{"id":5927,"date":"2019-02-01T17:03:00","date_gmt":"2019-02-01T15:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aigs.co.za\/dev\/?p=5927"},"modified":"2023-10-13T17:12:51","modified_gmt":"2023-10-13T15:12:51","slug":"accommodate-niche-applications-the-right-tool-for-the-job","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aigs.co.za\/dev\/accommodate-niche-applications-the-right-tool-for-the-job\/","title":{"rendered":"ACCOMMODATE NICHE APPLICATIONS \u2013 The right tool for the job"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"5927\" class=\"elementor elementor-5927\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-110c321c elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"110c321c\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-1f52e63e\" data-id=\"1f52e63e\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4a38105b elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"4a38105b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<style>\/*! elementor - v3.19.0 - 07-02-2024 *\/\n.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-stacked .elementor-drop-cap{background-color:#69727d;color:#fff}.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-framed .elementor-drop-cap{color:#69727d;border:3px solid;background-color:transparent}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap{margin-top:8px}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap-letter{width:1em;height:1em}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap{float:left;text-align:center;line-height:1;font-size:50px}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap-letter{display:inline-block}<\/style>\t\t\t\t<p>It\u2019s becoming increasingly clear that forklift upgrades to enterprise resource planning (ERP) suites can take years and a small fortune to complete \u2013 and then they rarely work as planned.<\/p><p>To rub salt in the wounds, their very failure is frequently the reason for their survival. Too big to fail, they\u2019re allowed to prevail, frequently at the cost of perfectly good legacy functionality.<\/p><p>When upgrading, companies should find ways to accommodate legacy niche application functionality that does the job much better, costs less and whose integration into new business applications is becoming increasingly easier, as multiple systems integration becomes more common.<\/p><h3>Horror stories<\/h3><p>Business journals are full of stories about failed ERP implementations.<\/p><p>There are the usual horror stories of implementations taking years, costing a fortune and not getting the basics right. Famously, the Avon implementation of 2013 made more work for the door-to-door make-up giant\u2019s reps when it was supposed to relieve them of their admin burden.<\/p><p>The losses can be counted in the enormous cost of such applications, as well as lost opportunity. Nine years earlier, computer great HP fell victim to a complex ERP migration disruption, causing CEO Carly Fiorina to assign blame for a business unit loss partly to the CIO.<\/p><p>But perhaps the bitterest pill of all is the fact that the new monolithic suite frequently fails to provide crucial niche functionality that a company has come to cherish and that sets it apart in the marketplace.<\/p><h3>Relooking niche<\/h3><p>Just one example in the Progress customer base is the fresh foods company whose legacy ERP solution reached end of life. As many do, the company looked to top global brands for a replacement. But after extensive searches \u2013 including a stint of overseas travel \u2013 it realised a vitally important fresh food component of its old application could not be matched by anyone out there.<\/p><p>\u201cAnother of its \u2018legacy\u2019 solutions, which is still supported and provides great service to the business, is written in Progress, so they contacted us to see if we could help,\u201d says Rick Parry of AIGS, local distributor for Progress in Sub-Saharan Africa. \u201cKnowing that our business partner Mozaic Software is active in their \u2018niche\u2019 market, we introduced them \u2013 and everything fell into place for them.\u201d<\/p><p>In the end, the customer settled for implementing the financials of a new (global) ERP suite along with reinstating its local legacy production component with Mozaic\u2019s help. This perfectly illustrates two unspoken truths of enterprise software:<\/p><ul><li>A one-size-fits-all replacement strategy is often unworkable.<\/li><li>The skills and dedication necessary to manage complex migrations are often found locally.<\/li><\/ul><h3>Added benefits<\/h3><p>The beauty of partnering with legacy-supporting vendors like Progress is that their sole objective is NOT to forklift-upgrade every enterprise installation out there. They can be trusted to act as partners to organisations in sticky enterprise migrations.<\/p><p>\u201cProgress provides a robust, easy-to-use and scalable application development alternative to extreme enterprise make-overs,\u201d says Parry. \u201cOur experience suggests that organisations should resist the idea that a total makeover is always the answer. They should also look to modernise the functionality that makes them unique. And only a trusted software partner can be relied upon to invest in the skills and capacity necessary to do that. Quite often, that partner is local.\u201d<\/p><h3>What\u2019s your flavour?<\/h3><p>The moral? When it ain\u2019t broke, don\u2019t fix it. Before running overseas to replace a perfectly good piece of legacy functionality, first consider getting the counsel of a trusted local partner to maintain your value proposition and avoid unintended consequences.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-c0eebd8 elementor-align-left elementor-widget elementor-widget-button\" data-id=\"c0eebd8\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"button.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-button-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<a class=\"elementor-button elementor-button-link elementor-size-sm\" href=\"https:\/\/www.yellowfinbi.com\/resource\/mip\" target=\"_blank\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-button-content-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-button-icon elementor-align-icon-right\">\n\t\t\t\t<i aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"fas fa-check-square\"><\/i>\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-button-text\">More<\/span>\n\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s becoming increasingly clear that forklift upgrades to enterprise resource planning (ERP) suites can take years and a small fortune to complete \u2013 and then they rarely work as planned. To rub salt in the wounds, their very failure is frequently the reason for their survival. Too big to fail, they\u2019re allowed to prevail, frequently [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5928,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5927","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v18.9 (Yoast SEO v22.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>ACCOMMODATE NICHE APPLICATIONS \u2013 The right tool for the job - AIGS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/aigs.co.za\/dev\/accommodate-niche-applications-the-right-tool-for-the-job\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"ACCOMMODATE NICHE APPLICATIONS \u2013 The right tool for the job - AIGS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It\u2019s becoming increasingly clear that forklift upgrades to enterprise resource planning (ERP) suites can take years and a small fortune to complete \u2013 and then they rarely work as planned. 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