To make ERP implementation simpler to understand, let me try putting it this way – “it’s just as “easy” as changing the steering wheel of a car while it is doing 100 KMPH.” Over a period of time and after several implementations, you will be in a position to tell others what has to be avoided while implementing an ERP for your customer. Now that you have a vague idea of what I am trying to talk, let us see some of the most basic and most serious mistakes that can be avoided.

Mistake 1

Believing that the implementation team fully understands your business process and hoping that they will stay with you throughout the entire implementation period.

Most of our AeroChef implementations varied anywhere from 3 months to 1 year. You and your people know your business inside out but the implementation consultants on the other hand do not know your business. So it is important that you schedule time to bring them up to your level of knowledge. This applies to processes, policies and procedures and it is worth the extra effort to make sure your staff and the consultants are comfortable with each other.

Mistake 2

Nonexistence of regular and realistic milestones during the implementation phase.

The ERP implementation will take anything from 3 months to well over a year to complete and it will directly impact changes to the 4 Ps (People, Processes, Policies and Performance). So during this phase, the implementation team should readily answer your three critical questions:

1. Where are we?

2. Are we there yet?

3. How do we confidently know we are there?

By setting frequent milestones at key points along the project timeframe you will be able to quickly measure your implementation progress as the project evolves on time and on budget. That way your project team and your staff will be able to see the progress and they will maintain high moral (confidence) even during difficult phases of the project.

Mistake 3

Lack of dedicated, highly qualified people in your implementation team and no time management skills applicable to them.

We advise you to put your best and most experienced staff in the implementation team, but we also know that it is pretty much guaranteed they are also the busiest and will not be able to find additional time for the project. The best thing you can do is find ways to offload some of their daily workload onto junior staff so that the higher management can spare some time and focus on the implementation. Also, by giving junior staff the chance to prove themselves at a higher level you gain wider spread of skill in the business.

Mistake 4

Not keeping adequate budget for training users and staff on the new system.

Almost every organization approaching systems implementation fails to budget sufficient fund and time for training and the end result is that application on new systems, processes, policies is slow and the immediate effect is slower to benefit. We advise you to double your budgets set aside for training.

Mistake 5

Failing to protect and insure the most critical parts of your business.

Your core business model will be straight forward – selling products, delivering them to customers and getting paid for it. You should be sure and confirmed from the implementation team that guaranteed backup systems are in place for each of these critical areas to ensure your business model is covered in the event of any unplanned system failures. We generally advice our clients to consult with their hardware and software vendors to make sure adequate backup / recovery options will be provided on emergency to keep you operational when something unfortunate happens.

Conclusion

Our implementation team has witnessed so many classic catastrophic examples of businesses going bankrupt due to failed software implementations, many of the newer organizations still do not pay enough attention to the risks involved. Adequate planning and preparation is essential to help you identify and manage the potential risks. We make sure we review your current business practices, goals, risks and articulate a solid implementation plan before we start off. One of the most important things you can do before commencing the project is to select the right software vendor who has in-depth domain knowledge as well as software expertise. An ERP system is a long-term investment, so finding a vendor with the right fit for your business requirements, and with whom you can build a partnership for the next 5-10 years is extremely essential.

So how does a software system put a value on their software investments? Here are a few ways software provides value at a high level:

1. Accelerated processes: What used to take 2 days, takes 2 hours, enabling the organizations ability to serve its customers, reducing latency and improving capacity. The more your resources can do the more profit you make. The more profit you make, the more you can do.

2. Automation. This directly affects accelerated processes. Some organizations make the mistake of trying to measure automation, when they should be measuring acceleration. An example of automation is AeroChef Software system that integrates data from various departments of an inflight kitchen and creates a report which allows you to make more informed decisions.

3. Communication & Collaboration. Being able to communicate with people (synchronously and asynchronously) easily is an important factor to get work done. A simple example is email – it is the simplest yet critical part of any organization’s IT investments. This can be considered as one of the advantage of implementing IT systems, but once over a period of time, simple communication options like email prove to be a standard means of communications in many large enterprises. This in turn affects the ROI positively.

4. Cost reduction. Proper hardware consolidation will definitely reduce the computer workload in an enterprise level organisation. What used to take 12 servers and 8 people to do, can be done by a single person using one server after the server consolidation. Direct positive impact on ROI.

While all of the above mentioned points make sense, the question is how do you measure them? How do you justify spending a certain money value on software? This is where Software-As-A-service (SaaS) comes in. When we talk about software, we generally refer to the software architecture and may be the disadvantages over the advantages. Here I’m trying to talk about something different in this context. I’m saying that software can be measured as a service. Just like how we pay for services everyday – cell phones, internet, electricity, water etc. We pay for how much we use the software.

So why software shouldn’t be treated the same way? Why can’t IT departments adopt a pay-as-you-go model? They possibly can.

The challenge with this concept is

1) How much do you charge and

2) What do you charge for?

1. You can analyze and apply a flexible budget by showing the value and usage of the software. For example, the case of unifying budgets across IT departments as large organizations have multiple IT departments and by consolidating budgets can possibly lead to higher ROI.

2. Usage tracking and adoption. By implementing a pay-as-you-go model you can precisely track how the software is being used and your software is only worth something if people adopt and use it. In any case, this is something interesting to explore… I don’t know of many organizations taking a look at this, but at the very least, it’s important to explore a flexible usage tracking system. Giving every employee an expensive cell phone and service plan and labeling them as a cost center is not fair especially when those cell phones are helping sales people close million dollar deals!

SaaS – Software As A Service, is a software delivery model where the software and its associated data are hosted centrally. They are typically accessed by users using normally a web browser over the Internet.

SaaS quickly evolved as a  common delivery model for business applications that includes enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM),invoicing, human resource management (HRM), content management (CM) and also the service desk management.

Myth 1 : Security is compromised in SaaS model

Since SaaS is hosted, data is stored on servers that are managed by the SaaS provider. This is the prime concern for those people accustomed to maintaining their own servers. The little known fact is that majority of SaaS vendors are fully committed to the security of their customers and their data. Also, many vendors hold the prestigious ISO 27001:2005 certification, an internationally recognized information security standard that ensures data is safe. The ISO 27001 standard requires a third party audit and annual re-certification.

To keep “everything” safe, most SaaS companies will invest a lot in physical security, network security, systems security and application security. Users are provided with encrypted login and IP filtering options to prevent unauthorized access.

Myth 2 : Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) will exceed Traditional Software Ownership in the long run.

Yes this will be true, only if the vendors stop caring about you once it is implemented, but that is not the case as majority of us think of. Many believe that due to the subscription model typically associated with SaaS, the long-term costs of SaaS are greater than traditional licenses software (typically a single up front price tag). But, many industry studies and models show the TCO of SaaS is generally more economical in the long run. Few of the benefits which adds value to the model are as software and security updates and upgrades happen automatically and regularly, and there is no need to purchase or install the newest version of the software. This again means companies don’t have to deal anymore with the incompatibilities that can come up with different people or departments being on different versions of software. Again, SaaS requires less support from your IT department when compared to the resources required to install, manage, and maintain the traditional software. Since SaaS is hosted by the software maker, maintenance and upgrades are included in the subscription. From all this, I can clearly say that SaaS’s subscription model provides a level of financial flexibility and low up front risk and cost that over the long run delivers a very favorable ROI.

Myth 3 : Unreliable Performance

With SaaS model, the increased and constant level of vendor involvement, that isn’t available with traditional software, monitors the performance closely. Vendors constantly implement upgrades and updates, which eliminates the need to purchase newer, glitch-free versions or even worry about version compatibility. SaaS vendors do everything for their customers, and that is the beauty of working “in the cloud.”

Myth 4 : SaaS Is only for Small Businesses

SaaS is especially appealing for larger companies since employees around the world can access the same solution at any location, improving collaboration and the overall efficiency. SaaS can be accessed easily and there is no need to spend time installing softwares on every computer in a company’s network, saving valuable IT resources. SaaS also features a rapid implementation cycle compared to months or even years for traditional software.

“The best small company to work” as they say, is exactly what it is here. The work culture is just right for that perfect balance of harmony at work. Yes, everybody is under the pressure to meet the deadlines, but then it doesn’t take a toll on them as it is shared by the entire team. I believe it is the “flexible” work culture that makes everything different here. As contradictory to what it may sound, I believe the “flexible” culture at Kott is what holds the team and achieve the deadlines. Kott employees quickly adapt to the flexible culture and maintains a patterned punctuality to keep the work moving.

I joined here a couple of months ago, and as the office is new, environment is different, technology and type of work unfamiliar, I’ve had to work extra hard to get things done with my usual tenacity and productivity. Although the road has been bumpy and steep, I’ve kept my head up and have persevered through the tough times. I don’t think this would have been possible for me if Kott Software adhered to to stricter 9-5 work-work-work timing. Doesn’t mean, we all come at 11am and go home by 4, the word flexibility means something you have to experience here, rather than reading from this blog.

“Happy Hours” is another “event” at Kott worth mentioning here. Don’t think that every other hour goes just unhappy, Happy Hours is when all the employees get together and engage in various fun and game activities. This is the perfect time for new comers to know the veterans from other departments and also to get to know with each other.

We all know that such activities are now common in every software firm, but, smaller the company higher is the effect. Its true, Kott is the best small company to work.

It was devised by Andy Rubin and Rich Miner back in 2003  only to sell it to Google for $50 million. Google locked the concept until 2007 when it announced about the launch of Android mobile platform.

Fact 2: Android is developed from Linux. But it’s not “Linux”

Android is not Linux. Google has its own version of Linux to power its systems. A feature added by introduced by Google in Linux is “wake locks“, which is a mechanism in Linux code to handle power management. The Wake locks allow Android applications to request kernel not to go into low-power state.

Fact 3: Android uses Java as a development platform. But it’s not “JavaME”

Android is not Java ME. The SDK provided by Android is based on Java and most of Java SE is supported in this SDK, except AWT or Swing. Limited JSRs (Java Specification Request), however, are implemented in addition to the core Java framework. Android’s support for Open GL, for example, is built similar to JSR 239.

Fact 4: Android runs a VM named Dalvik. But it’s not a Java Virtual Machine (JVM).

Dalvik is not a JVM. It was a VM built from scratch by Google  for Android phone; and optimized for Android. Instead of running Java byte code, Dalvik runs .dex files. Further, unlike JVMs which are stack-based, Dalvik is a egisters-based VM.

Fact5: Android’s run time includes a SQLite database!

Android has the SQLiteSQLite, which is a light weight relational database which is built into Android for data storage purpose. Android applications can also make us of this RDBMS.

Various applications have been delivered on POS terminals  for client which included customized customer loyalty programs, open loop, closed loop, pre pay gift cards and mobile top ups.

The development services are offered for any make of POS terminals of  XAC, Hypercom, Sanyo and Verifone. The solutions have utilised Smart cards, RFID and NFC (Near Field Communications) based mobile phones.

Kott Software is partnered with Nokia to provide mobile content on Nokia phones and active on the Nokia forum.

Mobile applications have been developed on .NET for Windows CE  and J2ME.  We are gearing up to provide the next wave of technology solutions on the mobile platform.

We believe in asking each individual the question…” Do you want to be a driver or a cog in the wheel?” Are you lost in a crowd?… stuck on maintenance projects?…have monotonous work with no visibility with the client or management?…  

Kott offers more benefits than big IT companies professionally and personally. Advantages include wider exposure, higher responsibility, more recognition, closer knit teams, stable jobs, opportunity for international travel and excellent compensation package.

Kott Software aims at being a highly recognised global player providing enterprise level technology consulting, application development and product engineering services and solutions for a niche market.

Be valued ! and enjoy your career in God’s own country with a global team.

We have lots to share and we want to hear from you too. If web and mobile based application development interest you, these pages will add value to your quest for a solution partner or a platform to share your technology expertise.