ERP Software

Enterprise Software Companies are Human Too! – Part three

The next blunder is an oldie but goodie that involved an Enterprise Software Company, a consulting firm and a university.  The blunder occurred between Oracle, KPMG Consulting and the University of Cambridge in the UK..  This blunder took place in 2001.  The University of Cambridge considered taking legal action against Oracle and KPMG Consulting for a faulty Oracle implementation that cost thirteen million dollars to install.  Upon deeper investigation it turned out that the university also hired two additional third party implementers to help out and all of these implementation folks really messed up the project.  This was a case of having too many cooks in the kitchen. Remember that getting too many folks involved takes more coordination. Another oldie but goodie involved Oracle and Tri Valley Growers.  In 2000, Tri Valley Growers implemented an Oracle Enterprise Resource Planning solution.  I suppose Tri Valley Growers wasn’t very impressed with their solution because they claimed that the database and ERP applications failed to fulfill their contact.  Who knows who was really at fault in this situation.  Remember that you must have realistic expectations when you purchase a product from an Enterprise Software Company.

Now we are going to leave SAP and Oracle alone and move on to a blunder between an Enterprise Software Company called Epicor and their customer named Ferazzoli.  Ferazzoli was unhappy with Epicor because they felt that the Enterprise Resource Planning solution they purchased never really lived up to their standards.  In the end Ferazzoli invested more money in software to get their ERP solution to a point that met with their standards.  This situation is similar to the one we just discussed concerning Tri Valley Growers and Oracle.  Establishing realistic expectations and getting what you need and want is important.

An Enterprise Software Company with a few, more recent, blunders is a company called Infor.  In 2008 Infor Global Solutions sold an Enterprise Resource Planning solution to a company called Carver Pump.  Carver Pump ended up suing Infor over an invoice for half a million dollars sent to Carver from Infor.  Infor sent the invoice because Carver Pump was using the Maxim Enterprise Resource Planning solution without a license for eight years.  The companies ended up settling out of court.  The message here is to not forget to license your products!  Another blunder happened in 2006 between Infor Global Solutions and Scientific Components.  Scientific Components took Infor to court over a license fee dispute.  Once again, these two companies settled. 

Written by :

kristine H