diginomica

In this 26 minute conversation, Den speaks with Robert Townley, a deeply experienced ERP consultant who, in the last 5 years has turned his attention to cloud deployments. Why? They deliver value and that is something that is seen as important from, of all places, the PE market. 

Robert is a firm believer in what BYD offers but like others he wishes SAP did a better job of helping the partner ecosystem. 

 Much of what is discussed here is about the change in training needed to help IT people better understand the business. Lo-code and No code may be fashion mots du jour but they count for little if the developer doesn't have a good sense of what business problem is at stake. Simply asking to help with digital transformation doesn't cut it. 

On today's agenda, Marks & Spencer's tilt at Ocado, manufacturing excellence (aka dumping the spreadsheet), motoring mayhem in the modern city and a ministerial meerkat. You have to be British to get this last one but trust me, it's worth it. 

On today's agenda, digital burgers, ethical crises and cloudy success - and a sad dose of Breaking Bad bigotry.

Each customer story provides a different angle on the work companies are undertaking to further their digital transformation journeys. 

Accuride is especially interesting as it plays off a podcast I recorded with CIO Paul Wright. We've been following this firm for 4 years and the story keeps improving, despite multiple technology providers plus M&A in the mix. 

It's the use case edition folks with awesome success stories that feed directly into topics that matter in the 21st century. 

I have a fascinating conversation with Jonathan Phillips who leads the SAP Business ByDesign implementations at Aspen Pumps, a mid-sized UK based manufacturer of condensate pumps.

There are tremendous lessons to be learned about how to establish a successful, mission-driven culture. 

I kid you not - this is indeed the pants off edition. 

Before we get to that though we're talking Avon, reproductive rights and a thumbs down for financial wellness in the context of HR issues. 

Pants off? Check this:

Accuride, a supplier of wheels for the trucking industry is on an implementation journey that includes Plex, Workday and SAP. 

The story has important implications for those faced with disparate landscapes and where the prospect of getting to a 'one-size fits all' doesn't fit. 

In this story, Paul Wright, Accuride's CIO explains what is happening and why. 

For example, we easily forget that different geographies have different laws concerning the export of data, which, in turn, changes the technology decision dynamic. Similarly, some countries have poor internet connectivity making the choice of moving to the cloud much more complex, if not impossible. 

Then there's the question of reporting across multiple geos. Here, Paul has an interesting take on how Workday Prism is helping. 

Finally, we talk about IoT and other advanced technologies. You'll be in for a surprise if you think that this industry is going full speed on these topics. 

Jon and Den get together to talk about some of the things we're thinking about as diginomica moves into its 7th year. We also talk about some of the things we didn't get to during the week and how the independent analysts are firing up a new type of conversation that focuses on what customers want in the 21st century. 

Check out diginomica.com for a write up that includes a bunch of links on the topics we discuss.