ERP Software

Enterprise Software Companies are Human Too! – Part one

To err is human.  Unfortunately, Enterprise Software Companies err just like the best of us.  In this article we are going to discuss some infamous blunders made over the past couple of years by some rather notable Enterprise Software Companies.  However, we will not discuss these blunders to mock these Enterprise Software Companies, but rather to learn from mistakes that were made.  Let’s get one thing straight before we proceed, some blunders are simply not preventable.  Some blunders are like forces of nature that we humans have absolutely no control over.  And, as consumers of the products sold to us by Enterprise Software Companies, we should not forget that ultimately a failed project is not to be blamed on the Enterprise Software Company alone.  We consumers need to put blame upon ourselves as we are truly the ones in control of the solution we purchase, the project, and the outcome.

SAP is always a target for criticism because they are the largest ERP or Enterprise Resource Planning solution provider in the world.  However, SAP can take the criticism because they play with the big boys and are use to this abuse.  So, first up is SAP’s blunder with Lumber Liquidators.  Lumber Liquidators purchased an SAP ERP solution and went on to implement that solution without any major issues.  Unfortunately the blunder occurred with Lumber Liquidators’ employees couldn’t seem to get a grip on the SAP solution.  This one doesn’t sound like it was SAP’s fault.  It seems to me that Lumber Liquidators needs to send their employees to some SAP training courses.  The next SAP related blunder has to do with Levi Strauss.  Levi Strauss purchases and implemented an SAP solution without any signification blunders until…dun..dun..dun…the system shut down for a week.  Yes, something went wrong with the SAP solution and Levi Strauss had to take their shipping systems down at three huge United States distribution centers.  Needless to say, Levi Strauss lost tons of business and customer orders over that week and was very unhappy.  It seems to me that nothing is fool proof and things like this just happen from time to time.  The next SAP blunder is a big no no on SAP’s part!  SAP should have known better than to charge Waste Management more money to upgrade their current solution than to implement a whole new one.  This blunder resulted in a nasty law suit. 

Written by :

kristine H