Why having Software and the invisible design in the same phrase? Do we mean that the software lines of code can’t be read or seen? Of course not! What is meant is that the lines of code despite the fact that they are visible are only understandable for the one who has written them. For...

This post Software, The Invisible Design appeared first on Operational Excellence Society.

Who serves who?  Does Technology serve the people – or do the people serve technology? I started my business during the “Golden Age of Technology” back in 1985.  This was a time when the power of computing was being brought to the individual level; a time of personal computers (starting with the Apple-II and IBM-PC)...

This post ERP Selection Survival Kit appeared first on Operational Excellence Society.

Companies today must do business in a fiercely competitive global environment. In order to be a significant player in this arena, organizations must employ new technologies and techniques at a velocity that may challenge the very fiber of a company. They will be required to establish seamless integration from their customers, internally into manufacturing and...

This post ERP Optimization for Lean Excellence appeared first on Operational Excellence Society.

Accepting the recession landscape has been extraordinarily painful.  The recovery journey will have challenges that must be embraced to create a sustainable business in the new, post recession landscape. How do we establish new operational excellence framework in this unsettled landscape? For the foreseeable future, ERP and Operations Managers will journey through a dynamic business landscape that...

This post Setting the Course for Recovery appeared first on Operational Excellence Society.

Several years ago I had an awakening.  I came to the realization that technology, by and large, did not live-up to its promises and that this gap between promises and reality was ever widening.  This was (and is) especially true of business information systems – most usually referred to as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems. Almost always, these...

This post Convenient Half-Truths with which Everyone Chooses to Live appeared first on Operational Excellence Society.

As is my habit, I occasionally “google” my name (with XONITEK, so that I don’t get the Joseph Paris that is into hair) to see what might be out there. I get the expected links to the various articles I have written or events in which I have taken part, but occasionally I get surprised. For...

This post First Impressions Are Important appeared first on Operational Excellence Society.

The New Nomadism Apr 10th 2008, From The Economist print edition At the Nomad Café in Oakland, California, Tia Katrina Canlas, a law student at the nearby university in Berkeley, places her double Americano next to her mobile phone and iPod, opens her MacBook laptop computer and logs on to the café’s wireless internet connection to study for her...

This post “Cloud Telephony” – Nomads at Last appeared first on Operational Excellence Society.

What do you see in the clouds?  The best way to explain Cloud Computing is to think of it as a cloud; a sometimes formless void – of unknown whereabouts – that contains data and applications which are accessible to a user via the internet.  What we are dealing with here is what is in that cloud...

This post Business in the Clouds appeared first on Operational Excellence Society.

Much has been written on the mechanics of using social networking and collaborative community environments to develop a pipeline of contacts for business development activities. Rather than deliver more “best practices” on this topic, we decided it would be more useful to discuss a few personal experiences thus demonstrating the practical results of effectively applying technology....

This post How Technology Can Encourage the Human Element appeared first on Operational Excellence Society.

CRM What do these three letters mean to you?  A quick poll of the people in the room proved the meaning to be quite elusive.  A nine year-old responded, “See are em? I don’t get it, you’re so weird.”  A five year-old pondered the question for all of two seconds and said, “huh…can I play Wii?” OK, I...

This post Customer Relationship Management (CRM) appeared first on Operational Excellence Society.

News reports over the last several months continue to paint a gloomy picture for today’s economy.  Rising material and labor costs, weak consumer spending, and the collapsing housing market are hammering businesses nationwide.  Many are looking for ways to re-engineer themselves in order to compensate for flattening growth.  To survive, one must do more with the resources they...

This post How ERP Can Help in Lean Implementation appeared first on Operational Excellence Society.

I read a great blog post regarding the Value Proposition of seat belts.  Seat Belts!  Who would think that seat belts needed a marketing plan?  Then again, I can remember riding in my Dad’s old Chevy pickup when I was a kid – and I’m fairly certain the thing didn’t even HAVE seat belts.  However, if we can all...

This post A Value Proposition: Managing Costs with ERP appeared first on Operational Excellence Society.

In 1996, my first assignment to South Africa for XONITEK was being hired by Macola-South Africa to train their personnel – and the personnel of their resellers – on how to implement Macola’s ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) solution. It was a very turbulent time in South Africa; apartheid had just ended, there was a new...

This post “Never go into the bush alone” appeared first on Operational Excellence Society.

XONITEK’s legacy with Exact Software (and Macola Software before that) is long and deep.  Since 1988, XONITEK has been a promoter, implementer, and supporter of the solutions of Exact Software and we will continue to embrace the software solutions of Exact Software into the future. As such, we will continue to invest in our relationship...

This post Driving Real Value appeared first on Operational Excellence Society.