ERP Strategy and Planning

Higher Education’s Cloud ERP Shift Is Stuck on the Student System

Higher education’s cloud ERP transition is not stalled by lack of interest. It is slowed by the student system, where Workday’s cloud momentum and Oracle’s PeopleSoft runway create very different modernization paths.

Cloud Platform and Technology

Air Force Looks to Standardize ERP Services on Cloud One OCI

The US Air Force is seeking partners through a request for information to develop and sustain Enterprise Resource Planning Common Services on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, aiming to enhance shared cloud services and integration for defense ERP environments.

SAP Business Data Cloud ERP data readiness - governed foundation for analytics and AI

Data and Data Management

SAP Business Data Cloud Turns ERP Data Readiness Into the Real Test

SAP Business Data Cloud promises a governed foundation for analytics and AI—but ERP data readiness, fragmented legacy architectures, and budget pressure mean most organizations aren't ready to capture that value. With 45% still evaluating BDC and only 3% achieving a unified data layer, partner execution and data context are now the deciding factors.

Automation

Unit4 Gives ERPx Customers a No-Commitment Path to AI Adoption

Unit4 has launched 'AI for Your World,' a commitment-free initiative allowing mid-market ERPx customers to trial its AI capabilities, including the Advanced Virtual Agent, until August 31, 2027, facilitating low-risk experimentation and potential subscriptions thereafter.

AWS agentic AI SAP ERP exceptions - MCP agentic ERP infrastructure with AgentCore

Application Development and Integration

AWS Is Giving SAP Agents a Rulebook for ERP Exceptions

AWS has introduced an Agentic Standard Operating Procedures framework that gives AI agents a rulebook for resolving SAP ERP exceptions—reading approved procedures, acting on live SAP data via Amazon Bedrock AgentCore, escalating high-risk cases to humans, and logging every step for full audit compliance.

Bicycles parked in front of SAP office in Europe.

Systems Administration

SAP’s EU Settlement Gives On-Premise Customers More Room to Maneuver

SAP has resolved a European Commission investigation by committing to more flexible maintenance and support policies for on-premise ERP software, enhancing customer choice and alleviating competition concerns without impacting its cloud offerings.

ERP Strategy and Planning

The Friday-to-Monday Test for SAP Transformation: A Conversation with SNP’s CTO

Successful SAP transformation hinges not just on technical milestones like migration and cutover, but on ensuring business continuity by enabling enterprises to maintain essential operations across both SAP and non-SAP systems post-migration.

Cloud Platform and Technology

SAP Business Data Cloud Raises the Stakes for ERP Data Readiness

SAP Business Data Cloud positions itself as the governed foundation for AI-driven analytics. But adoption is still early, data fragmentation remains the norm, and only 3% of organizations have achieved a unified data layer. This article examines what ERP teams need to address before BDC can scale: semantic preservation, BW migration maturity, partner capability, and governance frameworks for agentic AI.

Human Capital Management

Workday Turns to HR Path to Reach More SMBs in Ireland and Scotland

Workday has appointed HR Path as an authorized value-added reseller for the UK and Ireland, enhancing its partner-driven market approach for small and medium-sized businesses while providing customers with a streamlined relationship for their HR and finance system needs.

Automation

Why AP Workflow Automation Still Leaves Finance Teams Doing Manual Work

Accounts payable automation has come a long way—yet most finance teams are still doing significant manual work. This article examines why AP workflows break down even with automation tools in place, where the ERP gaps lie, and what CFOs and finance leaders need to do to build truly touchless invoice and payment processing.

Analytics and AI

SAP and IBM Say AI-Ready ERP Still Starts with Trusted Infrastructure

SAP and IBM are positioning ERP infrastructure as the foundation of AI readiness. New customer wins—including JYSK, GBM, DIFARE Group, and Plastilene Group—show how SAP Cloud ERP Private on IBM Power Virtual Server gives enterprises a secure, scalable path to modernization without abandoning the resilience of IBM Power.

ERP Strategy and Planning

Why Agribusiness ERP Has to Treat Contracts as Risk Signals

Agribusiness contracts carry commodity, FX, and interest-rate exposure long before settlement. This article explains how SAP Agricultural Contract Management turns contracts into a live risk engine inside ERP, with msg global's implementation approach.

Service Management

TSG’s Creative Computing Acquisition Puts Media ERP Expertise in Play

TSG has acquired Creative Computing Solutions, bringing specialist Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central expertise for the media, film, and TV production sectors into its UK mid-market managed IT services business — and signaling a broader trend of ERP partner consolidation around vertical depth.

ERP Strategy and Planning

What Does It Take to Win the Next Energy ERP Cycle? SAP, Oracle, IFS, Infor Offer Different Answers

Excerpt: SAP, Oracle, IFS, and Infor are offering different answers to the next energy ERP cycle as oil, gas, utilities, renewables, and energy services companies modernize around assets, field execution, AI, and changing operating models.

Enterprise AI sprawl and invisible AI governance concept

Analytics and AI

The AI Bill Is Bad, But Not Knowing What Is Running May Be Worse

Enterprises are learning the biggest AI bill is not tokens but invisible AI they cannot see, govern, or measure. This article explains how ERP and IT leaders can bring AI agents, tools, and workflows under real governance before sprawl, risk, and cost spiral out of control.

ERP Strategy and Planning

Federal ERP Modernization Gets Another Procurement Path as 2027 Deadline Nears

Federal agencies require effective procurement strategies for ERP modernization, as highlighted by M&S Consulting's participation in NASA's SEWP VI contract, which provides a framework for essential IT services and emphasizes the importance of leveraging small-business certifications in the contracting process.

Analytics and AI

AI’s Token Binge Is Over—Now Enterprise Budgets Want Proof

Enterprises that once rewarded employees for maximizing AI usage are now discovering how quickly token costs can spiral. As finance leaders tighten budgets, AI pilots are being judged on workflow‑level outcomes, model routing discipline, and whether they actually improve delivery, code quality, and ERP operations—not just how many tokens they consume.

Analytics and AI

The ERP Today Awards 2025 Playbook

Get prepared for the ERP Today Awards 2026! A practical story framework for finding, shaping, and nominating transformation work that deserves recognition in 2026. Download our awards playbook to get nomination-ready for the ERP Today Awards 2026.

SAP AI budget discipline for hiring and travel

ERP Strategy and Planning

After SAP’s Leadership Reorg, AI Overhaul Places New Scrutiny on Hiring and Travel

SAP is reallocating its operating budget by tightening hiring, limiting travel, and reviewing supplier spending to prioritize investments in AI capabilities and technologies, signaling a strategic shift towards enhancing its AI-driven products and services while managing operational costs.

ERP Strategy and Planning

Winding Down Support: The Other 2027 Deadline ERP Teams Can’t Afford to Miss

SAP ECC is not the only 2027 deadline ERP teams need to manage. SAP Solution Manager—the tool most SAP organizations rely on for change control, ITSM, monitoring, and audit trails—is also winding down its support in 2027. With SAP Cloud ALM not offering a direct like-for-like replacement for SolMan's ChaRM functionality in on-premise scenarios, ERP teams face a hidden compliance and governance gap that requires urgent planning.

ERP Strategy and Planning

Workday Says AI Agents Belong Closer to the Systems They Could Break

Workday is drawing a clear line in the enterprise AI agent debate: for high-stakes workflows in HR, payroll, and finance, the safest place for AI inference and orchestration is inside the system of record, not on neutral third-party platforms. Through its controlled openness model—open APIs and MCP for developers, proprietary governance within Workday—the company argues that context, business logic, and security controls are a competitive moat that cannot be safely externalized.

Financial Management

BlackLine Is Giving CFOs a Control Room for Finance AI

BlackLine’s Finance Control Console preview turns its Agentic Financial Operations Platform into a control room for AI agents, giving CFOs visibility, policy enforcement, and audit‑ready evidence across record‑to‑report, invoice‑to‑cash, and other finance workflows.

ERP AI readiness gap after S/4HANA migration - digital brain with question mark on enterprise data dashboard

Analytics and AI

ERP AI Readiness FAQ: Why SAP S/4HANA Migration Alone Will Not Get You There

Most ERP teams treat S/4HANA go-live as the finish line for transformation—but it is only the starting line for AI readiness. This FAQ explores why migration alone is not enough, what data and cloud foundations are missing, and how ERP leaders can build the architecture required to move AI from pilot to production.

INPEX energy transformation SAP Cloud ERP Private modernization for energy transition

Cloud Platform and Technology

INPEX Rebuilds Its SAP Core for a More Volatile Energy Market

Japanese energy company INPEX has gone live on SAP Cloud ERP Private, replacing its 2008-era IBOS system as part of INPEX Vision 2035—a strategy to build a more agile, data-driven management foundation capable of supporting energy transition into hydrogen, ammonia, carbon capture, and renewables. Partnering with ABeam Consulting and using a fit-to-standard SAP approach, INPEX is laying the groundwork for AI-driven operational efficiency across its global operations.

ERP Strategy and Planning

ERP Replace: A Structured Path to Modern ERP

This solution brief presents ERP Replace as a structured way to move from legacy ERP to a modern, cloud-based platform, focusing on speed, risk reduction, and predictable outcomes. It explains how preconfigured baselines, implementation accelerators, and stage-gated governance help organisations manage data, processes, and change more effectively during ERP replacement programmes

ERP Strategy and Planning

ERP Unlocked: De-Risking and Accelerating Transformation

This article explores how ERP leaders can rethink transformation to both de-risk delivery and accelerate time to value, rather than treating ERP as a slow, high-stakes rebuild. It outlines practical ways to use preconfigured industry baselines, data and integration accelerators, and stage-gated governance so decisions are transparent, auditable, and tied directly to business outcomes.

ERP Strategy and Planning

WEINIG Group Unifies Global ERP on Dynamics 365

WEINIG Group, a leading manufacturer in the wood processing industry, partnered with Hitachi Solutions to consolidate a highly decentralised ERP landscape into one global Microsoft Dynamics 365 solution hosted on Azure. By moving from more than 80 separate ERP systems to a unified platform, WEINIG gained shared financial services, better inventory visibility, and common processes and data to support informed decision-making across its international operations

ERP Strategy and Planning

Marabu Builds a Global ERP and CRM Platform on Dynamics 365

Marabu, a leading manufacturer of printing and hobby inks, partnered with Hitachi Solutions to replace fragmented legacy systems with a unified Microsoft Dynamics 365 platform for ERP and CRM. Dynamics 365 Sales, Customer Service, Finance, and Supply Chain are being rolled out across multiple countries, harmonising processes, improving data quality, and creating a scalable foundation for Marabu’s international growth.

ERP Strategy and Planning

Why Unit4 Keeps Showing Up on the ERP Shortlist

Unit4’s latest ERPx moves show why the vendor keeps appearing in shortlists for service-centric organizations. Success4U, DataHub, and FIX sharpen its pitch around deployment predictability, governed analytics, and ERP built for people- and project-driven operations.

Analytics and AI

Gatekeeping Enterprise AI? Workday Redraws the Build-vs-Buy Line for AI Agents

Workday’s DevCon 2026 announcements show how enterprise AI agent strategy is moving beyond build-versus-buy and toward governed access to HR, finance, business process, and audit controls.

Analytics and AI

ERP’s AI Skills Gap Is Becoming the Real Transformation Bottleneck

ERP vendors like SAP are shipping AI features faster than teams can absorb them. The SAP AI skills gap—with 91% of organizations using AI but only 17% embedding it in core workflows—is now the defining bottleneck to real ERP transformation.