

”Developers’ context – that is, their reference organisations – may differ from potential implementers’ contexts, particularly those located in different countries or industries. Even within the same country and industry, contextual differences can exist.”

The system should be able to provide functionality for all of your current and future business processes. To ascertain that this is the case, you first need to define and prioritise your company’s processes, identifying the core business functions and developing a comprehensive requirements list based on input from all stakeholders.

This means that, as Soh et al recommend, “implementing organisations identify, as early as possible, misfits between the package and their organisation. They should create a basis for ascertaining when to align through organisational adaptation and when to align through package customisation.”

’Misfits’, missing critical features or unsupported business processes, could be the elements that transform an otherwise great fit into a complete mismatch. Very often, these only surface upon implementation.

Buyers should be very wary of future promises from software vendors. If the system does not have the necessary functionality right now in the current release, then you should discount any claims of functionality being available in the future.

The Aberdeen survey warns that, while functionality may be the top selection criterion, “ERP is often considered a commodity today. Don’t assume the functionality you need is available. Take a ‘show me’ attitude in demonstration.”

One who has documented this ‘road test’ guide to assess the suitability of a specific solution is Esref Akpinar (2005), who describes a software selection process for a liner shipping company using fuzzy logic decision making. This entailed five scripted scenarios to understand how software packages would handle specific key operational situations. A demonstration evaluation document was prepared, with every question in the document given a weighting according to their importance. An evaluation table was prepared of the results of the demonstrations which clearly indicated which product best fitted the company’s operations and requirements.

2. Total cost of ownership

Prospective buyers should ensure they fully understand the true cost of ownership beyond the initial software licence fees and hardware cost. These may include costs such as those for integration, interfaces, systems communications , extra staff required, upgrades and helpline support. This topic is so important that it has been covered in great detail by the second article in this series, “Managing The Total Cost Of Ownership – What You Need To Know”.

3. Operational Metrics

It is imperative to ensure that not only the costs, but also the benefits of an ERP system are controlled and measured during the implementation project. The benefits generally come in the form of cost savings and operational improvements (e.g. lead time reduction). Cost savings should be built into budgets and operation measures progressively tracked.

Legacy systems often do not support the operational metrics and these have to be assessed manually. A key selection criterion for the new system is thus also the ability to support these operational metrics.

4. Flexibility

Can the application be modified and scaled according to the changing needs of a dynamic and growing business?

Look for an ERP solution that will accommodate new operating protocols, future business growth, market expansion and any other initiatives that might arise.

Things to consider when evaluating flexibility:

• System parameters and default settings;
• Customer screen and menu options;
• Tools for modifying standard forms;
• Data access options and custom reporting; and modular format.

5. Time and ease of implementation

Key questions you should ask regarding the implementation process itself include:

• How long will it take to implement the ERP system?
• Will it cause any major disruptions to your normal business operations?
• Is there an implementation control process (ICP) in place to manage this?
• What sort of business process re-engineering will be required in order to implement the system?
• How long will it take to train staff to use the system?

6. Vendor support and relationships

Your software vendor decision is one that, hopefully, continues well beyond the normal, five-year decision cycle. To that end, three questions are important:

• Does the vendor have a sustainable presence backed up by experience in your industry and a proven track record on installations to similar sized organisations as your own?

• Will you and your management team have a comfortable working relationship that extends to their knowing you and your business intimately? Do they show a sense of responsibility and accountability for making your system choice a success?

• Do you have ‘one throat to choke’? In the event that issues need to be resolved, do you have a direct executive contact who is accountable for making sure your customer service experience is consistently at the highest level?

• How many total vendors will you deal with on your ERP package? Sustaining multiple vendors is cumbersome.

7.I ndustry expertise and customer references

Key questions that will determine the reliability of the vendor include:

• Does the vendor have a proven track record in your specific industry?

• Can the vendor point to a number of companies in your industry who are already using the software and who will confirm that they made a sound decision.

One issue that cuts across many of these selection criteria is the issue of customisation of the software, so it is worth briefly flagging the topic in this context. As Aberdeen Group points out (July 2007), only 11 per cent of respondents to one of its surveys got away with zero customisation.

According to Soh et al, the simplest form of implementation – so-called ‘vanilla’ implementation – requires the organisation to bend to accommodate the software package. “[Vanilla] promotes organisational adaptation, either by conscious redesign and substantial change management, or by piecemeal, evolutionary workarounds, such as individuals and groups adapting. Their adapted practices lead to new organisational structures. Package [software] modification can range from customising the package code to interfacing with custom-developed modules or modules from other vendors.

”Users tend to push for package modification to minimise the amount of change they will have to make. Consultants and project managers tend to advocate organisational adaptation, to simplify package implementation and avoid the tangible costs (time, resources and risks) of package modification.”

The playoff between these two apparently conflicting viewpoints can be a key ingredient to the success of the ERP project, particularly the total cost of ownership, and should therefore be a prime consideration among your selection criteria.

References:

•Akpinar, E., “Software selection for a liner shipping company using fuzzy logic decision making”, paper submitted to the Institute for Graduate Studies in Science & Engineering, Systems and Control Engineering, Bogazici University, 2005
•IBS, “6 Essential considerations when selecting an ERP system”, IBS Australia, February 2008
•Jutras, C., and Dalle Tezze, H., “When relacing ERP – Size matters”, Aberdeen Group, June 2007
•Jutras, C., Trost, J., and Dalle Tezze, H., “Taking the ERP plunge for the first time”, July 2007
•Soh, C., and Siew Kien Sia, “The challenges of implementing ‘vanilla’ versions of enterprise software”, MIS Quarterly Executive, September 2005

ERP Keys, Maximising, Optimal, Performance, Selecting, Solution, Through

Every beginner who is quite new to internet and who starts surfing the internet for him/her its very confusing to select the right web host provider for his/her host. Due to inexperience most of the beginners selects free web hosting or cheap web hosting which makes them realize their mistake afterwards .All the efforts of these beginners gets useless due to their small mistake of selection and this mistake makes them feel so demotivated that they even don’t think of starting again. It is nothing new that everyone wants to get anything for free but here in this case “cheap” becomes “more expensive”.

The following are the reasons which make the above statement true:

1.The biggest drawback with fee web hosting is that they never offer any sort of guarantee and so there are chances that it can be removed the very next day or in near future. Not only has that it also led to permanently removal of one’s site from the search engines. In this new era of I.T there are billions of sites coming up every day and their popularity lies in the fact that how old is their existence and what is their place in the search engines. Now in case one deletes his/her site from the server its very hard to get it back as that space is immediately procured by any one else.

2. Another drawback is free web hosting or free sites are usually supported by advertisements and other stuffs. In case one has created a free site in sub domain and also finds good free hosting. In order to boost business one also have perform some offline and online promotions to one’s customer’s friends and other people who are known to him/her. Now here one is getting in trap of hosts by promoting his/her ads and other stuffs… Not only that the persons who might have book marked one’s site will not find it again once it is removed by the host. Thus overall loss will be of the user.

3. There is a big difference between a top level domain and a free sub domain. Domains are quite different and represent one’s status .In that case no other competitor can steal one’s name and clients can easily memories the name as well. However in case of free domain, any one can have any amount of free sub-domains, in that case the fate of the user will be worst if his/her competitor has started using the same name.

4. In case a very good client finds the user on the web and is very interested in his/her products and services. Now before hiring one’s services he would definitely like to know more about the user or rather he will perform research as he should contact the user or not first. If the user is having a free hosting site the first impression that will imprint on the mind of the client is that the user is not at all a serious fellow and would rather ran away. Thus it’s better to have personalized top level domain and consistent hosting services.

5. In case user finds a cheap web hosting company, he/she should think twice before finalizing the deal. If the company is offering cheap service, one should look at all the possible reasons, why it is so cheap. In most of the cases the outcome of research would be poor support or service or let say no support at all .As support or services both involves some cost which the providers save by not employing any support personnel. Thus one should act very wisely while taking the decision.

6. Another mistake which usually the new comers do is that they don’t keep any backups of their work rather they rely on hosting providers for this. Now in that case worst can happen if the host’s server went down or due to any reason free host might have removed the site, now the user is only left with an option to just start from the beginning which is really very painful.

7. With beginners another problem is they are not sure for their requirement. It’s understandable that no one can predict his/her exact requirement for future but if one’s requirements are clear, it’s quite easy for one to choose the host as per requirement. One should always consider if there is any possibility of shifting from static site to a dynamic one or he/she may require using certain scripts. Thus if needs are properly ascertained at present they will help a lot in future.

Against all the above disadvantages there are some advantages as well which are as below-:

1. Its not necessary that all free hosts are bad or decisive, there are some who may be an excellent host which is up-coming and can provide wonderful services as well. There are some providers who are offering free hosting just to promote their services and to add more customers in their list.

2. In some cases even cheap and affordable web hosting may turn fruitful, if one has taken all precautions in advance while select the host. Thus even proper homework can turn a free or cheap host into a best host. One should always select the host having better server, updated software’s and who offers quality support in reality.

3. Also it is not all sure guaranteed that all the free websites are going to be removed without notice or which are going to bring a bad fame for one’s company . There are several good and reputable companies like Google’s Blogger or Yahoo’s Geocities which helps one to increase his/her link popularity if used in a proper way.

Thus the above were some of the points in favor of the cheap web hosting .At the end we can say that while choosing a host one should keep in mind that the host is the one who is going to protect or harm one’s site and so he/she should take utmost care while selecting the right one .A good web host is like an honest employees who works dedicatedly for 24 hours a day and 365 days a year for keeping one’s business running successfully all time.

Domains and Hosting Beginners, Care, Domains and Hosting, Points, Selecting, Take

The following are the tips one must keep in mind while choosing a new web host: -

1) One must make sure that the new web host plan offers the storage capabilities to handle all of the current website storage requirements. If the size of the website is 50MB, then one must check for the plan that offers at least that much space or more. In case one is not able to make estimates about the space required then he/she must ask his/her current host. Also this information can be found on control panel.

2) One must also check how does his/her current web host determine the amount of storage used for? It is necessary to check what one’s current and new host includes in the plan’s storage amount also one should check are one’s emails and log files counted towards his/her total storage, or the web files only?

3) Its necessary to know what operating system does one’s current hosting plan use? Windows or Unix? Mostly it makes no difference but in some cases it can make the difference between a working website and a broken website. In case one’s site is currently on a Windows server and the website uses ASP scripting, then its difficult to make things work well on a Unix server, as ASP is a Windows based programming language. So one should check immediately whether his/her hosting plan is on a Unix or Windows server.

4) Also its important to check if one’s your site currently use FrontPage? Before switching to new host one should check if the new host supports FrontPage and the prevailing version.

5) Another important issue to take care is the amount of bandwidth offered by the new host. One should check if the new hosting plan offers the same amount of bandwidth that the current host offers. This should be checked in advance to avoid unexpected high bills afterwards.

6) Make sure if the new web hosting plan gives the same amount of email accounts, auto responders and mail forwards that the current host provides.

7) Its necessary to check if one’s site uses a shopping cart that the current hosting plan provides? It is essential to have a suitable shopping cart replacement in case one desires to move the cart to the new host. So one must check that as well.

If one is using any scripts on his/her website, its important to check if one’s new hosting plan supports all of one’s scripts. One must make sure in advance if there is any need to make any modifications to scripts to get them working on the new server.

9) Don’t forget to set up the existing email accounts on the new server before transferring domain name to the new server.

10) In case user is just a beginner and even don’t know how to upload files, its necessary to check with the provider if he can do that with no extra charges. There are some hosts who offer such facility free of cost yet some don’t offer this facility because of liability issues.

It’s necessary to double check if the site looks and functions properly on the new server after completing the uploading process. Preview facility is provided in the form of preview link to see how the site looks and some hosts provide this facility before the domain name is transferred over. In case this preview facility is not available with the host, still there is a method to preview the site. One can modify his/her host’s file to preview the site. The host file tells the computer where to go to look for sites that are listed in that file and this works with any version of Windows. Here the file location can change but the file name remains the same. Below is the way to modify the host’s file:

The file HOSTS should be in the c: windowssystem32driversetc One can find a file named HOSTS.SAM (as in SAMPLE). That is OK; one can modify the HOSTS.SAM file as well and do a SAVE AS HOSTS.

In both the cases one should double click on the HOSTS file to open it. Thereafter one will be prompted by Windows to select an Application (Program) to use to VIEW the file.

Now scroll the list and select Notepad and then one should click on the OK button. The NOTEPAD program will now open, displaying the file HOSTS.

So, in order to tell computer that www.yourwebsite.com is at the address (replaced with the real IP) 12.345.678.90 one should add the following entry to the bottom of the hosts file:

12.345.678.90 www.yourdomain.com (As in the example).

Now one should click on FILE, slide down and click on SAVE AS. Then in the Save As one should type field, select ALL FILES. After completing that click on save. One warning will come which should be ignored i.e. the file already exists but that’s ok, then just one has to click YES.

Now one should close Notepad, by clicking on FILE, slide down to EXIT, and click.

Now when one will open the web browser, or try to ping the site, the system will go to the IP address one typed in the HOSTS file.

One should not forget to undo this when testing is finished else the computer will always want to go to that IP address whenever one want to go to that site.

After being satisfied with the site looks and functions, one can go to his/her registrar (where the domain name is registered) and modify the nameservers associated with one’s domain name to his/her new web host’s nameservers. In case one does not know his/her new host’s name servers, should confirm with them. However most hosts have that information listed somewhere on their website or in the email one first get after signing up for an account.

After the completion of domain nameserver modification it will take around 24-48 hours and the site will be displayed on the new server.

One must check his/her domain name and should see if the nameservers added are listed. If yes, the website transfer is complete to new web host. And after the confirmation is received one can cancel the old web hosting account.

Domains and Hosting Consider, Domains and Hosting, Host, Selecting, Tips

Korea SEO company

Selecting SEO company through Korea search engine market environment.

In Korea, search engine market and environment are totally different from worldwide’s in lots of dimensions. Therefore, fully understanding Korean search engine environment is highly recommended for those who want to expand their sales and exposure their website to Korean web users through SEO (Search Engine Optimization) strategy.

To your surprise, Koreans are not familiar with the world’s best search engines such as “Google”or “Yahoo!”. Refer to the search volume share in Korea, Naver (NHN corp.) share more than 70% of the market, and Daum follow it while Yahoo! Korea and Google Korea shares only small portion. Korea SEO starts with understanding search engines in the Korean own way such as “Naver” and “Daum” eventually. Helping you choose great Korea SEO company, I will deal with two key points of Korea search engine market environments- Integrated search results and well-developed social media. Let’s take a look at how to select SEO company.

1.    Korea SEO company which has Integrated Search marketing solution

Korean web users are used to using integrated search result to get useful information without shifting to other web pages such as ‘Images’, ‘Maps’, and ‘News’ in Google.

Korea search engines have lots of vertical in one page, so you can see various contents in one page. Especially, Naver and Daum show long integrated search result page. When you enter keyword on search tab, you will see keyword advertising (CPC, CPM), blog, community, answers, news, organic result, shopping info, video, image, and etc. all in 1 long page. Trying to follow this trend, even Google Korea made their search result more integrated.  You have to make full use of it. For successful SEO campaign, you should focus not just in ranking, but also impression in various verticals.

In conclusion, basically, a creditable Korea SEO company should have a sufficient and complete understanding of this Korean special search engine environment. Therefore, Korea SEO company should be able to make full use of the integrated search result so that they can make a great impression in various verticals (Q&A,Blogs,News).

2.    Korea SEO company which makes full use of well organized social media

Another feature of Korean web users is to voluntarily participate to write contents, make communities, ask questions and answer themselves by on purpose of commercial or interest. Therefore, social networks such as blog and Café, a kind of community sites which have membership account, are far stimulated in Korea. These verticals often appear in high position in search result page. Web users more likely believe the contents rather than advertisement copy even though the CPC (cost per click) of advertisement is ridiculously high.

Therefore, Korea SEO company should focus on social network sites such as blog and community as well as on PPC to take the highest place in search result page.

3.    Other requirements for Korea SEO company

What is more, at least when it comes to SEO company, they have the dedicated implementation staff experiencing for many years who have leading edge SEM technology know-how and it would be better for SEO Company to be consist of professional marketers. By working side-by-side with you, great SEO company should be able to turn those visitors into sales for your company using SEO strategy.

For more information visit: http://www.koreasearch.com/

SEO Company, Korea, Selecting