September 2021Issue 9

COVER STORY

Social Work England creates new benchmark for ERP projects
Kindness, wellbeing and mindfulness embedded as a key tenet of the project - implemented on time, to budget and already delivering benefits.

EDITOR'S CHOICE

What can we learn from the ERP project of the year?
At this year’s ERP Today Awards, Social Work England was voted the best ERP project of the year by a panel of judges that included industry heavyweights, independent analysts and seasoned media commentators. It wasn’t the biggest project the judges considered nor was it the most complex – so why did six experts agree it was the standout submission?

FEATURES

Expert Opinions

image of ESG investment | Unit4 study
Happy Green New Year?
While many thought that the pandemic might knock ESG approaches off course as companies and investors went ‘back to basics’, it seems that the opposite has happened. Three quarters of all investors surveyed said they’re now more likely to divest shares of companies with poor ESG performance post-pandemic.
The cloud goes Vertical
The backdrop – commercial elasticity and the demand for workloads. The cloud has been one of, if not the, most transformative IT innovations in the short history of the IT discipline. The ability to convert CAPEX into OPEX has an irresistible lure to enterprises in a pandemic world more than ever.
RIP Systems Integrators, long live Value Creators!
In a piece from 2019 entitled RIP System Integrators, Paul Esherwood asked the rhetorical question — can systems integrators re-invent themselves as quickly as the technology changes that they put in place for customers of major IT vendors?
Developing young talent: a vital ingredient for ecosystem success
When I was three, it was my father who took me to pre school every day. He did that every morning until I left for university at 18, for which I am eternally grateful. There were a number of things I learned over those years.
Unlocking the value of Smart contracts
The Ethereum whitepaper, written and released by Vitalik Buterin in 2013, put in motion the wheels of change that are set to have a profound impact across every industry in the coming years ahead.
The future of work in tech: Saying goodbye to women’s roles
It will come as no surprise to the readers of ERP Today that the future of work is shifting towards a more tech-focussed approach. We are constantly utilising the latest technology to create fresh workplace opportunities and tech skills are becoming increasingly in demand within the world of work.
All aboard the Green Regulation revolution
The words regulation and opportunity don’t typically appear in the same sentence, but the scale and depth of new sustainability rules can offer forward-thinking businesses the chance to gain advantage.

Guest Contributors

What is the cost of change? Implications for your SAP roadmap
With the maintenance deadline for SAP ECC 6.0 fast approaching, organisations are deciding how they will use SAP going forward. For many, their ERP system is the heartbeat of the business, so they are currently evaluating the role it will play and what needs to change for it to be fit for purpose in today’s digital world.
The next generation of talent will boost our whole ecosystem
The last 18 months have chan-ged workforce dynamics, which gives us the opportunity to rethink how we train and retrain all of our employees, but in particular our young professionals
Pets vs Cattle 2.0: An Analogy and Approach for Modern Infrastructures
Pets vs. cattle is an analogy with modest beginnings that has grown into an industry staple. A simple Google search will spawn more than four million results and a myriad of developer memes. Although origin stories are a little hazy, the actual, original quote was ‘cattle, not pets.’
How ERP can help create a sustainable future
am going through an awakening, a realisation. This is no sudden flash of light on the staycation road to Norfolk, but a gradual, stumbling focus on how I and the club to which I belong – ‘ERPers’ - can play a part in the major challenge the world faces: global warming and the need to cut emissions.
Workday vs. ServiceNow: The Big Shift
Every decade there’s a major shift in enterprise software. In the 1970s companies bought integrated financial systems; in the 1980s and 1990s it was ERP; now it’s a wild west of tools for digital customer experiences, digital employee experiences, and AI-enabled automation