Illumiti is a leading niche SAP systems integration and management consulting company. We work closely with our customers to realize their vision by leveraging technology, people and leading business practices. We have developed a reputation for delivering successful customer projects faster, smarter and leaner.
Illumiti Newsletter
Toronto— April 25, 2013 — Illumiti today announced it is a 2013 SAP® Pinnacle award finalist in the SME VAR/Reseller of the Year category.
SAP Pinnacle awards are presented annually to leading SAP partners that have excelled in developing and growing their partnership with SAP (NYSE: SAP) and driving customer success. Finalists and winners in 19 categories were based on field recommendations, customer feedback and performance indicators in the following four categories: co-innovation, market expansion, service delivery and sustainability.
Nir Orbach, CEO of Illumiti commented: “We are very proud to have been named a finalist in the SME VAR/Reseller category. Our firm has a long track record of working closely with small and midsized enterprises (SMEs) across North America and around the world to help them leverage SAP technology to strengthen their operations.”
The SAP Pinnacle awards recognize leading SAP partners that have excelled in their partnership with SAP. They showcase SAP’s commitment to its partner ecosystem strategy, which delivers unmatched value to customers and enables SAP to reach its business goals.
Being an SAP Pinnacle award finalist is just the latest in a series of achievements for Illumiti, one of the fastest-growing SAP channel partners in North America. Illumiti was recently named the 2013 SAP Canada Top Partner: SAP Business All-in-One Partner – for the third year in a row. In addition, Illumiti recently received the SAP North America Partner Excellence Award 2013 as the Top Channel Partner – Marketing Best Practices.
“Illumiti has undergone tremendous growth and received strong recognition in the past few years, and we owe much of our success to the great partnership we have with SAP,” added Orbach. “We collaborate with the SAP team on a regular basis to build new and innovative solutions. We look forward to many more years working together to deliver outstanding value to our customers and help them succeed.”
About Illumiti
Illumiti is a systems integration and management consulting company with offices in Canada, the U.S. and Switzerland, serving customers globally. Its team enables customers to realize their vision by leveraging technology, people and leading business practices. Illumiti helps its clients achieve optimized operations in the key areas at the core of their business, by implementing custom-fit solutions from SAP and other vendors faster, at a lower cost, and at a lower risk than other alternatives. Illumiti is an SAP gold channel partner and has received the award from SAP Canada as the top partner for SAP Business All-in-One the past three years in a row. Illumiti is also one of the fastest-growing SAP channel partners in the U.S. For more information about Illumiti, please visit www.illumiti.com.
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SAP and all SAP logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP AG in Germany and in several other countries.
All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies.
For more information:
Dror Orbach, info@illumiti.com
Toronto— April 23, 2013 - Illumiti, a leading systems integration and management consulting company, today announced it has climbed 26 spots into the 71st position on the Branham 300 list of top Canadian technology companies.
The Branham 300 is the most comprehensive listing of the top publicly traded and privately held organizations operating in the Canadian Information and Communication Technology (ICT) industry, as ranked by gross revenue.
"We are proud to be recognized as one of the leading ICT companies in Canada. We owe our success to the commitment of our great team of consultants and their dedication to helping our clients strengthen their operations,” said Illumiti CEO Nir Orbach.
This is the seventh time that Illumiti has been named to the Branham 300 list, having first appeared on the list in the 2007 edition. Over the past year Illumiti's ranking has gone from 97th to 71st.. This year, Branham also ranked Illumiti as the 23rd largest ICT professional services firm in Canada.
Illumiti’s position in the Branham rankings is the most recent in a series of milestones for the firm. Earlier this year, Illumiti was also recognized as an SAP® Pinnacle awards finalist and was named the 2013 SAP Canada Top Partner: SAP Business All-in-One – for the third year in a row. In addition, Illumiti recently received the SAP North America Partner Excellence Award 2013 as the Top Channel Partner – Marketing Best Practices.
"This has been a banner year for Illumiti and we truly feel that our firm is just getting started,” said Dror Orbach, Illumiti’s COO. “Our great team of seasoned consultants along with our loyal customers have helped us earn a reputation as one of the leading SAP channel partner firms in North America. We look forward to continuing to build our firm and provide the outstanding service our customers have come to know.”
Illumiti has over 350 seasoned consultants working across Canada, the United States and Europe and is widely recognized as one of the fastest-growing SAP channel partner firms in North America.
Further details on the 2013 edition of the Branham300 can be found online at www.branham300.com and in the April/May edition of Backbone magazine, which is distributed nationally with the Globe and Mail.
About Illumiti
Illumiti is a systems integration and management consulting company with offices in Canada, the U.S. and Switzerland, serving customers globally. Its team enables customers to realize their vision by leveraging technology, people and leading business practices. Illumiti helps its clients achieve optimized operations in the key areas at the core of their business, by implementing custom-fit solutions from SAP and other vendors faster, at a lower cost, and at a lower risk than other alternatives. Illumiti is an SAP gold channel partner and has received the award from SAP Canada as the top partner for SAP Business All-in-One the past three years in a row. Illumiti is also one of the fastest-growing SAP channel partners in the U.S. For more information about Illumiti, please visit www.illumiti.com.
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SAP and all SAP logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP AG in Germany and in several other countries.
All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies.
For more information:
Dror Orbach, info@illumiti.com
Toronto, March 14, 2013 - Illumiti announced today the “go live” implementation of SAP® solutions for Stewardship Ontario.
Stewardship Ontario is a private, not-for-profit organization that develops, funds and operates Ontario’s highly successful recycling programs for printed paper and packaging (Blue Box curbside collection program) and household hazardous or special waste (Orange Drop Program) on behalf of industry stewards.
The solutions implemented by Illumiti include SAP BusinessObjects™ solutions, specifically the SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence (BI) platform and reporting tools, as well as SAP NetWeaver® Business Warehouse (SAP NetWeaver BW). The capabilities provided by these solutions will enable Stewardship Ontario to better manage, track and analyze key performance indicators associated with its recycling operations.
“The portfolio of SAP BusinessObjects solutions will provide us with the reporting and metrics we need much faster than before and with greater traceability,” said Alex Chan, Director, Business Intelligence & Architecture for Stewardship Ontario. “It will give us the real-time, actionable intelligence we need to better support the needs of our stakeholders.”
The new solutions will enable Stewardship Ontario to more easily track key performance indicators such as the number of tonnes of materials recycled for each of the various municipalities and regions across the province. The solutions will also provide enhanced cost metrics per tonne of recycled material.
Illumiti completed the implementation project during a four-month period, with minimal disruption to Stewardship Ontario’s day-to-day operations. The implementation went live on time and on budget.
“The implementation went very well,” added Alex Chan. “At the outset of the project, we came up with a strong design and blueprint for the solution that captured our comprehensive business requirements. There was good interaction with the Illumiti team and our business objectives were met.”
SAP BusinessObjects solutions and SAP NetWeaver BW provide employees with self-service access to the data and insights they need to make better decisions.
To read complete Press Release please click here
About Illumiti
Illumiti is a systems integration and management consulting company with offices in Canada, the U.S. and Switzerland, serving customers globally. Its team enables customers to realize their vision by leveraging technology, people and leading business practices. Illumiti helps its clients achieve optimized operations in the key areas at the core of their business, by implementing custom-fit solutions from SAP and other vendors faster, at a lower cost, and at a lower risk than other alternatives. Illumiti is an SAP gold channel partner and has received the SAP Business All-in-One Partner of the Year, Canada award the past three years in a row. Illumiti is also one of the fastest-growing SAP channel partners in the U.S. For more information about Illumiti, please visit http://www.illumiti.com.
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SAP, SAP NetWeaver and all SAP logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP AG in Germany and in several other countries.
Business Objects, BusinessObjects and the Business Objects logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Business Objects in the United States and/or other countries. Business Objects is an SAP company.
All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies.
For more information:
Dror Orbach, info@illumiti.com
Toronto, March 07, 2013 - Illumiti, a leading systems integration and management consulting company, is pleased to announce it has been authorized to resell SAP® mobile solutions.
SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) offers a wide-range of mobile solutions that enable clients to handle critical tasks and make informed decisions in real time – no matter where they are. Customers can choose from hundreds of applications available at the SAP Store and can also work with Illumiti to design their own customized mobile apps.
“We have built a team of professionals that will focus their efforts on helping our customers leverage the power of mobility in their business,” said Nir Orbach, CEO of Illumiti. “We feel that having a focused team will enable us to stay on top of the latest trends in this fast-growing market. As part of our mobility offering, we will also help our clients implement their mobile strategy quickly through the deployment of the SAP Mobile Apps and Infrastructure rapid-deployment solution.”
SAP offers proven, highly rated mobile solutions that help unwire employees, customers and partners. SAP provides complete, end-to-end software solutions that mobilize entire organizations. They are best of breed and smartly integrated – allowing customers to start with what they need now, and scale up as their business grows.
Illumiti is very excited to be on the leading edge of this fast-growing trend and looks forward to helping companies drive results by going mobile.
To read complete Press Release please click here:
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2013/3/prweb10496778.htm
About Illumiti
Illumiti is a systems integration and management consulting company with offices in Canada, the U.S. and Switzerland, serving customers globally. Its team enables customers to realize their vision by leveraging technology, people and leading business practices. Illumiti helps its clients achieve optimized operations in the key areas at the core of their business, by implementing custom-fit solutions from SAP and other vendors faster, at a lower cost, and at a lower risk than other alternatives. Illumiti is an SAP gold channel partner and has received the SAP Business All-in-One Partner of the Year, Canada award – three years running. Illumiti is also one of the fastest-growing SAP channel partners in the U.S. For more information about Illumiti, please visit http://www.illumiti.com.
SAP and all SAP logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP AG in Germany and in several other countries. All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies.
For more information:
Dror Orbach, info@illumiti.com
Toronto – January 28, 2013— Illumiti today announced it has been named the 2013 SAP Top Partner: SAP® Business All-in-One. Awards were presented by SAP Canada (NYSE: SAP) during the SAP North America Field Kick-Off Meeting (FKOM) 2013, held Jan. 22-24 in Las Vegas, to the top-performing SAP channel partners in Canada for outstanding contributions that impact overall SAP sales and pipeline-generation goals.
“It’s a great honour to be recognized for the third year in a row as SAP’s top partner for SAP Business All-in-One in Canada. This award highlights our success in selling, delivering and supporting high value SAP solutions,” said Illumiti CEO Nir Orbach. “I am also very excited about SAP’s increasing focus on the growth of its channel-driven business, and look forward to continuing to build Illumiti into one of the strongest SAP channel partners in North America.”
Selected from SAP’s wide-ranging Canadian partner base, nominations for the SAP Canada Top Partner Awards were based on internal SAP sales data. A steering committee composed of regional SAP representatives determined winning partners in each category according to numerous criteria such as sales achievement and performance. Winners will receive strong recognition from the SAP field for their accomplishments.
Illumiti received the award during the SAP North America FKOM 2013, an annual gathering of SAP executives, SAP field employees and partners. FKOM is SAP’s largest yearly sales meeting, intended to drive success during the upcoming year. Colleagues across the region gather to gain and exchange updated information on SAP’s strategy, sales methodology, best practices, business growth opportunities and product innovations. This year’s North America FKOM hosted more than 5,000 attendees from the U.S. and Canada.
“A thriving partner ecosystem is central to SAP Canada’s success, and partners like Illumiti are key drivers for our customers’ success and for SAP’s market reach,” said Michael Cardiff, national vice president, General Business Group, SAP Canada. “As the 2013 SAP Canada Top Partner: SAP Business All-in-One, we recognize Illumiti’s commitment and efforts in developing and growing its partnership with SAP, which has led to game-changing co-innovation and market expansion.”
About Illumiti
Illumiti is a systems integration and management consulting company with offices in Canada, the U.S. and Switzerland, serving customers globally. Its team enables customers to realize their vision by leveraging technology, people and leading business practices. Illumiti helps its clients achieve optimized operations in the key areas at the core of their business, by implementing custom-fit solutions from SAP and other vendors faster, at a lower cost, and at a lower risk than other alternatives. Illumiti is an SAP gold channel partner and has been awarded the SAP Business All-in-One Partner of the Year, Canada award for both 2010 and 2011. Illumiti is also one of the fastest-growing SAP channel partners in the U.S. For more information about Illumiti, please visit www.illumiti.com.
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SAP and all SAP logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP AG in Germany and in several other countries all over the world.
All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies.
SAP Forward-looking Statement
Any statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “forecast,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “project,” “predict,” “should” and “will” and similar expressions as they relate to SAP are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. SAP undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations The factors that could affect SAP's future financial results are discussed more fully in SAP's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including SAP's most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates.
For more information:
Dror Orbach, info@illumiti.com
Award Presented at SAP North America Field Kick-Off Meeting 2013
Toronto — January 24, 2013 — Illumiti today announced it is the recipient of a SAP® North America Partner Excellence Award 2013 in the category “Top Channel Partner – Marketing Best Practices.” Awards were presented by SAP Americas (NYSE: SAP) during the SAP North America Field Kick-Off Meeting (FKOM) 2013, held Jan. 22-24 in Las Vegas, to the top-performing SAP channel partners and SAP services partners in North America.
Dror Orbach, Illumiti’s COO, said: “During the last few years Illumiti has invested significantly in increasing the presence and impact of our brand to highlight how we help our customers realize their vision through our focus on a range of SAP products and deeper industry specialization. We are honored and proud to be recognized by SAP for our marketing activities, which have helped us achieve another year of fantastic business growth!”
As the recipient of the award for Marketing Best Practices, Illumiti has been honored for its marketing creativity, innovation, return-on-marketing investment and overall marketing impact. Winners receive strong recognition from the SAP field for their accomplishments.
Illumiti received the award during the SAP North America FKOM 2013, an annual gathering of SAP executives, SAP field employees and partners. FKOM is SAP’s largest yearly sales meeting, intended to drive success during the upcoming year. Colleagues across the region gather to gain and exchange updated information on SAP’s strategy, sales methodology, best practices, business growth opportunities and product innovations.
About Illumiti
Illumiti is a systems integration and management consulting company with offices in Canada, the U.S. and Switzerland, serving customers globally. Its team enables customers to realize their vision by leveraging technology, people and leading business practices. Illumiti helps its clients achieve optimized operations in the key areas at the core of their business, by implementing custom-fit solutions from SAP and other vendors faster, at a lower cost, and at a lower risk than other alternatives. Illumiti is an SAP gold channel partner and has been awarded the SAP Business All-in-One Partner of the Year, Canada award for both 2010 and 2011. Illumiti is also one of the fastest-growing SAP channel partners in the U.S. For more information about Illumiti, please visit www.illumiti.com.
# # #
SAP and all SAP logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP AG in Germany and in several other countries all over the world.
All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies.
For more information:
Dror Orbach, info@illumiti.com
Illumiti was proud to host the last ASUG Ontario Chapter meeting of 2012 at our Head Office in Richmond Hill, Ontario. The whole day event which took place on November 22nd was a huge success with in excess of 70 attendees and speakers ranging from RIM to Ronald A. Chisholm Ltd. The focus of topics was Business Intelligence however Illumiti, with the assistance of SAP Canada, also presented a live session on Mobility where a mobile app was built in under 10 minutes!
There are 37 ASUG Chapters spread throughout the United States and Canada, and each is a community of SAP professionals ready to share knowledge and lessons learned. While offering community benefits year-round, Chapter meetings span a full day and feature presentations and conversations driven and developed by local members.
Illumiti looks forward to hosting another ASUG Ontario Chapter Meeting in 2013. Illumiti ASUG presentations are available on the ASUG website.
Richmond Hill, Ontario (PRWEB) November 01, 2012
Illumiti, a leading systems integration and management consulting company, today announced that they have signed a 3-year agreement with Softtek to assist with the delivery of application maintenance, enhancement and support (AMES) services. Softtek is a global provider of process-driven IT solutions with over 30 offices in North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia.
Under the terms of the agreement, Softtek complements Illumiti’s internal resource pool with consultants experienced in SAP® solutions. These resources address customer support requests (tickets) assigned to them as an integral part of the Illumiti support team, helping ensure Illumiti’s SLAs with its customers are met as expected.
“We are very pleased to be working with Softtek. It’s critical for our team to be able to provide top notch service, not just in North America, but every country in which our clients operate,” said Illumiti COO Dror Orbach. “Softtek’s 24/7 on-call support and large presence in Mexico and several other countries, will further strengthen our ability to serve our customers internationally, wherever they are, whenever they need help.”
Primary support for Illumiti’s operations will be provided by Softtek’s Delivery Center in Aguascalientes, Mexico, which employs nearly 2,000 associates, including 300 consultants and 150 application maintenance and support specialists who are knowledgeable in SAP solutions.
"We are looking forward to bringing value to Illumiti's clients through our mature nearshore capabilities in Mexico and Latin America as well as our presence in other countries globally,” said Sanjoy Gupta Softtek’s VP-Canada. “The partnership will also help Softtek leverage Illumiti’s deep expertise with SAP solutions in the mining industry."
“We are excited about the additional support Softtek will bring to our team,” added Nir Orbach, Illumiti’s CEO. “They have some very strong consultants with proven knowledge of SAP solutions as well as technical and client service skills. We look forward to working together and making this partnership a great one, for Illumiti, Softtek and most of all for our clients.”
About Illumiti
Illumiti is a systems integration and management consulting company with offices in Canada, the U.S. and Switzerland, serving customers globally. Its team enables customers to realize their vision by leveraging technology, people and leading business practices. Illumiti helps its clients achieve optimized operations in the key areas at the core of their business, by implementing custom-fit solutions from SAP and other vendors faster, at a lower cost, and at a lower risk than other alternatives. Illumiti is an SAP gold channel partner and has been awarded the SAP Business All-in-One Partner of the Year, Canada award for both 2010 and 2011. Illumiti is also one of the fastest-growing SAP channel partners in the U.S. For more information about Illumiti, please visit http://www.illumiti.com.
About Softtek
Founded in 1982, Softtek is a global provider of process-driven IT services with more than 30 offices in North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia. With nine Global Delivery Centers in Mexico, China, Brazil, Argentina and Spain, Softtek helps improve time-to-business-solution, lower costs of existing applications, deliver better engineered and tested applications, and produce predictable outcomes for top-tier corporations in over 20 countries. Through on-site, on-shore and its trademarked Global Nearshore™ service delivery models, Softtek teams with CIOs to constantly increase the business value of IT. Softtek is the creator and leader of the nearshore industry. Visit http://www.softtek.com, follow @Softtek, connect with Softtek on LinkedIn and read Softtek's blog.
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SAP and all SAP logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP AG in Germany and in several other countries. All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies.
For more information, contact:
Illumiti
Dror Orbach, COO, T: 905-737-1066, E: dorbach@illumiti.com
Softtek
Karen Schupp, Marketing Communication Manager, T: 763-291-1464, E: karen.schupp (at) softtek (dot) com
TORONTO, September 27, 2012 – Illumiti, announced today the “go live” implementation of the SAP® Investigative Case Management for Public Sector package for the Office of the Provincial Advocate for Children and Youth (the “Advocate’s Office”).
The Advocate’s Office reports directly to the Legislature of Ontario and provides an independent voice for children and youth, including children with special needs and First Nations children. The advocates receive and respond to concerns from children, youth and families who are seeking or receiving services under the Child and Family Services Act and the Education Act (Provincial and Demonstration Schools).
Illumiti completed the implementation project during a five-month period, with minimal disruption to the Advocate Office’s day-to-day operations. The new solution will further enable the Office to manage, track and analyze case information in real time.
“We are pleased with our new software and the benefits it will bring to the Office in terms of collecting data and reporting,” said Laura Arndt, director of Strategic Development, the Advocate’s Office.
The new solution will provide the Advocate’s Office with expanded functionality, including real-time availability of cases and ongoing project status, as well as integrated views of interactions with Children and Youth and Government Ministries.
The implementation went live on time and on budget.
“Illumiti did a great job of working with our project team throughout the process,” said Liviu Georgescu, Manager of IT Services, the Advocate’s Office. “Their collaborative approach was instrumental in keeping the project on budget and the implementation on time.”
SAP Investigative Case Management for Public Sector enables organizations to consolidate and manage diverse information in a central repository, and to track and analyze this information. Case management allows managers to open, edit and close cases, as well as enable follow-up items, case history and sub-case hierarchy.
About Illumiti
Illumiti is a systems integration and management consulting company with offices in Canada, the U.S. and Switzerland, serving customers globally. Its team enables customers to realize their vision by leveraging technology, people and leading business practices. Illumiti helps its clients achieve optimized operations in the key areas at the core of their business, by implementing custom-fit solutions from SAP and other vendors faster, at a lower cost, and at a lower risk than other alternatives. Illumiti is an SAP gold channel partner and has been awarded the SAP Business All-in-One Partner of the Year, Canada award for both 2010 and 2011. Illumiti is also one of the fastest-growing SAP channel partners in the U.S. For more information about Illumiti, please visit www.illumiti.com.
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SAP and all SAP logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP AG in Germany and in several other countries. All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies.
For more information:
Dror Orbach, info@illumiti.com
When making any major shift in technology it’s important to know the answer to “Why” first
By Larry Perlov, Illumiti
Why is it that despite the millions of dollars invested each year in ERP projects, so few companies can show direct causality between this investment and material financial results? In almost 18 years of ERP experience, both as a customer and a consultant in dozens of companies, I have seen but a few who have set ambitious and specific improvement targets upfront, and proceeded to ensure that the implementation of ERP (and associated organizational change) directly helped achieve those ambitious targets. I'm not suggesting that most companies do not attain any value from their ERP investments. Most companies do see inherent value of ERP based on automation, integration and efficiency gained. What I am suggesting, is that notwithstanding the inherent benefits, few companies come close to actually realizing the true potential of this powerful technology.
Answering ‘why change’
According to Dr Eli Goldratt’s Theory of Constraints, there are 3 key questions that need to be answered before embarking on any significant transformation projects, including technology improvement endeavors:
- Why change?
- What to change?
- How to cause the change?
Each of these questions is important, but the first one is the most important: "Why change?" It seems like a simple enough question, but the reality is that most companies don’t have a good answer.
Given the preponderance of companies that have undertaken ERP implementations, replacements, upgrades and improvements, it can safely be assumed that many corporate executives have determined that what to change is the “Tool” – i.e. the ERP. How to cause the change also appears to be fairly well answered – there are a finite number of options. There are thousands of system integration consulting firms who each have a unique spin on implementation methodology – but the crux of how is fairly straightforward – Design, Build, Test, Train, Cutover and Support (this is the essence of SAP’s ASAP methodology but is very similar across ERP platforms).
With so much attention to what and how - most companies nonetheless do not have a good answer to “Why Change”?
Why this is such an important question?
Setting your ‘true north’
In addition to aligning all impacted stakeholders around a unified view of why they are doing something, “Why Change” is also important because it provides the organization a ‘true north’ to help navigate the inevitable turbulence inherent in change and ensures that when facing dilemmas along the way, the best decisions1 are taken. In order to be a good “true north”, the answer to “why change” needs to be SMART = Specific, Measurable, Ambitious yet Realistic and with a Timeframe. Many stakeholders will say that a new technology implementation is necessary because their current software is old and outdated and needs to be replaced. In other words, the answer to “Why Change” is directly linked to “What to change” – its anchored in system replacement. Another common response that departs slightly from system replacement is one of my personal favorites: “Improved visibility”.
What’s wrong with these answers? These are not SMART and therefore not a good true north. They are almost impossible to measure and almost impossible to guide organizations through common dilemmas. One of the most common dilemmas during ERP projects is rooted in scope creep. This is a big topic that I will cover in a separate paper – but suffice to say focus is critical when implementing an ERP and less, often is, more. When faced with the “scope creep” dilemma without a true north, the only real constraint on determining additional scope during a project is resource availability (time, budget, people) and it inevitably forces a compromise. Unfortunately in many cases adding too many unnecessary, nice-to-have items to scope, serves to defocus the implementation and the results are further diluted.
How do we get from typical responses to SMART goals? By using a variation the “Toyota 5-Why’s2”
Here is an example:
Q: Why do we need to implement ERP?
A: Because our current system is too old.
Q: Why is that an issue / so what?
A: Because we don’t have good visibility to actionable information.
Q: Why is that an issue / so what?
A: We don’t know which of our products and services are most and least profitable in which customer segments and under which conditions.
[Now we are getting somewhere]
Q: Why is this a priority now?
A: We need to increase sales by 17% next year and we need to have better actionable information to enable that!
Bingo! It only took four Why’s, and we got to the root of the matter – we need to change in order to allow us to have better actionable information to facilitate an increase in sales of 17% next year (specific, measurable, ambitious yet realistic with a stated timeframe). The viability of this is not the thesis of this paper – but my point is that getting to the root, enables us to have a true north. In this example, if a stakeholder requests to increase scope to include a fancy new procurement process, we need to ask:
Q: Why are we doing this project?
A: Ahhh – to help increase sales.
Q: Does adding a fancy new procurement process help achieve more goal units in less time…. A: No?
Q: Are there any major risks or negative ramifications of deferring this?
A: No? Great! Propose we defer this to phase 2.
Although this may appear as a simple dilemma, there are many dilemmas that having a clear and meaningful goal helps to cut through. There are many companies investing significant time and money in new technology projects these days – many without a clear, business oriented goal in mind. It’s a well-known fact that ERP implementations are particularly time consuming, costly and complex, but it is possible to stay ahead of the game and have a real competitive advantage by ensuring one always has a focused answer to the “why change?” question.
Whatever answer you come up with should be clearly aligned to your company’s overall strategy and goals prior to embarking on a new ERP implementation. If your answer to “why change?” is not founded in a strong business case, then in our humble opinion, it is not a good enough answer. A good rule of thumb is that the reasons for change should always be things that help remove barriers to accomplishing key strategic goals for the company. The scope of the ERP project, therefore, needs to be set by determining its direct linkage to achieving or removing the barriers to achieving these strategic and measurable goals. Remember, if you don’t know “why” you are trying to accomplish a difficult endeavor, you will have great difficulty accomplishing it. It is easy to get distracted and start going down the wrong path when one sees all the impressive things an ERP system can do, but having a clear focus will keep the costs down and allow a project to stay on course by addressing the company’s most important issues first. A poor answer to “why change?” usually results in a failed start and “scope creep” later on, but a good answer can help keep you on track throughout the process. When you have a problem during the project and you’re not sure which way to turn, you can always guide and test your decision by going back to your answer to “why change”? For example, if you become tempted to add a new function that was not part of the original plan, simply ask yourself, “How is this going to help us accomplish our stated goal?” If you can’t answer that question honestly, you probably should not do it.
In summary, 5 key steps to keep in mind:
1. Include your overall objectives and “why change?” statement in a clear and concise way in your project charter
2. Clearly communicate to the implementation and business team why you are planning the change
3. Re-visit the project charter on a regular basis to remind the team of what you are trying to accomplish as you go through the implementation
4. Test proposed scope additions throughout the project to ensure all suggested changes and additions link closely to achieving overall project and business objectives
5. Report on your attainment of outcomes against your overall goals
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1What makes a “best decision” better than other possible options? The simple answer is: it will get the organization to yield more goal units faster with the least risk and other negative ramifications.
2The 5 Why’s is a question-asking technique, developed by Sakichi Toyoda, and is used to explore the cause-and-effect relationships underlying a particular problem
MISSISSAUGA, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Sept. 12, 2012) - Strongco Corporation (TSX:SQP) today announced that it has selected the SAP® Business All-in-One solution as its business management software platform, and retained Illumiti as its implementation partner. The company decided on SAP Business All-in-One because of its integrated functionality, which will provide increased information visibility and improved operating efficiency.
"Our objective is to implement a technology platform that will enable Strongco to deliver the very best customer service in the industry," said Bob Dryburgh, President and Chief Executive Officer, Strongco. "This will provide a foundation that leverages new technologies, positioning Strongco to differentiate our business now and for the future."
SAP Business All-in-One will also help Strongco with all core business processes like finance, sales and procurement to provide quick and cost-effective access to the information and capabilities needed to make decisions in real time and to take action. It will support innovation and adaptation to changing heavy-equipment industry requirements and will improve overall operational efficiency.
"We are excited to work with Strongco on this important project and are confident that with SAP Business All-in-One we will help Strongco turn its vision into a reality and provide a solid foundation for continued growth," said Nir Orbach, Chief Executive Officer, Illumiti.
"Through the use of SAP Business All-in-One, Strongco will enable its entire organization to be more productive, helping it to achieve improved growth, lower costs and a better understanding of their business processes," said Michael Cardiff, Chief Operating Officer, SAP Canada. "Teaming with partners like Illumiti, SAP offers midsize companies the industry solutions they need to compete effectively. And the solution offers flexibility to adapt and extend as a business evolves and grows."
About Strongco Corporation
Strongco Corporation is one of Canada's largest multiline mobile equipment dealers and operates in the northeastern United States through Chadwick-BaRoss, Inc. Strongco sells, rents and services equipment used in sectors such as construction, infrastructure, mining, oil and gas, utilities, municipalities, waste management and forestry. Strongco has approximately 640 employees serving customers from 26 branches in Canada and five in the United States. Strongco represents leading equipment manufacturers with globally recognized brands, including Volvo Construction Equipment, Case Construction, Manitowoc Crane, National, Grove, Terex Cedarapids, Terex Finlay, Ponsse, Fassi, Allied Construction, Taylor, ESCO, Dressta, Sennebogen, Jekko, Takeuchi, Doppstadt, Link-Belt and Kawasaki. Strongco is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol SQP.
About Illumiti
Illumiti is a systems integration and management consulting company with offices in Canada, the U.S. and Switzerland, serving customers globally. Its team enables customers to realize their vision by leveraging technology, people and leading business practices. Illumiti helps its clients achieve optimized operations in the key areas at the core of their business, by implementing custom-fit solutions from SAP and other vendors faster, at a lower cost, and at a lower risk than other alternatives. Illumiti is an SAP gold channel partner and has been awarded the SAP Business All-in-One Partner of the Year, Canada award for both 2010 and 2011. Illumiti is also one of the fastest-growing SAP channel partners in the U.S. For more information about Illumiti, please visit www.illumiti.com.
SAP and all SAP logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP AG in Germany and in several other countries.
All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies.
Forward-looking Statements
This news release contains "forward-looking" statements within the meaning of applicable securities legislation which involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Strongco or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, events, expectations, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. All such forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the "safe harbour" provisions of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements typically contain words or phrases such as "may", "outlook", "objective", "intend", "estimate", "anticipate", "should", "could", "would", "will", "expect", "believe", "plan" and other similar terminology suggesting future outcomes or events.
SAP Forward-Looking Statement
Any statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "forecast," "intend," "may," "plan," "project," "predict," "should" and "will" and similar expressions as they relate to SAP are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. SAP undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations The factors that could affect SAP's future financial results are discussed more fully in SAP's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including SAP's most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates.
Richmond Hill, Ontario (PRWEB) June 06, 2012
CanadaHelps, a fast-growing non-for-profit organization, has chosen to deploy the SAP® Business One application for analyzing financial data and has selected Illumiti as its implementation partner.
CanadaHelps (http://www.canadahelps.org) was founded in Toronto in 2000 as an online fundraising solution that allows charities to accept donations over the Internet. With Canadian corporations and financial institutions contributing funds, space and technology, more than $150,000 was donated through CanadaHelps to charities across the country in its first year alone.
Since its launch, the organization has facilitated more than $250 million in charitable donations through its website. Through CanadaHelps.org, anyone can donate online to any registered Canadian charity.
Due to its significant growth, and ongoing requirement for secure transactions, the registered charitable organization needed more robust software capabilities to drill down, analyze financial information and make real-time strategic choices, yet still be sustainable into the future. SAP Business One provides a single business platform that will allow CanadaHelps greater control of its operations, while still answering its high need for a secure, scalable solution.
“Our mission is to engage Canadians in the charitable sector, providing accessible and affordable online technology to both donors and charities to promote – and ultimately increase – charitable giving in Canada,” said Owen Charters, CanadaHelps CEO. "Having technology that allows us to improve our efficiency helps us meet the needs of more donors and charities across the country."
“One of the main reasons CanadaHelps chose the SAP application was because of its ability to streamline and automate financial applications,” said Patrick Banville, CanadaHelps VP Operations. “This will allow the organization to free up more time to focus on business development."
“Undertaking all the financial reconciliations is a very time-intensive task,” added Banville. “We are eager to see how SAP Business One will help automate this procedure. We chose Illumiti because of its strong background with SAP Business One. We sought a solution that would offer the best outcome for CanadaHelps, and the donors and charities we serve.“
About Illumiti
Illumiti (http://www.illumiti.com) is a systems integration and management consulting company with offices in Canada, the U.S. and Switzerland, serving customers globally. Illumiti enables customers to realize their vision by leveraging technology, people and leading business practices. Since its founding in 2000, Illumiti has developed a reputation for delivering successful customer projects “faster, smarter and leaner.” Illumiti is an SAP gold channel partner and has been awarded the SAP Business All-in-One Partner of the Year, Canada award for both 2010 and 2011.
# # #
SAP and all SAP logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP AG in Germany and in several other countries. All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies.
Illumiti, a leading systems integration and management consulting company, today announced it has climbed 24 spots into the 97th position on the Branham 300 list of top Canadian technology companies and has been named one of the Branham 300 "Top 20 Movers & Shakers."
The Branham 300 is the most comprehensive listing of the top publicly traded and privately held organizations operating in the Canadian Information and Communication Technology (ICT) industry, as ranked by gross revenue.
"We are very excited to be named to the Branham 300 list again this year and are particularly pleased to see such a large jump in our ranking. Our firm has experienced tremendous growth, not only this year, but over the past 5 years. We owe our success to our great team of seasoned SAP consultants and their dedication to helping our clients optimize their business operations" said Nir Orbach, Illumiti's CEO.
This is the sixth time that Illumiti has been named to the Branham 300 list, having first appeared on the list in the 2007 edition. Over the past year Ilumiti's ranking has gone from 121st to 97th.
"We are also very proud to be named one of the Branham 300-Top 20 Movers & Shakers. We feel that our firm is just hitting its stride. We have a strong base of loyal customers and have earned a strong reputation as one of the leading SAP firms in North America. As excited as we are today - tomorrow looks even better" added Mr. Orbach.
Illumiti has over 300 seasoned consultants working across Canada, the United States and Europe and is widely recognized as a leading SAP partner firm in North America. Earlier this year, Illumiti was named the SAP® Business All-in-One Partner of the Year, Canada, for the second consecutive year.
To view the complete list of Branham 300 companies please visit http://www.branham300.com/index.php
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